Patent ID: 7359832
Filing Date: 2008-04-15
Classification: G06F,G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method of determining a corrective design for a system component exhibiting time-in-service reliability concerns, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a plurality of remote customer databases for collecting service data for a system component; receiving at a centralized database during a predetermined time period at least one parameter representative of a failure rate for the system component based on the service data; determining if the at least one parameter represents a system component defect; when the at least one parameter represents a system component defect, determining at least one failure mode of the system component based on the at least one parameter, identifying at least one contributory noise factor associated with the at least one failure mode based on the at least one parameter representative of the failure rate for the system component based on the service data, and identifying a benchmark goal for the system component from a best-in-class system component for the system component; and determining a corrective design for the system component based on the at least one failure mode, the at least one contributory noise factor, and the benchmark goal associated with the best-in-class system component.