National Instruments released its annual look at trends impacting the test and measurement space, and identified five that have been shaping the industry and will continue to do so in the coming year.
The new “Automated Test Outlook” report, edited by NI co-founder, president and CEO James Truchard (who is retiring from the company this month), includes a nod to a number of test trends.
Test being used as a strategic asset for companies, through a transformation of a company’s test organization
“An emerging trend for electronics manufacturing companies is using product test for competitive differentiation,” according to the report. “This has resulted in elevating the test engineering function from a cost center to a strategic asset. This shift was confirmed by a recent global NI survey of test engineering leaders who said their top goal over the next one to two years is to reorganize their test organization structures for increased efficiency. This strategic realignment reduces the cost of quality and impacts a company’s financials by getting better products to market faster.”
NI went on to say that such a shift takes about three to five years before the full benefit is realized. “When test engineering organizations become strategic assets, they create standard test platforms, develop valuable test-based intellectual property, deliver a more productive workforce while lowering operating costs, and align with the business objectives by continually contributing to better product margins, quality, and time to market.”
Reconfigurable instrumentation which can be adapted to new test needs and instrument substitutions “Reconfigurable instruments will continue to find more mainstream applications as test engineers continue to look for creative ways to reduce test time and system cost,” NI said.
Along with being reconfigurable, NI expects test systems to continue to become more software-centric and ecosystem-based
“Communities of developers and integrators building on standard software platforms are using commercial off-the-shelf technology to extend the functionality of complex hardware into applications previously impossible. The level of productivity and collaboration delivered by software-centric ecosystems will have a profound effect on test system design,” the report concluded.
Managed test systems, including their system infrastructure, peripherals, hardware and software that can be managed remotely
“The media tends to focus on the consumer ‘internet of things,’ but thinking of a test system as an IoT device presents additional opportunities,” Truchard commented in an editor’s note.
Test is being driven by necessity due to new rules and regulations and applicability in new industries, such as the increasing demand for automotive hardware-in-the-loop testing and also demands from aerospace and defense for more test efficiency
“Though industry regulations provide a guide to ensure safety in embedded electronics, compliance with these regulations requires the thorough testing of embedded software across an exhaustive range of real-world scenarios,” NI said. “Developing and testing embedded software with an emphasis on quality can strain the balance of business needs such as short time to market, low test cost, and the ability to meet the technical requirements driven by customer demand for new features and product differentiation. All embedded system manufacturers face similar demands, but they cannot sacrifice quality when it comes to safety-critical applications.”
In other test news:
–Ixia reported recently it shipped its first 400 gigabit Ethernet test system to an unnamed “major, worldwide carrier who will leverage the technology to ensure network readiness for accommodating a growing subscriber base, support for bandwidth intensive applications and delivery of a quality user experience.”
–Keysight Technologies put a collection of its radio frequency learning resources in one spot in a newly launched RF and Digital Learning Center.
–Rohde & Schwarz is highlighting a new video tester at CES this week.
–Tektronix recently won the UBM Ace Award in test and measurement for its Keithley DMM7510 digital multimeter.
