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

Defined Environment Abstract Kirk and Fred discuss that customers may use their products, such as washing machines, in more stressful environments than the design specifies or recommends. Key Points Join Kirk and Fred as they discuss manufacturers’ specified environmental conditions for use and the fact that most users probably do not know or follow those specifications. Topics include: Some companies can record and transmit use and environmental conditions in real-time, which helps them understand the actual conditions rather than their design specifications. Many designers do not know what environments and usage conditions their customers will actually use it in, so they rely on standards that are generalized averages, not based on the actual wide variations in use conditions. Changes in technology have made many consumer products more robust, such as smartphones with more substantial glass screens, better water resistance, and more excellent reliability when accidentally dropped on the ground or water. Kirk has operated samples of business PCs that survived in thermal cycling and steady-state conditions well above the manufacturers’ specified temperatures for thousands of hours and wrote a paper, “Long Term Thermal Overstressing of Computers,” with Professor Michael Pecht, founder of the CALCE consortium. Here is a link to download this paper through IEEE Explore. 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. Trying to predict reliability for development is a misleading a costly approach. 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. The post SOR 1036 Defined Environment appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Lasting Just Long Enough Abstract Kirk and Fred discuss the subject of reliability and how appliance manufacturing companies may design for a limited life in order to sell new models. Key Points Join Kirk and Fred as they discuss the need for companies need to sell the new models of their products and the planned or known wear out after the period of acceptable use. Topics include: Many reasons people buy new appliances and cars is because of the new features, which in clothes washing machines is more efficient water use, and in automobiles it is safety systems and gas mileage. If  a major appliance fails after a 10+ years life of service, where do you go for information on the replacement.  Kirk relies on Consumer Reports because every year it sends a product survey on their years old product asking about it’s reliability. Engineering any product or system is a series of tradeoffs and especially with costs and wear out of mechanical components. Occasionally a company produces an extremely reliable systems that make it difficult to get the customer to replace it, and Kirk has experienced this first hand as a Sales Engineer selling helium mass spectrometers, a.k.a helium leak detectors. 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. Trying to predict reliability for development is a misleading a costly approach. 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. The post SOR 1035 Lasting Just Long Enough appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Make it Less Robust Abstract Dianna and Fred discuss requests to engineers to make it less robust. Key Points Join Dianna and Fred as they discuss the situation where engineers are asked to make something less robust. Topics include: Planned obsolescence and its impact on product design. Designing products to last a specific time, not too long, not too short. Why some products are designed to break, and how it affects the consumer. The business and marketing reasons behind planned obsolescence. Why some companies are moving towards design for repairability and sustainable materials. 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, Fred and Dianna discuss why we may make it less robust. This includes the concept of planned obsolescence and how it impacts product design. They explore the idea of why some products are made to fail and the business reasons behind this practice. One story involves a company that designs products with a specific lifespan, aiming for a 10-year warranty, while another story discusses how a contract incentivized a company to make products that would fail. They also consider how the market drives the business and how product reliability can affect sales. The conversation also touches upon the movement towards design for repairability and the use of sustainable materials. The discussion highlights the trade-offs that businesses make between product longevity, cost, and market demand. They conclude by emphasizing that while perfect reliability is an ideal goal, it may not always align with business objectives. The post SOR 1034 Make it Less Robust appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Conference Value Abstract Dianna and Fred discuss conference value: maximizing the benefits of conferences and assessing their value for participation. Key Points Join Dianna and Fred as they discuss conference value. Topics include: Discover how to make the most of conferences, beyond just attending sessions. Learn the importance of planning ahead, identifying key sessions, and networking opportunities. Understand how to balance session attendance with breaks for informal conversations and avoid burnout. Explore how to follow up after a conference to implement new ideas and create real value. Hear about strategies to connect with others, ask meaningful questions, and avoid the “two-minute meet and greet”. 