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edfas.org ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 21 NO. 1 38 have been implemented. If the failure has a new, unique failure mode, a full analysis needs to be performed in order to avoid missing opportunities to uncover poten- tial issues in design or manufacturing. One exception is medical devices. Every singlemedical device returnmust be analyzed in order to find the root cause and take cor- rective action. Although a lack of tools, techniques, and/ or resources for analyzing the failures and performing FA could be factors that affect the decision making, most panelists agreed that these factors should not be the determining factors for whether to analyze or not. We must find alternatives to overcome the limitations and perform the FA when deemed necessary, such as outside resources or working overtime. Analyzing failures helps with customer satisfaction and product improvement, and provides overall benefits to the business. Our panelists pointed out that these factors must be considered when typical consequences for analyzing or not analyzing failures are discussed. They also understood that with limited FA resources, analyzing all failures, particularly the ones that have known issues, could potentially drain the FA resources needed to solve other critical problems. Therefore, itwas stressed that labs should have a strategy on what to analyze and what not to analyze, as this differentiation is critical for successful FA operations. Many companies use a “triage” process in determining whether to analyze. Triage is a process originally devel- oped in the medical field for determining the priority of treating patients based on the severity of their conditions. This concept rations patient treatments efficiently when resources are insufficient for all tobe treated immediately. This same concept canapply to the failure analysis process when multiple, urgent FA requests must be directly pro- cessed and lab resources are limited. Making crucial deci- sions about analyzing or not analyzing failures impacts not only customer satisfaction, but also could result in the delay of solving critical manufacturing issues. After 90 minutes of lively conversation between the panelists and the audience, our 2018 ISTFA panel discus- sion came to a close. We had such an engaged, enthusias- tic audience that wewished the discussion did not have to end, as there were still somany questions to be explored. Thanks go out to our panelists for their contributions to the success of this year’s panel session. We also thank our audience for their eagerness toengage in thedialogue. Not onlywere thequestions appreciated, but also thepersonal experiences that were discussed. Sharing and learning is what the ISTFApanel discussion is all about. Keep learning and sharing your lessons learned, andwe look forward to seeing you at the 2019 ISTFA panel discussion. T hree User Groups were planned for the 2018 International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis (ISTFA) Conference in Phoenix. These forums specifically target our technological area in prac- tical ways and are also highly centered on the overall ISTFA event. Most of the tangible material in our industry touches one or more of these specific discussion areas whenbeing analyzed for testing and failurework. One user groupwas held onWednesday evening, October 31, while ISTFA 2018 USER GROUPS ISTFA 2018 USER GROUP HIGHLIGHTS Patrick Pardy,* ISTFA User Group Forum Chair Anita Madan** and Tejinder Gandhi,*** ISTFA 2018 User Group Co-Chairs *Intel, Hillsboro, Ore. — patrick.pardy@intel.com **GlobalFoundries, Malta, N.Y. — amadan16@hotmail.com ***Maxim Integrated, San Jose, Calif. — tejinder.gandhi@maximintegrated.com the others were held during the two-hour lunch break on Thursday, November 1. Attendancewas >100, >90, and>80 for the FIB, ContactlessOptical/Nanoprobing, andSample Prep user groups, respectively. Our three priorities this year were to increase discussions, promote networking, and provide a lasting way to communicate critical issues between ISTFA conferences. Following are summaries of the three user groups from ISTFA 2018.