IEC 61163 Reliability Stress Screening Testing

Some of the costliest failures a manufacturer will ever see happen in the first few weeks of a product’s life, not the last few years. IEC 61163 addresses that early failure period directly, laying out reliability stress screening methods for repairable assemblies in Part 1 and electronic components in Part 2. Together, the two parts help manufacturers catch and remove weak units before they ever leave the factory.

Applus+ Keystone supports manufacturers with IEC 61163-1 and IEC 61163-2 testing programs. Request a quote for services scoped to your specific requirements, or contact us to learn more about our stress screening test procedures.

The Importance of IEC 61163 Testing

Early-life failures, often called infant mortality, account for a disproportionate share of field returns in electronic products. These failures usually trace back to marginal components, workmanship defects, or process variation that a standard functional test simply won’t catch. IEC 61163 stress screening applies calculated environmental and electrical stresses to force those weak units to fail on the bench, not in the field.

Since IEC 61163 covers both component-level and assembly-level screening, manufacturers and their suppliers can work from the same playbook, applying consistent, negotiated screening requirements throughout the supply chain. That shared framework cuts down on disputes over acceptable defect rates and gives everyone more confidence in the reliability of incoming parts and finished assemblies.

To sum it up, when properly applied, IEC 61163 reliability stress screening provides the benefit of:

• Reduced infant mortality failure rates in fielded assemblies and components
• Early detection of marginal parts and workmanship defects
• A shared, negotiable framework for supplier stress screening requirements
• Lower warranty and field-return costs over a product’s service life
• Objective, third-party screening data to support quality and reliability programs

IEC 61163-1 and IEC 61163-2 Stress Screening Methods

Also, IEC 61163-1 comes into play when repairable hardware assemblies show unacceptably high failure rates during the early failure period, particularly in cases where other approaches, such as reliability growth programs or standard quality control techniques, haven’t solved the problem. It walks manufacturers through planning and running a stress screening process for lots of assemblies, step by step.

IEC 61163-2 shifts the focus to electronic components rather than assemblies. Component manufacturers use it as an internal guideline, component users rely on it when negotiating screening requirements with suppliers or planning in-house screening, and subcontractors that offer stress screening as a service follow it too.

Additionally, burn-in and other stress screening techniques under IEC 61163 surface integrated circuit and electronic module defects that standard testing tends to miss, cutting the risk of early-life failures once a product reaches the field.

Expert IEC 61163 Stress Screening Services

Applus+ Keystone provides reliability screening lab services built around IEC 61163 requirements, helping you plan and run stress screening procedures for electronic assemblies and components, whether you need ongoing production stress screening or a one-time reliability study. Beyond IEC 61163, Keystone offers a full scope of reliability and environmental testing expertise.

Please contact us to learn how Applus+ Keystone can support your component reliability screening program.