From Eight Months to Two Weeks: Accelerating Power Supply Testing Through Modelling and Simulation

At SIQ, we are transforming the power supply testing process through advanced modelling, simulations and preliminary testing. In a specific project, we shortened a process that previously took approximately eight months to just two weeks. For manufacturers, this means a significantly faster development cycle.

Time is a key factor in the competitiveness of new products. Developing a complex electrical or electronic product can take several years, with testing, resolving identified non-conformities and retesting accounting for a significant part of the development process.

This is where advanced modelling and test simulations, supported by artificial intelligence, can significantly improve the traditional development and testing process.

From 240 days to just two weeks

Together with Inpotron, SIQ explored how digital modelling, AI-assisted simulations and preliminary testing could accelerate the power supply testing process. The results were remarkable: a power supply testing process that previously took an average of 240 days (approximately eight months) was shortened to just two weeks.

The aim is not to replace physical testing or experts with modelling and simulation. The key to this approach is that much of the verification, analysis and identification of potential issues can take place earlier in the development process, before the product is ready for final testing. This significantly reduces the time required for the final testing phase.

We Identify Problems Before They Become Costly

Using a digital model of the product, we can assess its key characteristics and simulate different scenarios as early as the development phase.

Among other things, we can assess:

• electrical clearances and creepage distances,
• temperature rise and heat dissipation,
• component selection and loading,
• possible component failures,
• the product’s expected behaviour in different tests.

This allows us to identify potential non-conformities much earlier than in a conventional process, where an issue often becomes apparent only during testing of the physical sample.

This is an important distinction. If a non-conformity is identified only during final testing, the manufacturer must modify the product, produce a new or adapted sample, and repeat some of the tests. Each such iteration adds time and cost and delays the product’s planned market launch.

Artificial Intelligence Does Not Replace Testing. It Helps Make It More Efficient.

Our approach combines digital modelling, artificial intelligence, simulations, physical testing and SIQ expertise.

Once the physical prototype is available, we compare the digital model with the actual product and perform all required tests. Technical documentation can also be reviewed before final testing begins. The result is a more targeted testing process without unnecessary additional iterations.

Key Benefits

• Shorter testing time
  A large part of the verification can be completed during the development phase, making final testing significantly shorter.
• Earlier identification of non-conformities
  Potential issues can be identified before the final testing phase.
• Fewer development iterations
  Fewer changes after the prototype is completed mean fewer repeated tests and less time lost.
• Reduced use of costly prototypes
  Simulations make it possible to evaluate certain scenarios without requiring a new physical sample for every iteration.
• Faster time to market
  A shorter development and testing cycle can enable a manufacturer to begin sales earlier and gain a significant competitive advantage.

When eight months become two weeks

This collaborative project between SIQ and Inpotron demonstrated the practical potential of this approach.

The example shows that the question for manufacturers is no longer only “Will our product pass the tests successfully?”, but also: “How many issues can we identify before final testing even begins?”