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What the heck is EVT, DVT, and PVT?

By March 1, 2022March 25th, 2022No Comments

This week’s video is all about the last few stages in a hardware product’s development cycle as it prepares for shipment to paying customers…sometimes the last 10% is really 80% of the work! At Guinn Partners, many of our clients make hardware products and some are shipping their first hardware product in volume. We generally engage with them 6-9 months before the target ship date to help with final preparation and production before launching to the public. I’ve often been surprised over the years just how few companies (especially young ones) follow any kind of outlined process when validating a product for mass production; so we decided to make a little video going over the EVT, DVT, PVT process.

If you’re making a hardware product (or plan to sometime in the future), you should definitely familiarize yourself with this process! It may save you from accidentally shipping a product that will need a recall. While the exact definition of what falls into EVT, DVT, and PVT vary by company and industry; the main point is to make sure you have some pre–defined process that you all agree to in order to release the next build. Different tests and validation needs to be completed at each stage before the next build. You can have multiple builds at each stage if necessary.

Watch the video here.

TL;DR
EVT (Engineering Validation Testing): Was the thing engineered correctly? Did we choose the right chipsets, thermal management, materials, manufacturing process, screens, battery capacity, etc? You’ll likely use soft tools here and a simulated manufacturing line to make sure your product works and satisfies the PRD (Product Requirements Document).
DVT (Design Validation Testing): Now you’re trying to make production units using hard tools and a real manufacturing line, although you may make a few different variations of the product. You’ll want these to be simulated final units so that you can test with user groups and make sure that once you make them in high volume, they are going to satisfy your customers’ expectations.
PVT (Production Validation Testing): Now you are testing your production line. Your PVT units should theoretically be sellable units that are exactly like the units that will be coming off the line once you ramp production. PVT is the opportunity to test full speed manufacturing to make sure that at least one of your lines is achieving the desired yields and passes all quality control measures (that were pre-defined).