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, Fred and Dianna discuss how to get the most out of conferences, prompted by a listener question about whether attending conferences is “worth it”. To get the most value out of conferences, it’s important to go beyond simply attending sessions and instead actively engage in a variety of activities. Evaluating the value of a conference involves assessing both the potential for learning and the practical application of what is learned. Recommended approach Here's how to approach conferences to maximize their benefit and determine their worth. Plan ahead: Before the conference, identify the specific topics, sessions, and speakers that align with your interests and goals. Look for tutorials or papers on specific subjects you want to learn more about. Networking: Conferences offer opportunities to connect with peers, experts, and potential collaborators. Engage in conversations during breaks, lunches, and dinners to build relationships. Don’t be shy about asking questions to gain new perspectives. Follow up with people you meet after the conference to foster ongoing conversations. Be willing to move on from conversations that are not a good fit. Active Participation: Attend presentations that are relevant to your goals. Don't hesitate to leave a presentation that is not useful and go to one that is more aligned with your interests. Balance Attendance and Breaks: Avoid over-scheduling yourself. Take breaks to recharge and engage in informal conversations. Focus on Implementation: Identify actionable takeaways during sessions. Jot down notes on key learnings that you can implement when you return to work. Implement the ideas and track the difference they make. Conference Value To determine if a conference is valuable, consider if it provides opportunities for: Knowledge Acquisition: Learning new concepts, methodologies, or best practices relevant to your field. Skill Development: Gaining practical skills through tutorials and hands-on sessions. Networking: Connecting with experts, peers, and potential collaborators. Professional Growth: Building your Google resume through presentations and recognition. Implementation: Bringing back ideas that you can implement that lead to measurable improvements and cost savings. Conferences are most valuable when they lead to tangible changes or results that benefit your work. It’s not just about attending, but also about what you do with what you learn. A conference is simply the start of the process to create value, and not a valuable thing in itself. The post SOR 1033 Conference Value appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Available Reliability Information Abstract Chris and Fred discuss how to deal with trying to find ‘reliability characteristics’ when you don’t have a lot of information. Sound familiar? Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they respond to a question about trying to find the reliability of something for a ‘high-reliability’ product in a systems engineering setting, focusing on electronic componentry through to PC housing. Wow! A lot to cover here. The question is really all about where we go to find information to help us. Topics include: Literature. Especially conference proceedings of very ‘specific’ conferences. There are some gatherings of people that focus on very specific components and failure mechanisms. These can have a lot of information about how your component might fail … as long as you KNOW how your component fails. And then make sure the paper you find relates to your product. Vendor … carefully. Some vendors are actually across how their components fail. Some definitely aren’t. Some pretend or look like they are … but aren’t. But you won’t get what you don’t ask for. Similar products and components … knowing your assumptions. If you have been designing, building and producing lots of similar products in the past (previous models, generations and so on), then you might have a lot of information already gathered. But don’t just blindly copy information. Understand what makes your new product different to those from the past, and see what that means to the failure mechanism (yes … you always need to understand the failure mechanism). But ‘not’ parts count predictions. Jaguar and Toyota vehicles are functionally and technologically identical (or at least very similar). But Jaguar vehicles are much less reliable than Toyota vehicles (it’s not even close). So don’t just search for the ‘first’ number you can find! And if all this fails? … then you need to get your own information through things like Accelerated Life Testing (ALT), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and so on. Physics will tell you if you need to do this. Not the finance team … 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 1032 Available Reliability Information appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Warranty Analysis for Repairable Systems Abstract Chris and Fred discuss how we do warranty analysis … which usually means trying to understand how many things fail during a warranty period (before you need to start paying for it …) Where do you start? Key Points Join Chris and Fred as they discuss warranty analysis … based on a question from a listener who wanted to know how we do it for a repairable system. So … how do we do it? We didn’t get a lot of specifics from the listener … so we had to ad lib a bit? Topics include: What are you trying to do? Don’t rush through this question. Are you trying to predict what fraction of products will fail in the warranty period. Or … do you have a warranty reliability target and instead want to learn how long it will take for your product’s reliability to drop to that level to find the warranty period. Or … are we on track? Or … are we having too many warranty failures and need to find out why? Or … something else? This let’s you know if your analysis is quantitative or qualitative. Do you need to know why something is failing more than it should … or what percentage of things you expect to fail. That’s a big deal. But what should our targets be? Well … we sometimes miss this as well! But it’s the first and most important bit. We have seen lots of organizations furiously (attempt) to analyze warranty reliability, but not really know what ‘good enough is.’ Have you ever asked your boss or leader why we are analyzing something, and they something like ‘just to get an idea of where we are at‘ but without them being able to tell you where we need to be? This is BAD. And the reason it is bad is that we might come up with a number and then decide if it is good (or not). This usually always results in us coming up with our own criteria to justify the outputs of our hard work. Instead … take the time to work out where you should be first (with minimal emotions, and lots of business planning) and then see if you are there or not. The truth not only hurts, but it also sets you free. 