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

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Mar 7, 2025 • 0sec

A Curse of Reliability Engineers

A Curse of Reliability Engineers Abstract Carl and Fred discuss the importance of reliability engineering and customer service working together to increase reliability and safety from the customer point of view. It is very important to understand how customers actually use your product, and customer service staff are uniquely positioned to provide that insight. Key Points Join Carl and Fred as they discuss how reliability engineers can improve customer service, and how customer service can provide critical reliability information. Topics include: Designing customer service activities to satisfy both experienced users and inexperienced users. How should reliability engineers interact with customer service? What is the value? Reliability engineers should sit and listen to customer service calls. Reliability engineers can teach customer service staff what questions to ask customers to decipher valid reliability issues. What about “anticipated misuse”? Should reliability consider anticipated misuse? The answer is “yes.” Customer service can quickly escalate issues from people who already understand have used the first-level diagnostics. Excellent customer service creates word-of-mouth advocacy. AI is an opportunity to improve customer service, with faster diagnostics. 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   The post SOR 1050 A Curse of Reliability Engineers appeared first on Accendo Reliability.
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Mar 3, 2025 • 0sec

The Testing Strategy

The Testing Strategy Abstract Enrico and Fred discuss a couple of ways to approach planning reliability testing. Key Points Join Enrico and Fred as they discuss a question about testing everything or not. Topics include: Testing is expensive and must create a meaningful result. One approach is to test everything – difficult, time-consuming, etc. Another is to identify key decisions and test to create information necessary to make correct decisions. 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 1049 The Testing StrategyEnrico Belmonteshare Social: Link: Embed: https://episodes.reliability.fm/sor/sor-1049-the-testing-strategy.mp3 Download Audio RSS Show Notes  
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Feb 28, 2025 • 0sec

Why Set a Reliability Goal

Why Set a Reliability Goal Abstract Chris and Fred discuss the importance of (trying to) set a reliability goal. Simple … right? Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they discuss reliability goal setting. How do we do them? What makes good ones? How do we not set bad ones? Topics include: Intents and catchphrases are not goals. ‘We have a five-year warranty!’ Great … what is the five-year reliability goal to support this warranty period? ‘It should last 20 years!’ Cool … not all will, so how many can fail over twenty years if this is indeed cool. ‘It should not fail for our customer in the first two years of operations.’ Magnificent … but which customer? … are they on a boat? … is the product being delivered by a third-party courier who has no idea what is in the box? … don’t even know why this is a problem? The ‘quality’ or ‘validation and verification’ team is not in charge. We have come across plenty of organizations where the ‘testing team’ has said that if you can’t test it, it can’t be a requirement. Wrong. Testing is not the only way to measure something. Real example … a ‘quality control team’ in a company successfully had the requirement ‘device must be easy to use’ removed from the specifications because it could not be tested. Effort is often mistaken as outcomes. Sometimes writing down things feels good. Having reliability goals and objectives in some document somewhere might make a board of directors feel good. But what happens when no one in the organization is aware of these goals? … or if they are aware – care about those goals. Goals need to matter, challenge designers, be feasible, and have personal ramifications when they aren’t met. So this means you need to really focus on getting this right. Some organizations say ‘we are success-orientated’ as a shield against looking for and focusing on how their products fail. Every product will fail. There are ‘failure-orientated’ organizations and ‘success-DISorientated organizations.’ 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 The post SOR 1048 Why Set a Reliability Goal appeared first on Accendo Reliability.
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Feb 24, 2025 • 0sec

