Speaking Of Reliability: Friends Discussing Reliability Engineering Topics | Warranty | Plant Maintenance

Identify Key Decisions Abstract Carl and Fred discussing the integration of reliability activities with engineering decisions, and how to enhance this important intersection. Key Points Join Carl and Fred as they discuss the important of supporting the decision-making process with the tools of Reliability Engineering. Topics include: The origin of Speaking of Reliability Aligning reliability activities with what the team needs Primary Steps to Achieving High Reliability include Step 3: “Identify Reliability-related Decisions” What are the key pieces of information that are needed by the program team, and when? Reliability occurs at the point of decision Everything we do in reliability should support the decisions that create a reliable product There is a broad range of decisions in the product development process Connect the reliability plan with the *key* decisions In order to impact reliability-related decisions, you have to do the previous steps well, including reliability strategic vision and reliability gap assessment Reliability is not done in a vacuum Sometimes the decisions you have to support are mandated by management Ask for the “why” behind the decision, so you know how best to support it All gaps do not need to be addressed; the questions is whether or not closing the gap supports a key decision Consider the matrix in our book to prioritize decisions; screen shot in Show Notes Listing important decisions is not a one-time event Writing a Reliability Plan is not a one-time event, it needs to be updated when needed Get the activities of reliability associated with the key decisions in your company Connecting with decisions advances your career in reliability Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS Show Notes Figure 7.1 “Decision making matrix for the Enthusiast Series example” from The Process of Reliability Engineering Related Topics: SOR 607 Reliability Decisions(Opens podcast in a new browser tab) Help Your Team Make Better Reliability Decisions(Opens article in a new browser tab) The post SOR 867 Identify Key Decisions appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Career Strategies Abstract Kirk and Fred discuss about a career progression in the field of reliability engineering and job movement in this post-pandemic work world. Key Points Join Kirk and Fred as they discuss career paths in becoming a knowledgeable and more skilled reliability professional. Topics include: Kirk’s experience in semiconductor manufacturing, and later in computer manufacturing, and meeting Gregg Hobbs, provided many different skills and understandings of the so many aspects of electronics systems production and what can go wrong. Working with many different companies also gives a wide understanding of the politics of organizations and some of the absurd things you are asked to do, such as when Kirk was part of a technical team in Storage Technology that was formed to determine why the “reliability prediction departments’ predictions did not correlate to actual field failure rates. The experience of doing failure analysis on a wide variety of systems will provide a much more comprehensive understanding of reliability and the many ways a system can fail. Although this can be possible in the same company, being with many companies provides more knowledge of reliability and in addition the variety of organizational politics. With younger workers and in today’s job market, switching jobs more frequently is not viewed not as much as a negative as it was a generation ago. Company politics and relationships play a big role in the ability to get companies to change methods and sometimes a consultant can get changes accepted easier than done than an internal employee who knows the same information. Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. SOR 866 Career StrategiesKirk Grayshare Social: Link: Embed: https://episodes.reliability.fm/sor/sor-866-career-strategies.mp3 Download Audio RSS Show Notes You can now purchase the recent recording of Kirk Gray’s Hobbs Engineering 8 (two 4 hour sessions) hour Webinar “Rapid and Robust Reliability Development 2022 HALT & HASS Methodologies Online Seminar” from this link. Please click on this link to access a relatively new analysis of traditional reliability prediction methods article from the US ARMY and CALCE titled  “Reliability Prediction – Continued Reliance on a Misleading Approach” For more information on the newest discovery testing methodology here is a link to the book “Next Generation HALT and HASS: Robust design of Electronics and Systems” written by Kirk Gray and John Paschkewitz. Related Topics: Successful Career in Reliability Engineering(Opens in a new browser tab)

