General This International Standard makes recommendations for the implementation of design review as a means of verifying that the design input requirements have been met and stimulating the improvement of the product??s design. The intention is for it to be applied during the design and development phase of a product??s life cycle. It provides guidelines for planning and conducting a design review and specific details concerning contributions by specialists in reliability@ maintenance@ maintenance support and availability. The process for design and development is outlined in Figure 1 and requirements for management of the design and development process overall are given in ISO 9001:2000. The stages at which the design review or reviews are to be held should be determined during the development of the plan for the design. The objectives of a design review include: ? assessing whether the proposed solution meets the design input requirements that include@ but are not limited to: specified general performance requirements@ dependability@ lifecycle costs@ safety@ endurance@ environment@ electromagnetic compatibility@ human factors; ? assessing whether the proposed solution is the most robust@ efficient and effective solution to achieve the product requirements; ? providing recommendations as required for achieving the design input requirements; ? assessing the status of the design in terms of the completeness of the drawings and specifications; ? assessing the evidence to support the verification of the design performance; ? proposing improvements. Design review facilitates assessment of the status of the design against the input requirements@ identification of opportunities for improvement and guides the design manager towards appropriate action. It accelerates maturing of the product by reducing the time needed to stabilize design details@ and allows product realization to proceed without frequent interruptions. Design review can also stimulate early product improvement.Application The stage or stages at which a design review is to be performed should be determined in the design and development planning stage of a project or a design task. Influencing factors should include customer requirements@ regulatory requirements@ the size and complexity of the product@ the use to which the product is to be put@ and the consequences of failure. The cost to correct deficiencies in a design and the potential consequences increase as the design nears completion. Also@ as the design progresses towards completion@ so the flexibility to implement a change to correct a deficiency or to optimize the design decreases. Each organization undertaking design and development should adopt either a comprehensive design review programme as presented in this standard@ or tailor a more limited one to meet specific product and/or process needs. The design review should be incorporated into the organization??s overall management system and@ as applicable@ each project??s schedule. Limitations of size and resources of the organization@ project value@ product benefits@ risks and complexity@ all influence the size and frequency of design reviews. In smaller organizations@ it could be necessary to supplement staff with personnel from suppliers@ consultants and other outside advisors.