Keysight Test Asset Optimization Services

1. Introduction
2. Customer problem
3. How does Keysight solution solve this problem
4. Key Features and Business Benefits
5. Additional Information
6. Related Information

Test budgets are often insufficient to fund projects. With test departments being pressured to do more with less, it is critical that they have full transparency on all test equipment. The days of operating with a spreadsheet and gut feel on how test assets are being utilized are no longer sustainable. Keysight understands these pressures and is introducing Test Asset Optimization Services to help companies move from just tracking their test equipment to gaining full control over their test equipment. Keysight’s integrated solution will help customers unlock hidden costs by delivering real-time test-asset utilization, equipment health status, and overall recommendations on areas for savings. One way to lower costs is to avoid a new instrument purchase by deploying an instrument not being used by one team and sending it to another. Another way to is to identify underutilized asset that could be sold to eliminate their recurring operating costs. A third way is to share assets across teams so that each engineer does not have their own lab on and under their desk. These costs add up and can be applied to fund new test technologies and improve a companies’ return on test investment. Test Asset Optimization Services provides the actionable transparency on multi-brand test assets that enables companies to make informed decisions on current and future procurement needs.

The massive growth in mobile data demand and the pressure to modernize test equipment to meet the new test requirements for higher frequencies is squeezing already tight test budgets and time to market schedules. For many companies, test and measurement equipment is one of the largest capital expenditures on the balance sheet. The need to improve the return on test investment by reducing capital and operating expenses has never been as critical to meet business demands. With test asset utilization as low as 10% for many assets at a company and no proven way to measure true asset utilization and health, many assets sit idle or underutilized at a large opportunity cost. There is an enormous area for improvement. Imagine one design lab with 800 assets valued at $35,000 each. That’s $28 million of inventory sitting on or under design engineers’ desks.

Test Asset Optimization Services follows a disciplined process to document and manage all electrical, physical, dimensional and optical test assets. At its core is PathWave Asset Advisor, software with applications that track and control all multi-brand test assets, monitor utilization and health of selected assets, and allow loan pool capabilities for targeted assets. Keysight experts get companies started with a solution specific to geographic and business needs. Either dedicated Keysight professionals manage the ongoing service or people are trained within the company to keep the management of assets operating smoothly. Our integrated solution helps address test asset needs for all assets used in research and development through manufacturing. Track assets to know where they are at all times, and manage their compliance with our metrology-based asset calibration. Monitor utilization to identify idle or underutilized assets and analyze the best course of action such as upgrade, dispose, or share to drive improvements in capital and operating expenses. Monitor asset health to avoid unscheduled downtime. Share assets in loan pools to avoid unnecessary capital expenses and optimize procurement decisions through trade-in, upgrades, purchase, or rental so that the right technology is available for new and current projects.

Figure 1: Test asset utilization monitoring for a single instrument shows true asset utilization.

Figure 2: Asset Health monitoring of a single asset displays its physical condition.

Improve return on test investment by reducing capital and operating expenses.

1. See. Track all multi-brand assets to know where they are at all times across labs, locations and users and manage their compliance with Track and Control Services. Improve the productivity of engineering teams with fast access to compliant assets ready to make accurate measurements.
2. Know. Monitor test equipment so its physical condition and utilization is known, based on advanced machine-learning, to increase asset usage, decrease cost of test, and identify unhealthy instruments before a broader problem occurs with Utilization and Health Services.
3. Optimize. Share and loan equipment through a central pool to avoid capital expense spending on test assets by optimizing, standardizing, or sharing across R&D labs and manufacturing operations with Loan Pool Services. Eliminate aging or underutilized assets and fund new test technologies with value captured from underutilized assets. Optimize procurement decisions such as new purchase, rental, and technology refresh (upgrades, trade-in, extended service, rental, disposal, and financial services.)

Test Asset Optimization Services includes Track and Control, Utilization and Health, Loan Pool Services and PathWave Asset Advisor, software that tracks and controls all test assets, monitors utilization and health of selected assets, and allows loan pool capabilities for targeted assets. Additional related services enhance the feature set with asset tagging, multi-brand calibration and repair, trade-in, upgrades, extended service, consulting, training, financial services and more.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) is a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers, and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world.  Keysight's solutions optimize networks and bring electronic products to market faster and at a lower cost with offerings from design simulation, to prototype validation, to manufacturing test, to optimization in networks and cloud environments. Customers span the worldwide communications ecosystem, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, semiconductor and general electronics end markets. Keysight generated revenues of $3.2B in fiscal year 2017. In April 2017, Keysight acquired Ixia, a leader in network test, visibility, and security. More information is available at www.keysight.com.