The Right to Repair Abstract Kirk and Fred discuss new efforts in states to legislate the consumer’s right to repair equipment they have purchased. Key Points Join Kirk and Fred as they discuss new laws forcing equipment manufacturers to make diagnostic software, spare hardware parts and the tools needed to make repairs on their own. Topics include: In smartphones and smart watches the density of the electronics inside make a few components, mostly batteries and glass screens reparable. Self service repair by a unskilled consumer  may cost the consumer more time and money than factory repair if it is not done correctly. The increase in electronics and computers in cars has allowed computer diagnostics to identify faults by going to a local auto parts store and using their diagnostic computer, but may have made it more difficult for the unskilled owner to repair it. Some of the motivation for these right-to-repair laws is to reduce electronic waste in the landfills. It may help but some consumer electronics but for many electronics the reason they are disposed of is because they are technologically obsolete.. Consider the millions of VHS video systems, DVD’s , audio cassettes, etc. that are fairly worthless now, repairing it is not the issue. In Colorado the motivation for the right-to-repair was to help farmers reduce the cost of repair farm equipment by making diagnostic software and replacement electronics modules accessible. Forcing manufacturers to make devices repairable would restrict innovation and in many cases a much less reliable assembly. Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS Show Notes You can now purchase the recent recording of Kirk Gray’s Hobbs Engineering 8 (two 4 hour sessions) hour Webinar “Rapid and Robust Reliability Development 2022 HALT & HASS Methodologies Online Seminar” from this link. Please click on this link to access a relatively new analysis of traditional reliability prediction methods article from the US ARMY and CALCE titled  “Reliability Prediction – Continued Reliance on a Misleading Approach” For more information on the newest discovery testing methodology here is a link to the book “Next Generation HALT and HASS: Robust design of Electronics and Systems” written by Kirk Gray and John Paschkewitz. Related Topics: I Want it Now and I Want it Cheap(Opens article in a new browser tab) SOR 356 How Reliable Does Your Product Need to Be(Opens podcast in a new browser tab) The post SOR 865 The Right to Repair appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Using Peck’s Equation Abstract Chris and Fred discussing the proper use of the equation often used to determine acceleration factors for accelerated temperature and humidity testing. Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they discuss Topics include: The creation of the equation and the specific failure mechanism Other failure mechanisms and technologies most likely are not modeled by this equation General guidance when using a formula from a book or standard Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS Related Topics: QDD 046 Environmental Stress Testing for Robust Designs(Opens podcast in a new browser tab) SOR 125 The Reliability Equation – The Robust Design(Opens podcast in a new browser tab) The post SOR 864 Using Peck’s Equation appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Failure Rate to a Distribution Abstract Chris and Fred discussing a listener’s questions on how to convert a failure rate to a distribution. Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they discuss a rather common problem when a vendor only provides a FIT or failure rate as reliability information and you want to use a distribution as part of your reliability work. Topics include: Ask your vendor better questions and get better information. (sometimes works) Assuming a constant hazard rate often leads to very poor outcomes. Use what you know about failure mechanisms, field data, technical papers, models, etc. to make better assumptions. Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS Related Topics: Calculating the Failure Rate of Parts The post SOR 863 Failure Rate to a Distribution appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Dealing with Reliability Risk Abstract Greg and Fred discussing how reliability inherently involves variability and risk. Key Points Join Greg and Fred as they discuss how to address decision making involving reliability and risk.  Topics include: What does reliability risk mean? How to address reliability risks. What are the tools to address reliability risk in problem solving and decision making. Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS Related Topics: SOR 442 How to Quantify Reliability Risk   The post SOR 862 Dealing with Reliability Risk appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Reshoring and Talent Abstract Greg and Fred discussing bringing suppliers back to the location of OEM headquarters and factories.  A common risk is finding the talent to design and build these factories. Key Points Join Greg and Fred as they discuss reshoring and finding the right talent.  Reshoring is the business of bringing suppliers back to the US.  This creates new challenges such as finding engineers and craft people to design and build few factories. Topics discussed in this episode include: What is reshoring? What are the challenges of reshoring. What are benefits of bringing suppliers back to the US. Where are the people (talent) to design and build these plants. Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio Related Topics: SOR 221 Reliability Program Assessment in a Factory Setting(Opens podcast in a new browser tab)   The post SOR 861 Reshoring and Talent appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Software and Thinking Abstract Chris and Fred discuss the many and varied different software package that can help you do ‘reliability stuff’ … and how we usually assume everything they do is ‘OK.’ But how do we know the software is giving us the numbers we need? Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they discuss how software packages help us do reliability stuff … and how we trust them to do the right thing. Is this trust well placed? Topics include: Let’s talk about Weibull Plotting. Weibull plotting is perhaps the most widespread reliability activity that we use software to help us do. But if you put the same data into a number of different commercially available software packages, we will get different outcomes. Why? Because these software plotting tools make 4-5 assumptions to quickly get things like confidence bounds. If you don’t know about these assumptions, then you don’t really know what the software is doing. Come up with what you ‘expect’ to see in your data analysis. Do you believe that your system has some infant mortality or wear-in? Do you then believe that the majority of systems that survive infant mortality will fail due to (for example) ball bearing wear out? Do you know what both these types of failure look like? Do you also know how you expect this to visualize on a Weibull plot? You really need to answer questions like this before you conduct data analysis. If you don’t have the skills to answer these questions … you are not qualified to conduct analysis on any software package (sorry). If you can answer these questions, and the data analysis meets your expectations … great. If not … then there is a gap in your knowledge that you need to fill in before you use the outputs to make a million-dollar decision. Do you simply trust your software package(s)? You can’t. They are all useful. They all have their issues. They are only useful if you know what the issues are. This means you know when to trust the outputs (and when to question the rest). Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS Related Topics: R Software and Reliability(Opens webinar recording in a new browser tab)   The post SOR 860 Software and Thinking appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

An ALT Design Question Abstract Chris and Fred discuss an ALT or Accelerate Life Test Design Question. We love these podcasts … as we are directly answering a question from one of our listeners. Interested in hearing a response to a real-world question from a listener? Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they discuss helping out one of our listeners through a problem he is experiencing regarding a ‘thermal-shock’ test in the order of 1 000 000 cycles. There are a few things to unpack here … so let’s go. Topics include: Can we just focus on the ‘b50′? What is the ‘b50′? It is the median time to failure of something like a bearing or other things that fail due to damage being accumulated through repeated stresses or cycles. But … is the ‘b50′ the right metric? For most decisions, it isn’t. It won’t help you work out (for example) how long it will take before 5 % of your products fail. This is a much more common question that needs to be answered. Do we need three different stress levels? For ALT … yes. This is because ALT is based on a model that you need to pick to help convert time spent at accelerated stresses back to normal operating conditions. Many organizations simply find a model they like in a textbook and go with it. Finding a model in a textbook is a great first step … but you need to confirm that it works for your product, which has its own set of failure mechanisms. Then Chris and Fred talk about their different take on the samples, stress levels and so on. It is very important to make sure that by increasing stresses (like temperature) you don’t change the state of the product. You don’t want to (for example) melt it. But even if you don’t melt it, there are things that temperature can do at a microscopic level that will change the way things fail. Fred likes stacking the samples closer to the use case level. Chris … not so much. Listen to this podcast to hear why? Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS Related Topics: How to Create an ALT Plan(Opens podcast in a new browser tab) The post SOR 859 An ALT Design Question appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Reliability Predictions and FMEA Occurrence Abstract Carl and Fred discussing a reader question about FMEAs. Specifically, whether reliability predictions (for similar systems) are valid input to the Occurrence rating in an FMEA. Key Points Join Carl and Fred as they discuss the subject of Reliability Predictions, and whether they can be used in an FMEA. Topics include: Reliability Predictions methodology Parts count can be misused as a way to predict reliability Can Reliability Predictions be useful when assessing Occurrence rating in an FMEA? Use of failure rates vs failure distributions in Supportability FMEA Why Design FMEA Occurrence rating is subjective Using a Reliability prediction from a handbook to inform FMEA occurrence rating gives a false sense of knowledge Using less parts, as a strategy to improve reliability, can have validity FMEA Occurrence rating is associated with the failure mode due to cause, not the aggregate component failure rate Assumptions matter; if a reliability prediction assumes constant failure rate, this is often a wrong assumption Field failure history can be important input to FMEA, as input to failure mode identification; this can help ensure field failures do not repeat Beware of reliability software that takes the FMEA occurrence rating and transfers it to the System Reliability Analysis as component or system failure rates Models are useful, however, the assumptions and methodologies must be correct A “one-off” failure during product development should not be dismissed Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches. Download Audio RSS iTunes Stitcher Related Topic: SOR 069 Should reliability prediction be part of your reliability plan?(Opens podcast in a new browser tab)   The post SOR 858 Reliability Predictions and FMEA Occurrence appeared first on Accendo Reliability.