Product Life Cycle Testing

Introduction

In the traditional engineering mindset, testing was often relegated to the final stage of development—a “gate” to pass before shipping. However, in the context of modern Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), this reactive approach is both risky and prohibitively expensive. The cost of fixing a defect increases exponentially as it moves further down the lifecycle; a requirement error found during field testing can cost 100 times more than if it were caught during the design phase.

Product Life Cycle Testing is the systematic process of verifying and validating a product at every single stage of its existence. It is not a single event, but a continuous thread of quality assurance that ensures the “As-Designed” intent matches the “As-Built” reality and the “As-Performed” experience. By integrating testing into the PLM framework, organizations transform quality from a final hurdle into a proactive driver of innovation and safety.

The V-Model: The Strategic Backbone of PLM Testing

The most effective way to understand Product Life Cycle Testing is through the V-Model. This framework demonstrates the relationship between each phase of development and its corresponding testing phase:

1. Requirements vs. Acceptance Testing: Does the final product satisfy the stakeholder’s needs?
2. System Architecture vs. System Testing: Do all sub-systems work together as an integrated whole?
3. Detailed Design vs. Integration Testing: Do the individual modules (hardware and software) interface correctly?
4. Implementation vs. Unit Testing: Does each specific component perform its intended function?

The PLM Advantage: A mature PLM system ensures that as you move down the left side of the “V” (Design), you are simultaneously building the test cases for the right side (Validation), ensuring Total Traceability.

Stages of Testing Throughout the Product Lifecycle

To be truly efficient, testing must adapt to the specific maturity of the product:

1. Conceptual & Requirements Testing

Before a single CAD model is drawn, requirements must be tested for ambiguity, conflict, and feasibility. This is often called Virtual Testing or “Model-in-the-Loop” (MiL).

2. Design Verification (DV)

Using simulations and Digital Twins to verify that the design meets the technical specifications. This stage reduces the need for expensive physical prototypes.

3. Production Validation (PV)

Testing the first units off the production line to ensure that the manufacturing process hasn’t introduced defects and that the product is “buildable” at scale.

4. Post-Market & Operational Testing

Once in the field, testing continues through IoT sensors and periodic maintenance checks. This ensures the product remains safe as it ages and provides data for Regression Testing when software updates are deployed.

Key Challenges in Modern Product Testing

• Complexity of Cyber-Physical Systems: Testing a product that combines mechanical, electronic, and software components requires a unified “Source of Truth.”
• Regulatory Rigor: In industries like Aerospace or MedTech, “Testing” is not enough; you must provide a documented Audit Trail of every test result.
• Data Silos: Testing teams often work in different tools than the design teams, leading to “Broken Traceability” where a change in a requirement isn’t reflected in the test plan.

How Visure Solutions Revolutionizes Product Life Cycle Testing

Visure Requirements ALM Platform is the engine that powers a high-integrity testing strategy within PLM:

• End-to-End Traceability (The “Golden Link”): Visure ensures that every test case is linked directly to a requirement. If a requirement changes, Visure automatically flags the associated test as “Suspect,” preventing the use of outdated validation criteria.
• Integrated Test Management: Manage test plans, test cases, and execution results in the same environment as your requirements. This eliminates the gap between “what we need” and “how we prove it.”
• Requirements-Based Testing (RBT): Visure allows you to generate test cases directly from requirements, ensuring 100% test coverage and significantly reducing manual effort.
• Compliance-Ready Reporting: With one click, Visure generates traceability matrices and validation reports required for standards such as ISO 26262, IEC 62304, and DO-178C.
• Integration with the Digital Thread: Through OSLC, Visure connects test results with the PLM’s physical configuration, ensuring that you know exactly which version of the hardware was validated by which version of the software.

Conclusion

Product Life Cycle Testing is the ultimate safeguard of a company’s reputation and its customers’ safety. By moving away from “end-of-pipe” testing and embracing a continuous, PLM-integrated approach, engineering teams can identify risks earlier, reduce development costs, and ensure that every product delivered is a verified success.

In an era where products are increasingly defined by software and connectivity, the ability to maintain a rigorous, traceable, and automated testing lifecycle is a critical competitive advantage. With a platform like Visure at the heart of your V&V strategy, you don’t just test to find failures—consequently, you test to guarantee excellence.

Check out the 14-day free trial at Visure and experience how AI-driven change control can help you manage changes faster, safer, and with full audit readiness.