Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

All articles listed in reverse chronological order.

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Finding Value in FMEA

Finding Value in FMEA

Failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) is a tool that works to prevent process and product problems before they occur.

I like to define FMEA’s as an organized brainstorm. The process examines a product or process and asks what could go wrong. Then the team systematically determines and rank orders for each failure mode:
– the severity of the problem when it occurs
– the probability of the problem occurring
– the ability to detect the problem before it occurs

Good design engineers think about how the design could fail and improve the design. FMEA provides a structured team approach to further improve the design.

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Consider Reliability Prediction Value

Consider Reliability Prediction Value

One of the primary questions we answer as reliability engineers is:

How long will it last?

Reliability prediction is the forecast or prognostication attempting to quantify either the time till failure, or expected future failure rate or warranty claims, or required spare parts.

We need to know as we make decisions today about the design or purchase.

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2013 in Review

Thanks to you all for a great year. The idea of the blog is to assist those preparing for the CRE exam or wanting to learn about reliability engineering. It seems to have found the audience.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 21,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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8 Steps to Creating an X-bar and s Control Chart

8 Steps to Creating an X-bar and s Control Chart

Once you decide to monitor a process and after you determine using an $- \bar{X} -$ & s chart is appropriate, you have to construct the charts.

The $- \bar{X} -$ & R charts use the range as an approximation of the variation in the population. When feasible use the standard deviation, s, rather than the range, R for the improved efficiency in detecting meaningful changes in process variation. [Read more…]

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5 Ways to Be in Service of Others

5 Ways to Be in Service of Others

Over the past week or two, I’ve received requests and comments that have given me pause. Why is it that I have time to answer questions and share information? Why do I spend the time to do so in the first place?

I have found that responding to questions or requests for assistance is rewarding.

Today I received a request for help in a job search. Last week it was an employer looking for a perfect candidate. I’ve received questions about graduate school in the US from a Chinese undergraduate. A question on accelerated life testing approaches. Another on maintenance practices and data analysis.

For each, I try to provide an answer or direct to find an answer.

[Read more…]

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Time to review our goal

Time to review our goal

Setting aside some time to review our goal

As annual milestones occur, like the approach of the new year or the end of a project, we often take time to reflect. Did we accomplish what we had set out to accomplish? Are we making progress? Are we making a difference?

Part of this process is having a goal to start.

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8 steps to Creating an X-bar and R Control Chart

8 steps to Creating an X-bar and R Control Chart

Once you decide to monitor a process and after you determine using an $- \bar{X} -$ & R chart is appropriate, you have to construct the charts.

This is not difficult and by following the 8 steps below you will have a robust way to monitor the stability of your process. [Read more…]

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3 Investments in Reliability

3 Investments in Reliability

When a product or asset works as it’s expected for as long or longer than expected, we often consider it reliable.

Consumers around the world look for reliable products and services. Some will pay a premium with the desire to obtain failure free value from the purchase. When designing a product or service we often want to create the most reliable item within the constraints of time, resources, and cost. Designers and engineers may add margin or safety factors into calculations and decisions to avoid failures.

Many of us have heard that fixing a design is orders of magnitude less expensive early the product lifecycle. Product recalled or major failures can damage profits and brand image.

Here are three ways you can invest in improving product reliability. [Read more…]

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Intro to Fault Tree Analysis

Intro to Fault Tree Analysis

The NASA Fault Tree Handbook with Aerospace Applications

This is a break from the usual format of this site. I’m highly recommending that as your review materials and prepare for the CRE exam or prepare to conduct an FTA, you read this NASA document as an intro to fault tree analysis.

For a review, I suggest the first chapter or two. If working in the aerospace industry, you should print and use a copy.

The following is an extended excerpt from the first section of the document. [Read more…]

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Building Reliability Leadership

Building Reliability Leadership

Some believe leaders are born and become natural leaders. Others believe leadership can be taught and anyone can become a leader. I believe leadership is situational and when intentional can be very powerful.

I learned leadership theory and enjoyed plenty of practice attending the US Military Academy. I certainly practiced leadership during my tour in the Army.

And, I’m not an expert on leadership.

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Just Plot The Data

Just Plot The Data

One of the first things taught in a data analysis class, or in first-grade math, is the plot. A graphical representation of the data. Bar charts, pie charts, histograms, box plots, and the x-y scatter plot. These and others simply help us to understand the nature of the data.

The ‘nature’? The data is only a record of an observation. Counts, colors, numbers, or something similar. The ‘nature’ is, to me, the behavior, maybe pattern, or story the data may reveal.

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