<div class="htmlview paragraph">The importance to reliability of such factors as vendor selection, parts screening tests, electronic packaging selections, in-process inspection and test, and maintenance by the user, to name a few, is loudly proclaimed, yet accurate quantitative assessment has not been achieved.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The data to be presented in this paper put some of these reliability prediction factors in perspective to show which produce the greatest gains in reliability. The theme is factory-to-target reliability, emphasizing that the practices selected in design, in manufacture, in test, and in operational use have a lasting impact on survival of our products and, ultimately, the future of our companies.</div>