Review of RAMS 2025

Review of RAMS 2025 Abstract Chris and Fred discuss the success or otherwise of the Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS) 2025 … with a focus on AI. What are your thoughts? Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they discuss the success of RAMS 2025 and its focus on AI. This year, RAMS 2025 was held in Florida. Topics include: How did its focus on AI go? RAMS historically has ‘themes’ that rarely reflect what it is all about. This year’s theme was about ‘AI.’ While there was a fair bit of AI content, it didn’t feel like this was any more than what was included last year. And unfortunately, AI appeared to be touted as a universal panacea to reliability issues. It isn’t. You come up with a crumby design for a new product, AI won’t all of a sudden make it reliable. Conference ‘academic’ writing standards remain a challenge. Technically, to get accepted into a journal or conference proceedings, a paper needs to reflect something that is ‘new’ or adds to the ‘state of the art.’ However, some of the best stories are people talking about mistakes they made on their journey to making something amazing and reliable. These stories often get rejected by the paper selection committee as they are not ‘technical enough.’ But then the papers that are ‘technical enough’ tend to address a very small fraction of real world problems. So it is hard to understand what is ‘acceptable’ or ‘not’ … meaning we get a wide range of papers in terms of quality and relevance. Location, Location, Location! The RAMS hotel selections remain inexplicable. The nearest ‘main’ airport is almost two hours away! The hotel, while nice, is so isolated that it charges like wounded bulls for food, amenities, and so on. This matters! When people are choosing which conference to attend, conferences held in expensive, hard-to-reach places are not a selling point. The RAMS committee can only pretend to openly complain and worry about how to attract future attendees while travelling to the dumbest places to hold conferences so many times … 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 The post SOR 1047 Review of RAMS 2025 appeared first on Accendo Reliability.
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Feb 21, 2025 • 0sec

Building a Reliability Team

Building a Reliability Team Abstract Dianna and Fred discuss building a reliability team. Key Points Join Dianna and Fred as they discuss building a reliability team. Topics include: the difference between being a manager and building/leading a team. why a reliability program should not rely on one person. the importance of business risk and how to quantify it with input from a team. how ad hoc teams can solve problems and create opportunities for continuous improvement. Plus, find out how a reliability engineer saved a company millions of dollars by building a team to solve a problem. 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 Fred and Dianna discuss the differences between being a manager and building a team, noting that simply managing a department is very different from creating a team to solve a specific problem. They emphasize that a reliability program should not be built around one person, as that program will disappear when that person leaves the organization. Building a team requires influence, explaining the benefits, and getting people to understand what’s in it for them. A key element of a team is understanding business risk. The team can assist with putting a dollar amount on the risk to get a project going. Ad hoc teams can be useful to solve problems, like a customer complaint, or for continuous improvement. The team should include people from different parts of the organization. In one case, a reliability engineer built a team that saved a company millions of dollars by identifying bottlenecks in the prototype process. There can be reliability lessons in business systems and processes as well. The post SOR 1046 Building a Reliability Team appeared first on Accendo Reliability.
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Feb 17, 2025 • 0sec

Complex AI Reliability

Complex AI Reliability Abstract Dianna and Fred discuss complex AI reliability. Key Points Join Dianna and Fred as they discuss complex AI reliability: using AI for complex systems. Topics include: the pitfalls of trusting AI without proper validation and monitoring. how small errors in AI decision-making can compound and lead to unreliable outcomes. why good data and established practices are essential before implementing AI in maintenance and planning. day trading, comedies, and quality scorecards 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 In this episode of Speaking of Reliability, Fred and Dianna discuss complex AI reliability, in using AI for complex systems. They share their experiences with AI, noting that while it can be a helpful start, it’s not always a finished product. They also talk about a use study of using AI for stock trading. The goal was to use AI as an agent for decision making. It’s an example of compounding probabilities, with risk and uncertainty in those decisions. The discussion highlights the risk of relying on AI without proper validation, as small errors in AI decision-making can compound and lead to unreliable outcomes. They emphasize that AI is only as good as the data it’s trained on, and that good data and established practices are essential before implementing AI. They conclude that AI is a tool that needs to be evaluated and monitored. The post SOR 1045 Complex AI Reliability appeared first on Accendo Reliability.
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Feb 14, 2025 • 0sec

