DFT Digest

No really, no kidding - just joking.

Anyway, I wanted to pass along a reminder from Louis Ungar of A.T.E Solutions that TMAG (Testability Management Action Group) will be holding general meeting #3, on April 1, 2008 at 11:30PDT (US Pacific Daylight Time), in conjunction with the APEX conference in Las Vegas, NV. There is a conference call number set up as well as a Webex. See their website for details.

TMAG is a “grass roots organization made up of test professionals who believe that success for Testability in general, and Design for Testability (DFT) in particular, requires the involvement and the support of management at all levels” [from their website].

They have established a number of committees within the group, addressing subjects such as test economics, tools, methodology and management. Take a look, and get involved! The members come from everywhere in the industry - and there’s not an april fool among them!

An ‘advisory’ group that is… somehow DFT religion must be brought to upper management.

Introducing the Testability Management Advisory Group (TMAG), “a grass roots organization made up of test professionals who believe that success for Testability in general, and Design for Testability (DFT) in particular, requires the involvement of management at all levels.”

The first official meeting of TMAG will be held December 10th, from 9:30-11AM in San Jose, in conjunction with the IPC Test and Inspection Conference. One can attend personally, or by WebEx.

The motivation for the TMAG is the apparent lack of support from non-technical, and upper management for DFT efforts. The subject has been addressed prominently during panels at the last two AutoTestCon gatherings.

I think most every DFT professional has dealt with resistance on some level from designers, design managers, project managers, on up the line. I myself was told one time by a project manager not to speak to his designers anymore, because I was ‘confusing them’. Why DFT was confusing to a bunch of designers is a subject for another time, but the point is, we’ve all faced it.

Louis Ungar of A.T.E. Solutions is organizing this meeting, and hoping for participation from not only DFT and Test personnel, but from non-technical management as well, to help define and document Design-for-Test best practices and clear cost/benefit analysis tools to help crystallize the advantages of supporting the DFT effort.

For questions about this group and/or event, please contact Louis at LouisUngar@ieee.org