How to calculate the shelf life of your products.

Calculating the shelf life of energy-related products (ErP) is crucial due to their environmental impact. Increasing the shelf life of these products can significantly reduce the consumption of raw materials and energy required for production and disposal. Understanding and evaluating product lifespan helps balance the trade-off between extending product life and minimizing the environmental impact of manufacturing and disposing of new products. This guide is based on the general methods of EN 45552:2020, which provides a framework for evaluating the reliability and durability of ErP.

Understanding of durability and reliability

Durability refers to the ability of a product to function as required under defined conditions up to a limit state, which can be the end of life (EoL). This is not a probability, but the expected time or cycles that a product can withstand. Durability can be measured in different units such as calendar time, operating cycles or running distance, depending on the product.

reliability on the other hand, is the probability that a product will function as required over a certain period of time under specified conditions without failing. Reliability assessments focus on the time to first failure or the time between failures and provide a statistical measure of a product's performance over time.

General method for shelf life assessment

The durability assessment method involves several important steps:

1. Definition of the product and its features:
• Perform a functional analysis to describe the primary, secondary, and tertiary functions of the product. This helps to understand the product features and their functionalities.
2. Identification of environmental and operating conditions:
• Determine the normal environmental and operating conditions to which the product will be exposed. These include temperature, humidity, mechanical stress and other relevant factors. These conditions help to simulate real-world scenarios during durability tests.
3. Collection of additional information:
• Collect data from past experience, field data, manufacturer specifications, and other sources. This information supports reliability and durability analysis by providing insights into possible failure modes and mechanisms.
4. Performing a reliability analysis:
• Perform a reliability analysis using techniques such as Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) to identify possible failure modes and their causes. This analysis helps to prioritize the failure modes according to their probability and influence.
5. Development and application of durability assessment methods:
• Choose or develop appropriate test methods to evaluate the shelf life of the product. This can include physical testing on samples, accelerated endurance testing, and calculations based on existing data. Make sure the methods are reliable, repeatable, and cost-effective.
6. Documentation of the assessment:
• Document the results of the reliability and durability analyses, including the identified failure modes, evaluation methods, and any assumptions made during the analysis. The documentation should also include details of the environmental and operating conditions considered.

Important Considerations

• Maintenance and repair:
• Durability assessments should consider the potential for maintenance and repair that can extend the life of the product. The number and type of repair measures should be defined and included in the assessment.
• Accelerated testing, as described in standards such as EN 62506, can provide faster insights into the durability of a product by exposing it to higher loads. These tests help estimate how long a product will last under normal conditions, based on its performance under accelerated conditions.

For more detailed guidance, please consult the full text of EN 45552:2020 and related standards such as EN 45554:2020 for repair, reuse and upgrade assessments and EN 62308 for reliability assessment methods.

How can ComplyMarket help you calculate the reliability of your products?

We have developed state-of-the-art technology that uses artificial intelligence to simulate complex mathematical equations, allowing us to calculate durability in just a few minutes and in accordance with the requirements of EN 45552:2020. Simply enter as much information as you can, and our tool will calculate the reliability score of your product.

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