Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

All articles listed in reverse chronological order.

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The Quality Triangle and Reliability

The Quality Triangle and Reliability

The quality triangle is an admission that every project has design constraints. Note that reliability is rarely listed directly within the triangle, yet reliability does impact each element of the triad.

In a world where the design team is beset with numerous design for X priorities, understanding how reliability related to the top three and most common set of constraints is imperative.

For any set of priorities, you should be able to convey how addressing reliability performance in the design and assembly process impacts those priorities. Addressing reliability can improve quality, reduce the risk of launch delays, and reduce the cost of a product. All this and improve customer satisfaction as well.

Let’s explore a few ways you can connect reliability priorities to the common quality triangle priorities. [Read more…]

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Understanding Design Constraints

Understanding Design Constraints

While previous articles focused on requirements writing, another element of products requirements is design constraints.

A design constraint might not be a requirement in the purest sense, but must be accommodated in product requirements (and, ideally, identified as such).  Design constraints almost always make their way into product requirements.

Let’s use a simple example whereby a specific housing material is specified (a polyester thermoplastic elastomer).

The requirement might simply be: “The housing material shall be made of a polyester thermoplastic elastomer”.  The PRD is then provided to the designer, essentially telling him he must use this material.

[Read more…]

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Technical Writing tips for Engineers

Technical Writing tips for Engineers

I’ve teamed up with Skylar Wooden, a Technical Writer, and Katie Butler, a CPA, the ladies behind Pare and Flourish to bring you some technical writing tips for engineers.  

Engineers are incredibly knowledgeable people. You understand how to design and build the most complex of structures.  You analyze and evaluate intricate data.  But, many engineers miss one of the most important aspects of any profession—explaining your work to others. Whether it’s to tell someone how to perform a task, or report on a project to a superior, relaying information is just as critical as knowing the information.

As an engineer, you can offer your expertise in two ways: verbal or written communication. You likely deal with the verbal aspect of this on a daily basis when you answer questions, explain a process, or even talk about your job with your friends. So, how often are you writing? [Read more…]

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The Value of Making Better Decisions

The Value of Making Better Decisions

We make decisions every day. Our project teams and organizations have many individuals making decisions every day. Most of these decisions have little to do with product reliability, yet a surprising number of design, marketing, production, and customer care decisions that have a direct impact on product reliability performance.

As a reliability professional, do you work to make better decisions? Do you work to enable the individuals designing, producing, marketing, etc your organization’s products to make better decisions concerning reliability?

If not, why?

Let’s outline a few ways to estimate the value to you and your organization to improve decision making concerning reliability. [Read more…]

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It’s Time For a Laugh….The 10 Best/Worst Ways to Supplement Your Run to Failure Strategy!

It’s Time For a Laugh….The 10 Best/Worst Ways to Supplement Your Run to Failure Strategy!

I’ve been told that humor, especially New York sarcasm doesn’t go over too well on LinkedIn.  That as a regular contributor of articles, blog postings and hopefully useful updates one should try avoid attempting to use humor as a teaching tool.

Well those who know me well know I also don’t always follow the advice of those who somehow believe we all learn the same way, think the same way and therefore do things the same way.  I’m a guy who believes that while common sense might not be that common, when you explain why something makes sense most of the audience will get it.  For the others who still don’t understand I of course bring data.

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Lack of An ERM Policy is Risky

Lack of An ERM Policy is Risky

Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Lack of An ERM Policy is Risky

Background

A defense company I worked for wanted to get into the Sonobuoy business. At the time, one company dominated the market and usually received the largest share of the Navy contract.  A couple of other suppliers got the balance of the production quantity to keep it a competitive business.

My company developed a win strategy based on a ¼ scale prototype and purposely under bidding the competition. It worked. They won the largest piece of the production contract. [Read more…]

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The 2 Parameter Binomial Discrete Distribution 4 Formulas

The 2 Parameter Binomial Discrete Distribution 4 Formulas

This is part of a short series on the common life data distributions.

The Binomial distribution is discrete. This short article focuses on 4 formulas of the Binomial Distribution.

It has the essential formulas that you may find useful when answering specific questions. Knowing a distribution’s set of parameters does provide, along with the right formulas, a quick means to answer a wide range of reliability related questions. [Read more…]

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Miami Kicked My Butt

Miami Kicked My Butt

The Plan: Saturday and Sunday was skiing in Vermont with the family,  back Sunday night, everyone off to school Monday morning, then to the airport to get to Miami, Tuesday and Wed meetings down there, then fly out Wed night so I’m back to teach classes Thur and Fri here in Boston.  Easy Peesie!

Actual: Finish ski trip feel a little “strange” on flight down to Miami, slight chills.  Tuesday do meetings just barely, Tuesday night it hits like a freight train, The Flu, or Malaria, Aliens. On Wednesday the freight train had fully passed over me so it stopped and spent Wed backing up over me again. Thursday it went forward again over a pile of human jello. I’m not flying out for the clases on Thur and Fri, or anytime soon for that matter. Just getting home is my mission for the week.

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Using Hierarchy In Complex System Requirements and Design

Using Hierarchy In Complex System Requirements and Design

Managing requirements for complex systems can be challenging, however, establishing a hierarchical framework of key questions (answered at each layer of the hierarchy) can be quite helpful.

While some regulatory authorities (such as the FAA) may require various layers of documentation and traceability, this article isn’t necessarily advocating a bureaucratic development process.  The process can be scaled based on the complexity of your system, your ability to model it’s (system) design performance and/or based on the amount of product development risk the organization is willing to assume. [Read more…]

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Process Capability Analysis I – Overview and Indices

Process Capability Analysis I – Overview and Indices

Introduction

How is a manufacturing process determined to be capable of producing parts that meet engineering requirements? Some, like the finish of a gear tooth are critical, while the roughness of a non-contact surface isn’t critical. The critical characteristics need to be identified and checked to determine if the process is capable.

This article defines the analysis concepts and indices.

Prototypes and Series Production

Process capability assessments (PCA) start during the product development process and continue into series production. Prototype parts are created by a variety of methods, ranging from hand-crafted parts to short term manufacturing in a production intent process under factory conditions. The methods that are closest to series production are the most realistic.

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Should I Become a CRL, CMRP, or CRE?

Should I Become a CRL, CMRP, or CRE?
Education. Knowledge. Motivation.
Sitting for a professional society’s reliability certification is a common goal among engineers in our field. Is there a career benefit? I’m not sure the certification provides the benefit. I think it is the work toward certification and the application of the required knowledge that provides the benefit.

[Read more…]

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Could Delta Airlines Have Missed Some Hidden Failures?

Could Delta Airlines Have Missed Some Hidden Failures?

Yet another example of why it’s important to understand the failure modes that make your system vulnerable to complete shutdown. Delta Airlines is learning this lesson the hard way today after having to inform customers around the world that all of its flights would be on hold or even canceled due to a “system wide outage”.

Delta listed the cause for the outage as a power failure near its world-wide office location in Atlanta, Georgia while those at Georgia Power believe it was the failure of Delta’s equipment that caused the power outage.

While each company points the finger at the other, the reality is Delta’s customers around the world are sitting at airports or at home wondering when the problems will be resolved and when Delta will be able to accommodate their travel needs.

[Read more…]