What does it take to make a maintenance-free phone?

Huawei aims to make maintenance-free devices that are as simple to use as paper money. "We want to make Huawei synonymous with high quality in the ICT industry," said Ma Bing, Chief Quality Officer, Huawei Consumer Business Group.

The Huawei quality management system (QMS) is influenced by the standards of European carriers and the maintenance-free concept that US customers want, as well as the aim to have zero feedback (complaints) in Japan. The company got a headstart in the quality game via its carrier business, influencing the level of quality management standards and approaches that Huawei uses to manage handset quality today. Huawei used to provide white-label phones to global mainstream carriers, and the phones had to conform to US quality management standards.

"The carriers gives us even higher quality standards when compared to rivals," he said. "When we discuss quality standards with  suppliers they complain that our standards are too demanding."

Today, Huawei engineers have over 670 quality standards that they must follow, all aimed at making equipment that rarely fails. This ranges from industry standards and certifications to operator requirements externally, internal standards for R&D design, manufacturing, materials as well as suppliers. "For the consumer electronics market it is important to offer high quality and even more so, a good customer experience," said Ma.

The company pays special attention to feedback from consumers. An internal system, the Voice of Customer (VoC), collates feedback globally on a daily basis, amounting to 200,000-300,000 user comments.

"With big data analysis we are able to identify problems and address them quickly," Ma said.

That feedback can sometimes be unexpected. For example, some customers complained that sound volumes were too low, although the phones conformed to international quality standards. Huawei realised that acceptable ambient sound levels in the countries which had come up with the standards were lower than in the countries which had sent the feedback. "We had to adapt our standards according to user requirements," he said.

The focus on quality has even led Huawei hardware remaining operational in extremely low temperatures, when other phones have shut down.

"Our biggest challenge is actually supplier management...minor defects can cause quality problems," Ma said.

To minimise the likelihood of defects Huawei chooses the top three suppliers in various fields to be the mainstream supplier of various components. In the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) sector, Foxconn and Flex are partners, while for displays, Sony, Corning, and Samsung are the preferred vendors.

Quality is also maintained through regular contact with suppliers. Every six months Huawei hosts a Supplier Quality Conference in addition to an annual supplier conference. Additionally, 500 R&D experts are sent to suppliers to help them improve on quality management.

Automation is another aspect of quality management at Huawei. There are automated material checks, assembly functions and testing to maintain consistent, high-quality operations.

Phone companies may roll out phones several times a year, but the process to produce each model takes years. The chipset for a flagship model can take at least 18 months, while it takes at least 15 months to develop the phone, and nine months just to design and test a smartphone battery, Ma said. Automation is a key part of the process, allowing Huawei to do more within tight timelines.

"People tend to think our development efficiency is too low but the phone development process is very complex," Ma said.

He said the product lifecycle begins with the selection of suitable components, development of custom parts which may involve joint R&D collaborations with suppliers, as well as all kinds of tests: on functionality, to check that the hardware meets specifications, for long-term reliability simulations, and to see if components can be produced consistently on a large scale. There are compatibility tests with partners, human radiation safety, connectivity, drop, and twist tests, all of which must be completed to the company's satisfaction before a model gets to some 500-plus beta testers for months-long user friendliness testing.

Ma added that Huawei adopts a conservative approach with batteries and will not use the most cutting edge technology to improve smartphone batteries. To improve on battery lives, Huawei has focused on improving software efficiency and fast charging technologies.

A tour of Huawei's Beijing testing labs showed part of the effort required to test yet-to-launch Huawei phone models, which have to work well in 217 countries and regions, as well as in 63 languages:

Hardware compatibility
Huawei's phones are tested with more than 1,000 devices, from laptops to wearables.

Software compatibility
The phones are tested with more than 150,000 apps with automated systems. If an issue is discovered, Huawei communicates with the software vendor to request changes. "Our biggest challenge is the variety of apps in the Android system," said Ma. "From past experience 40% of Android apps will be made obsolete and cannot be used with the new Android upgrade."

Bluetooth compatibility
Various Bluetooth equipment – earphones, speakers, wearables – must work with the phone.

Network roaming
As smartphones must work globally, manufacturers have to check that each model can handle mobile network variance in various countries. Huawei phones support five 2G bands, seven 3G bands, 20 4G bands and 1,334 carriers, for example. "If your phone works well in your home country but not as well when roaming, this is why," Ma said. "Our advantage is that we also produce telecommunications equipment."

There are also tests for audio quality, electromagnetic emissions, radiation safety, as well as physical tests to make sure the phone can survive reasonable drops, twisting, and general usage:

Source: Huawei. Over the air (OTA) testing in an anechoic chamber to determine if 2x2 MIMO capabilities are working well.

Source: Huawei. A Huawei phone is fixed to a mannequin's ear in an anechoic chamber (a room that absorbs sound waves and/or electromagnetic waves) to test the audio quality of the handset. 

Source: Huawei. This test simulates what happens when someone with a phone in a jeans pocket sits down.

Source: Huawei. A video of the "jeans test".

Source: Huawei. A drop test to see how the phone holds up after being dropped from a height.

Source: Huawei. Different parts of the screen are tapped repetitively to test the durability of the touchscreen.

Interested?

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about Huawei's customer service centres

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Note: This report stems from a Huawei-hosted visit to China. The company sponsored accommodation and travel costs.