An assessment of the value of added screening of electronic components for commercial aerospace applications

Historically many aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have required military-like screening, in addition to the component manufacturers' quality assurance processes, when using non-military components. The published literature [Commun. Reliab. Maintainab. Supportab. (1994) 14-19; Plastic-encapsulated microcircuits in high reliability applications, Realiability and Maintainability Symposium, Anaheim, CA, 1994; Commun. Reliab. Maintainab. Supportab. (1994) 60-63; Int. J. Microcircuits Electron. Packaging 20 (1997) 36-40] is not conclusive regarding the value of the added component screening. In this paper, we conclude that the added component screening provides no value for most non-military grade components and may even lower their in-service reliability. However, the added screening does provide value for a limited set of low-quality components. To maximize the benefits to the whole supply chain, OEMs should apply screening only to the low-quality components. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.