Reliability Engineer or No

Reliability Engineer or No Abstract Enrico and Fred discuss about the role of the reliability engineer in modern organizations. Key Points Join Fred and Enrico in an engaging conversation about the evolving role of the reliability engineer in organizations and the broader question: Should reliability engineering be a dedicated function, or should it be integrated across teams? This episode covers: Centralized vs. Distributed Reliability Expertise Discussing the pros and cons of having a dedicated reliability engineer versus embedding reliability knowledge across teams. Insights into how organizations with a strong reliability culture achieve product excellence, even without dedicated reliability roles. The Importance of Collaboration and Culture Why embedding reliability into simultaneous engineering teams fosters better outcomes than working in silos. Examples of how a reliability mindset can be effectively distributed across functions like design, marketing, and manufacturing. Teaching and Coaching: The True Role of a Reliability Engineer Transitioning from running tests to empowering teams with reliability knowledge. How training and mentorship help build a culture of reliability excellence within organizations. Challenges in Creating a Reliability Mindset Overcoming outdated practices and checklist-based reliability programs. Strategies for moving beyond test-focused approaches to prevent issues before they arise. Success Stories and Lessons Learned Anecdotes from organizations that shifted their approach to reliability. Exploring how training, collaboration, and management buy-in lead to lasting improvements. This episode offers practical advice for reliability professionals and decision-makers striving to elevate their organization's approach to reliability engineering. Whether you’re a seasoned engineer or new to the field, you’ll find valuable perspectives to enhance your impact. Download Audio RSS Show Notes   The post SOR 1044 Reliability Engineer or No appeared first on Accendo Reliability.
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Feb 10, 2025 • 0sec

Value of Failures

Value of Failures Abstract Kirk and Fred discuss how many companies discard or never get back failed parts or subsystems even though they are high-value gold in the quest to make a more reliable product. Key Points Join Kirk and Fred as they discuss why so few companies realize the value of field failure returns, testing to limits, and the distribution of stress limits in testing several samples of a new product during development. Topics include: Semantics and the terms reliability engineers use are critical in selling a new reliability evaluation process. For instance, the term destruct limit used in HALT (Highly Accelerated LIMIT tests) may sound to non-engineers as if you were going to smash it to pieces and then analyze the pieces. Many companies test-to-pass and then scrap the used samples when a better use would be to take those samples and find and compare the operational and sometimes destruct limits, what Kirk has termed comparative limits analysis, The potential costs of a weak link during product development testing will be exponentially more expensive to a manufacturer when it fails in the field, so it is a good bet that companies should err on the side of making it more robust. 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 1043 Value of FailuresKirk Grayshare Social: Link: Embed: https://episodes.reliability.fm/sor/sor-1043-value-of-failures.mp3 Download Audio RSS Show Notes 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”. It is in the public domain, so please distribute freely. Attempting to predict reliability  is a misleading and costly approach to use for developing a reliable system. You can now purchase the most 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. 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.
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Feb 7, 2025 • 0sec

Reliability Tradeoffs

Reliability Tradeoffs Abstract Kirk and Fred discuss the tradeoffs involved in developing a reliable product. Key Points Join Kirk and Fred as they discuss how, during product development, we have to limit the amount of robustness we can achieve so that it is on schedule and cost-competitive. Topics include: HALT is to find weaknesses in new products using standard materials and processes for most common electronics up to the technology’s fundamental limit. Some products, such as oil exploration tools as Measurement While Drilling (MWD) electronics and interplanetary robots, have unique extreme conditions that are the exceptions. Experience conducting and analyzing HALT processes results in understanding the capabilities of electronic material’s stress limits and their relevance to past failures. HALT is not just breaking and fixing products during development. Engineers should use multiple samples for any HALT process to confirm a low limit. Reliability engineers must justify every limit cause and proposed improvement by tying the potential reliability risk of not improving to known field failure issues. 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 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.” It is in the public domain, so please distribute freely. Attempting to predict reliability is a misleading and costly approach to ecording 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. 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. The post SOR 1042 Reliability Tradeoffs appeared first on Accendo Reliability.
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Feb 3, 2025 • 0sec

Service Life Requirements

In this engaging discussion, Enrico Belmonte, a reliability engineer, delves into the crucial question of product lifespan. He highlights the balance between consumer satisfaction and cost implications while exploring how different usage patterns impact design decisions. Enrico also emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer behavior to enhance product reliability and safety, particularly for high-stakes applications. The episode thoughtfully examines how marketing and engineering can collaborate to redefine reliability targets in an ever-evolving marketplace.

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