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 1031 Warranty Analysis for Repairable Systems appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Starting a Consultancy Abstract Dianna and Fred discuss starting a consultancy. Key Points Join Dianna and Fred as they discuss starting a consultancy. Interested in becoming a consultant? This episode dives into the realities of starting a consultancy. Listen to learn more about: the consulting career path, which is not always clear cut and involves a significant learning curve from being an employee to a business owner, requiring new skills and knowledge. how consultants need to be problem-solvers who can identify the root cause of a client’s issue and understand the business implications, not just treat the symptoms. why building a strong network, social profile, and online presence are crucial for attracting clients and establishing credibility in the competitive consulting landscape. 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, Fred and Dianna discuss starting a consultancy, a topic prompted by a question from two individuals looking to start their own consultancy. They share their personal experiences and offer advice on the transition. The conversation highlights the many challenges that come with managing the administrative side of consulting, including navigating business licenses, taxes, and banking. They touch on different business structures, such as sole proprietorships and limited liability companies. There are also different types of consultants, which they describe. They address some of the less glamorous aspects of consulting, such as dealing with long payment cycles and a lack of benefits. However, they also point out that consulting can provide flexible work options and opportunities to learn about different industries and ways of doing things. There are two key pieces of advice: It is crucially important to network, build a social profile, and create a strong online presence to attract clients. They also underscore the need to be visible, such as through presenting papers at conferences, participating in committees, and building an email list or contact list. Act like consultants in your current roles, so you can gain experience and develop necessary skills. Fred's experience as an internal consultant at HP provided him with significant training in client interaction, problem-solving, and proposal writing, which he now applies in his consulting work. Dianna advises that people think of their internal customers as if they were external customers and start practicing. It can only help you today while also preparing you for a potential future career in consulting. The post SOR 1030 Starting a Consultancy appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Kirk and Fred explore the critical role of thermal HALT in uncovering signal integrity issues in high-speed digital electronics. They discuss how increasing bus speeds impact data transmission errors and the challenges posed by nanoscale engineering. The conversation highlights the importance of temperature in electronic systems, illustrated with a malfunction case study. Additionally, the two emphasize the need for collaborative learning and information sharing in the reliability engineering community to address gaps in current methodologies.

Dealing with Ongoing Changes Abstract Kirk and Fred discuss the challenge of adding changes to a product during the development process so that they can design and build the prototypes. Key Points Join Kirk and Fred as they discuss how companies are adding new features to stay competitive with market developments. Topics include: Automobiles, especially EVs, are excellent examples of the evolution of technology. They are increasingly complex and dependent on electronics. Product engineering changes after introduction to the marketplace are required for many reasons, such as when a component supplier discontinues a part and substitutes a new part. Testing the reliability of every change in a large manufacturing company is challenging. Sometimes, the simplest  designs are the most reliable and have the needed capabilities for most users. Many of today’s software applications have complex functional capabilities, yet most users do not need to access them. Engineering always has to deal with tradeoffs during each change in design or manufacturing and judgments about each risk. Many times, we have to make a fast decision on reliability risk based on experience, past field histories, and the collective knowledge of the engineering team. 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. Trying to predict reliability for development is a misleading a costly approach. 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. The post SOR 1028 Dealing with Ongoing Changes appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

Executing the Plan Abstract Carl and Fred continue discussing the listener question about building an effective reliability program. After discussing some of the finer points about creating the reliability plan, the podcast focuses on execution of the reliability plan. Key Points Join Carl and Fred as they discuss some of the finer points about building a good reliability program. In this case, the company already has a reasonably solid testing program, but needs to put more effort into reliability in design. Topics include: How to supplement testing with Design for Reliability tasks. Consider developing a reliability plan year by year: first year tasks, second year tasks, etc. The objective is not to build a large reliability team; the objective should be to implement good reliability practices into the organization. Embed reliability into engineering We want to create reliability, not jobs Look for internal “champions” in senior management. Get value from early wins. Implementing reliability in design requires building relationships. The key to successfully implementing a reliability plan is to involve the key stakeholders in the creation of the plan. The reliability plan needs to be executed as part of project management. There will be hurdles that come up. The plan needs to be adjusted, as needed. Participate in the engineering project team meetings. Be part of the engineering process. Reliability looks at system as a whole, in addition to the parts. How to influence engineering to create reliable designs. Be engaged. Helping engineering establish correct special product and process characteristics that enable high 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. SOR 1027 Executing the PlanCarl S. Carlsonshare Social: Link: Embed: https://episodes.reliability.fm/sor/sor-1027-executing-the-plan.mp3 Download Audio RSS Show Notes