Online calculator aids test-asset management

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McNamara says he has seen telecom and defense companies improve profitability by tens of millions of dollars by focusing on what he describes as the dynamic that drives test-related activities: the interdependence of people, practices, and tools. Streamlining relationships among these groups, he says, can lead to measurable improvements in engineering cultures.

The key to asset-usage improvement, McNamara says, lies in the realization that assets are inanimate objects that don't need management. Assets never have agendas, never are in bad moods, and never engage in office politics. People, however, must be able to manage, be managed themselves, and be satisfied that they can get their jobs done, he says, adding that a program can only be successful if it satisfies users.

McNamara advises starting with practices that will earn the trust of users and build that trust over time by delivering the technology they need, when they need it, without fail. Early success, he says, builds momentum for continuing and expanding an initiative.

The stakes are high. A large OEM, McNamara says, may have 10,000 pieces of discrete test equipment, each having an average acquisition cost of $9500 and achieving utilization rates hovering around 15%. Without an effective asset-management approach, he says, capital spending on test equipment will be 50 to 75% higher than it needs to be.