INFANT MORTALITY PERIOD

Initially there are a large number of failures, called initial failures or infant mortality. These failures are primarily due to manufacturing defects, such as weak parts, poor soldering, bad assembly, poor fits, etc. Defective units  are detected during the initial failure period, which is characterized by decreasing failure rate. Many manufacturers provide a "debugging" of "burn-in" period for their product, prior to delivery, which helps to eliminate a high portion of the initial failures and assist in establishing a high level of operational reliability.