During Electronica 2010 at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre, ASTER Technologies the leading supplier in Board-Level Testability and Test Coverage analysis tools, announce a new yield estimation feature to the TestWay Express test coverage analysis tool.In quality based test models, the cost of test is derived from FPY defect prediction based on the quality analysis of the product design and each step of the manufacturing process. For all the cost drivers, parts per million (PPM) defect rates are calculated for each manufacturing process operation. The issue of calculating first pass yield (FPY) and other IPC quality metrics has become increasingly important in light of the increase in subcontracting the production of high technology products. Project teams and their leaders need accurate estimates of new product yields to plan and budget for test, troubleshooting equipment and engineering resources. In addition, management needs to benchmark potential suppliers in order to determine their manufacturing quality.The defects generated are then summed up to the product level and the best test strategy is developed for reducing the overall test and troubleshooting costs.The key metric in understanding the quality of a delivered product is the ldquolip, or escape rate. An escape is a defect that has not been captured by the test process, but instead is detected by the end-customer. When defects are exposed by the end-customer, they are quite costly and are liable to damage the company reputation. Mr Christophe LOTZ, Managing director of ASTER said: TestWay Express is a perfect solution to answer a crucial question: How can the number of products that are shipped with defects introduced during manufacturing, be minimized in order to reduce potential returns