Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
COVID 19 throws a curve ball in the path of life and job security. If you compare life as a walk through a forest, then COVID-19 is a high stone wall (curve ball) along the path of life. Do you stop and retreat or go over or around it and continue your journey? I think you get through the pandemic and continue along the path back to job security and low unemployment. [Read more…]
I was shocked to find out about our drug and medical supplies reliance on China, a dangerous risk to the U.S. I believe most Americans were also shocked. I believe this revelation is a game changer and the American people will insist on change. [Read more…]
When a product is said to be of “high quality”, it is usually perceived to be reliable. Conversely, if the product is said to be “reliable”, it is probably perceived it to be of high quality. Why is this?
A product is an assembly of many components, all of which must be manufactured to some quality standard. Quality in component manufacturing is achieved through rigor in the manufacturer’s Quality Assurance (QA) system. QA systems define the Quality Control (QC) processes which ensure that materials, components, and assemblies meet the quality standard. The rigor must be appropriate for the product’s application. In critical applications (e.g. for sub-surface safety valves), the rigor must be high. [Read more…]
In the past, organizations have pr
acticed agility more than anything else because it is easy to simply pivot and put out small fires as they arise.
But with the world facing a global pandemic, statewide lock downs here in the United States, and a once booming economy now seemingly frozen in time, organizations both large and small are caught in the blaze as those small fires are now an uncontrollable inferno of a great unknown. [Read more…]
In his book “Willful Ignorance: The Mismeasurement of Uncertainty”, Herbert I. Weisberg notes: “Medical research is often held up as the paragon of statistical research methodology. Evidence-based medicine, based on randomized clinical trials, can provide proof of the effectiveness and safety of various drugs and other therapies.” (1) He goes on to note that clinical practitioners, who’s judgement is informed by evidence-based data, are finding little in the research that is useful. [Read more…]
“A failure analysis is a waste of resources. We know why it failed. We need to move on.”
If you have participated in a failure analysis, you have likely heard the preceding comments, and been told to fix the problem ASAP. You make a change, but the same failure re-surfaces and you are in the hot seat again. What can you do to improve the failure analysis process in the future? Let us begin by reviewing some realities of failures. [Read more…]
The risk of a pandemic is not an unknown unknown. In the 2019 World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report it ranked at a less than average likelihood with a more than average impact. Not a bad assessment but the causes and consequences are difficult to evaluate. There is a barrage of statistical data by country; a lack of knowledge and changing opinions which generates misinformation that is then clouded by journalistic sensationalism in the hunt for yet more breaking news and a spot on the TV. [Read more…]
It is undoubtedly and incontrovertibly true that global extreme poverty has declined as capitalism has driven globalization – the trade between and among nations – to increase over time. Certainly, there are arguments to be made that the growth in wealth has also been increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer people, but the world as a whole has benefited. The charts below from Our World in Data, showing the number of people living in extreme poverty from 1820 to present, clearly demonstrate that the economic benefit of globalization has been as positive as it has been apparent [Read more…]
“It was supposed to work in our application. This failure is going to cost us a lot of rig time.”
Was this product checked out prior to purchase? Was it fit-for-purpose? Some due diligence was probably used, but the better question is…was the product assessed through Design Assurance? Design assurance is an engineering process that confirms the product meets performance requirements and complies with design policies and industry standards. [Read more…]
Naturally, a lot of time and effort in risk management goes into understanding the risks that you face. After all, if you don’t understand what you’re up against, there’s not a lot of risk management to be done. However, even when you complete a comprehensive risk assessment, this is just the beginning of the process. Now the real work starts and you have to answer the big question. [Read more…]
The term Black Swan has been used frequently. This is particularly so, with respect to the Coronavirus. In an earlier piece, I discussed the term Black Swan. Given the increased use of the term in the current circumstances, it is worth revisiting the concept. [Read more…]
“Engineering is behind schedule on this new size. This happens every time. This is the 3rd size that is delayed. How are we ever going to get this product line to the market?”
Have any of these statements or questions been directed to your team in a design review or stage-gate meeting? If you are an engineering leader, you may have to explain schedule delays, reliability issues, and cost overruns. How can you avoid this uncomfortable situation? The answer may be simpler you may think. [Read more…]
After the initial response to the emergence of COVID-19, businesses will have to organize themselves to survive the impact of COVID-19.
For countries that have successfully ‘flatten-the-curve’ and relaxing their social isolation, businesses will have to resume and ‘normalize’ their operations. [Read more…]
The Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known as the Big Dig in Boston, selected probably the riskiest delivery method which helped cause the massive schedule and cost growth it experienced. The delivery method is called DBB (design bid build). This article is not about the Big Dig but it is about the risks involved in selecting a delivery method for your construction project. [Read more…]
COVID-19 is now among the ranks of The Black Death, Spanish ‘Flu, and SARS. Another submicroscopic demon is attacking humanity and bringing the mankind of this Information Age to its knees both physically and economically despite its insignificant size.
Viruses have been around longer than man and, when we become part of a future paleaontological record, they will still be plaguing whatever species takes over from us.
We also live alongside other virulent diseases that continue to plague the world. In 2018, TB affected 25% of the world’s population and caused some 1.5 million deaths while malaria affected 220 million people causing another 405,000 deaths. In addition, HIV/AIDS and other diseases such as measles, cholera, and typhoid contribute to the millions of deaths annually. Starvation, while not a disease, decimated mankind at an estimated rate of 21,000 per day in 2019. [Read more…]
