Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
Chris and Fred discuss this thing called ‘stress-strength’ we hear a lot about in the world of reliability … especially when we need to use it to work out ‘reliability stuff.’
ᐅ Play Episode
In this week’s episode, we have Bennett Fitch, Chief Strategy Officer at Noria Corporation, joining Ryan LIVE at the 2022 Reliable Plant Conference. We’ll explore Bennett’s extensive experience in lubrication and oil analysis to uncover practical tips and tricks for improving lubrication practices in your own organization. Tune in today!
Supplier control plans and design specs can go hand-in-hand in the quest for quality.
Control plans aren’t just for quality professionals! Learn how partnering with suppliers for a simple control plan can benefit your design process.
Some of you might have heard about probability plots … like Weibull plots. Some of you might not. A Weibull plot is a really useful way of quickly ‘looking’ at data and being able to ‘see’ really useful things. This could be seeing that a system’s failure rate is decreasing over time … which usually means there are manufacturing defects. It could be seeing that the rate of failure of a system is increasing over time … which means the system is accumulating damage or wearing out. And lots of other things. So, let’s look at a different sort of ‘probability’ plot … and see what we can work out from it. And that means working out what we need to do to improve reliability. Join this webinar if you want to learn how to see really useful things in lines that you might not have appreciated in the past.
[Read more…]
Today, we’re going to talk about contract manufacturing. Do you have a circuit assembly that needs to be built? Don’t have the equipment in-house or enough bandwidth or specialized expertise to build it? You may be best served by utilizing the services of a contract manufacturer.
Contract manufacturers come in all shapes, sizes and capabilities.
Should I seek out a Tier 1 manufacturer? How about Tier 2, 3, 4? What does tier stand for anyway?
should I have my assemblies built overseas or in-country? What about issues such as ITAR? Who will be providing the components? What if I need more than just boards assembled such as design, testing and box build?
To answer these and so many more questions I’ve invited my friend and colleague David Raby to be my guest.
David is the president of STI electronics, founded in 1982 by David’s father the late Jim Raby. Those of you who have been around the electronics industry for some time will know Jim Raby for his work with the US Navy in establishing military standards for electronics manufacturing and the development of the NASA and Department of Defense Soldering Schools. Over the past 40 years, STI Electronics has expanded its focus from consulting and technical seminars to providing training, laboratory analysis, advanced research and development, microelectronics assembly, prototyping, and small to medium volume PCB contract assembly for the electronics industry.
David graduated from Auburn University with a bachelors degree in Aviation Management.
David Raby’s Contact Info:
draby@stiusa.com
www.stiusa.com
The Concept to Creation Podcast episode featuring David Raby:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szJ06lnmXb4&t=6s
Greg and Fred discuss the future of quality and reliability – which may be ‘back to the future’ of quality.
ᐅ Play Episode
Greg and Fred discuss the importance for making smart decisions. The challenge is that after Covid we are all tired of making decisions. So, have we lost our perspective and even our sense of humor in understanding context in making smart decisions.
ᐅ Play Episode
Every major industry relies on semiconductors, including automobile makers and the defense industry. This resource is so vital to our economy and society, yet it’s taking a long time to pass a bill to alleviate the shortage. Now, American semiconductor giants are warning lawmakers that they may relocate overseas if they continue to be unsupported. Ramesh Gulati, the Reliability Sherpa, is back on the show to share his thoughts on this situation and the impact this will have on our industry now and in the future. Listen today!
Our manufacturing friends are approaching us with a problem.
They want to test the product during manufacturing. The way the product is currently designed doesn’t let them do this, or not easily.
Can we make a design change so they can test?
Imagine that they’re coming to us with this question before we’ve completed the design. Can they really see the future?
Perhaps, with strategic use of FMEA. We talk through a scenario of how to do it.
Carl and Fred discussing the essence of a facilitator’s role in leading meetings and reliability methods. This role is discussed from the viewpoint of reliability applications.
ᐅ Play Episode
Carl and Fred discussing an interesting question from a subscriber to the Inside FMEA series. The question has to do with selected process steps on a Process FMEA, and the efficacy and value of the occurrence rating being verified later in pilot assembly or trial production.
ᐅ Play Episode
We’re heading into pilot production.
We’ve got to finish those design specs and engineering drawings!
Before you pass it along, have you identified what features are critical? Does it align with managing risk? And are you communicating that effectively on your specs and drawings?
Creating design specs is an important part of engineering design. We review a way to choose critical design features, based on risk.
Gage R&R – this is mainly a quality tool, where 10% is a pass and 10-30% is “marginal.” What does that mean, or even better yet, how can I use gage R&R to provide meaningful results in a design environment without specifications? In 30 minutes, we will discuss how you can calculate Gage discrimination – the more useful result for a design situation, and even how to use it for destructive reliability tests.
[Read more…]
It seems today, the entire world is experiencing supply chain challenges in nearly all product categories. In the electronic assembly industry, the focus has been within the semiconductor market, especially in North America. Why is this? How did the US allow this to occur? Was it short sightedness, greed, an over-reliance on foreign suppliers, other factors, or a combination of all these factors? What would it take to finally address this issue and are we doing anything about it?
My guest today is Matt Kelly, Chief Technologist at IPC, one of our leading industry trade organizations. IPC recently published a report on the chip shortage and, perhaps most importantly, came up with a list of 28 recommendations our industry can consider to remedy this issue. As I stated, Matt Kelly is Chief Technologist at IPC and is focused on driving next generation technology advancements and supply chain transformation across the electronics industry. He works within the association’s executive leadership team to identify and develop new strategic initiatives, meeting member and industry needs. He delivers influential thought leadership, research, and advocacy to industry and governments. He leads IPC’s Chief Technology Council to continually drive the electronics industry forward. His focus areas include Industry 4.0 – Factory of the Future digitization, modernization, adoption, and implementation; IPC expansion into new advanced packaging technologies including IC-substrates and OSAT manufacturing; and next generation electronic systems design methods.
When I first met Matt he was with IBM. Matt comes to IPC following a 15-year career at IBM Corporation, holding several senior technology and engineering leadership positions within IBM Systems Division. His technical contributions include 25 patents, 85 publications, and numerous industry awards.
Matt is a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University and holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Sir Wilfrid Laurier University.
Download the referenced article from IPC: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SEMICONDUCTOR AND ADVANCED PACKAGING ECOSYSTEM An IPC Summary Report — Rebuilding U.S. Capabilities for the 21st Century Download Link:
https://emails.ipc.org/links/IPCadvpack-ecosystem-report-final.pdf
More information on the upcoming IPC Advanced Packaging Symposium: Building the IC-Substrate and Package Assembly Ecosystem
https://www.ipc.org/event/ipc-advanced-packaging-symposium-building-ic-substrate-and-package-assembly-ecosystem