Fred Schenkelberg — Thought Leader

Author of <a href="/creprep/">CRE Preparation Notes</a>, <a href="/on-product-reliability/musings">Musings</a>, <a href="/articles/nomtbf/">NoMTBF</a>, <a href="/book-author/fred-schenkelberg/">multiple books & ebooks</a>, co-host on <a href="/series/sor/">Speaking of Reliability</a>, and speaker in the <a href="/series/sor/">Accendo Reliability Webinar Series</a>.

This author's archive lists contributions of articles and episodes.

About Fred Schenkelberg

I am the reliability expert at FMS Reliability, a reliability engineering and management consulting firm I founded in 2004. I left Hewlett Packard (HP)’s Reliability Team, where I helped create a culture of reliability across the corporation, to assist other organizations.

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

The Future of Reliability Engineering

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

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bryan

The Oxford English dictionary defines “reliability” as “the quality of being able to be trusted to do what somebody wants or needs.”

The textbook definition for “reliability” is “the probability that an item will perform its intended function for a designated period of time without failure under specified operating and environmental conditions.”

In this article, I will share a brief outline of the current and future state of reliability engineering, what works and doesn’t work, and why it matters to all of us.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Reliability is More then Testing

Reliability is More than Testing

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

During the interview, I turned down a job when I learned the hiring manager expected me, a potential new reliability engineer on the team, to only conduct tests. Creating and assembling a reliable product or service takes more than testing. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Why You Should Avoid MTBF

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

In the past two months, I’ve received a few questions concerning why I recommend avoiding using MTBF or similar metrics. I’m also moving the articles I and others wrote on the topic from NoMTBF.com to Accendo Reliability. So, the topic of MTBF has been on my mind.

This morning’s email included a question on why I was so against using MTBF. This event is my answer. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

How to Learn ALT

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

When first charged with designing, conducting, and analyzing an ALT, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as accelerated life testing. Along with the assigned task was the expectation that I would learn what was necessary to design, conduct, and analyze a suitable ALT. I like those kinds of tasks – one where I have to learn to succeed. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

An Accelerated Life Testing Q&A

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

Over the past few months, we’re received a few questions related to accelerated life testing. There are bound to be more questions as ALT can be confusing to plan, conduct, or interpret. Let’s get together and address your questions related to ALT. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 2 Comments

Communicating as a Reliability Engineer

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

Creating a plan and generating information is part of reliability engineering, yet it’s not enough. To be a successful engineer, one must communicate well. This means we need to write, discuss, and present well. We are often called upon to examine failures and recommend solutions, examine a dataset and explain the finding, or conduct an experiment and detail the results. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 1 Comment

Selecting a Reliability Method

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

A key element of reliability engineering is doing the right thing at the right time. When running an experiment or test, conducting an assessment, or performing an analysis, it is essential that the method we use fits the situation. Being busy does not add value; getting meaningful results does. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Building a Reliability Plan

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

This is an overview of the six steps to achieve high reliability from Carl and Fred’s book. Creating and executing a reliability plan that assists the team in designing, manufacturing, and supporting meeting reliability objectives take effort. Let’s discuss the details of that effort such that you focus on the critical steps. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 1 Comment

First Steps with Data

Once word got out that I was taking graduate-level courses in statistics, I dreaded the knock on the door. Colleagues, some of which I knew and others from some far reach of the company, would ask if I could take a look at their data. I didn’t learn the necessary first steps with a stack of data in class.

I’ve lost count of the number of data sets I’ve reviewed and analyzed. I know there are important considerations and questions before creating the first plot. Let’s review the essential first steps you should take when presented with data.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

The State of Reliability Education

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

We have plenty of options to learn reliability engineering—books, magazines, newsletters, conferences, seminars, etc. We have options. Depending on what you want to know, some options are better than others. Likewise, some options are better than others, depending on what you want to share.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 1 Comment

Product Reliability and Customer Service

After 30 minutes of being on hold, I wasn’t sure what to expect from customer service for a product reliability issue. The scratchy soundtrack didn’t foretell a great experience either.

Once connected to a company representative, we resolved the issue quickly and satisfactorily. Unfortunately, that was a pleasant surprise. All too often, the frequently repeated “Your call is important to us.” (an Amazon affiliate link) just isn’t true, in my experience.

Did you know that customer service can add significant value to an organization, especially when product reliability doesn’t meet customers’ expectations? Besides providing the team with valuable product reliability performance information for past products, the service team can improve customer loyalty.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

SMART Reliability Goal

When working with a team creating a new system, I always ask, “what is the goal?” The answers often do not make much sense. The team using SMART reliability goals are astonishingly well-stated.

The difference that makes a goal, objective, or requirement practical and useful is summed up by SMART. A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Let’s explore each element as related to a reliability goal.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 2 Comments

Writing and Accendo Reliability

While I’m not much of a New Year’s Resolution guy, I guess I’ve set a resolution. I need to restart writing weekly articles for Accendo Reliability.

The thing is, I struggle to write. Plenty of other interests and tasks keep me away from the keyboard. Yet, as I explained to a few new authors how writing and posting on Accendo Reliability is a good thing, I realized I have been putting off hitting the keyboard again.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve explained to those interested in writing articles about the virtuous circle created by having many authors contribute articles, which increases interest, engagement, and traffic to those articles, which further increases the reach of those articles. Of course, this is just one reason, and there are others, plus plenty of hurdles to overcome.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Reliability Occurs at the Point of Decision

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

The reliability performance of a product or system exists because the decisions that occurred during the creation of the product establish how well an item will survive without failure. The choice of material or finish or technologies along with all the other decisions involved define how well a product performs, including its reliability. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Focus on Failure Mechanisms

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

In my opinion, as I do not know if this is true or not, every product or system failure has a cause. Causes are not exactly the same as what we call ‘failure mechanisms’, yet they are related in many cases. One more term to consider is ‘failure mode’ which is the symptoms or results of a failure. [Read more…]