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The bathtub curve describes the frequency of death or failure versus the age of a person or object, with three stages: infant mortality, useful life, and wear. Policy makers and product engineers aim to extend the useful life stage and reduce infant mortality. In human cases, actions such as prenatal care and medical technology advancements can improve the curve. Product developers use root cause research and a burn-in approach to eliminate defective products.
People and products are connected by the concept of the bathtub curve: the term describes the shape of the graph of the frequency of death or failure versus the age of the person or object. The characteristic shape has high values at the beginning and end with a long dip in the center. Three stages comprise the shape of the bathtub: the initial infant mortality stage, the useful life stage, and the wear stage. The curve describes the characteristics of a population; it does not necessarily provide information about a particular member of the sample.
In the first stage, a relatively large percentage of people or objects have problems that lead to death or breakage. These are the result of initial defects: in people they can be birth defects or genetic abnormalities, while in products they are manufacturing errors. As this stage of infant mortality progresses, fewer cases occur because more serious problems result in immediate failure or death.
After the death or failure rate stops decreasing, the infant mortality stage is over. At this point the curve of the tank enters the useful life phase. Only healthy or healthy individuals remain in this stage and the problems that occur result from the accident or accident. The values in this section are usually much lower than in the other two phases.
Finally, the occurrence of death or failure increases again as people and objects age and begin to fall into ill health or break down. These problems are the result of the person or object completing a normal life. Rising issues complement the curve shape of the tub.
Policy makers and product engineers monitor the bathtub curve for similar reasons. Both want to extend the useful life stage as much as possible and want to focus on reducing the number of infant mortality cases. They can see the effects of their decisions in how the graph changes.
In human cases, people take action against the causes of problems. They take actions such as educating mothers about prenatal care and making advances in medical technology to prevent infant death and to avoid the effects of old age in the general population. The result is a bathtub curve that has a longer trough with lower infant mortality, meaning more people survive to live long, healthy lives.
Product developers combine root cause research with a burn-in approach. They stress products before they are sent to customers to ensure that only the strongest products survive to be sold. This helps them eliminate products that have defects whose cause has not yet been identified by the developers.
