For the last several decades, test professionals have aggressively driven down the “Cost of Test” through such approaches as ATE cost reduction, multi-site test implementation, and various Design-For-Test methodologies. Over this time period, the various factors affecting cost of production test have shifted from a heavy ATE capital depreciation component to now being more impacted by many other items such as material handling systems, electro-mechanical interfaces, consumables (e.g. probe cards, load boards, etc.) and, of course, yield. Few Cost-of-Test models exist beyond proprietary tools, and there is certainly no industry standard available. Those that are published focus on the production cost of test and completely ignore an “elephant in the room”, which is the cost of test development including strategy, hardware and software. Hence the reason for embracing the larger scope of “Economics of Test” in this session, which will include presentations by five executive speakers followed by an interactive panel for Q&A discussion.
These five industry experts from the fabless, IDM, ATE, interface and contract test services segments will share their views on various aspects then will engage in an active panel discussion.
