Getting Information for Product Design with Fred Schenkelberg (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts) – Part 2

Dianna Deeney interviews Fred Schenkelberg about getting information for product design, focusing on reliability engineering in new products.

This episode is part 2 of 2.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts”. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they’re involved and work with product design engineering teammates.

About Fred

Fred is a Reliability Engineering and Management Consultant and founder of Accendo Reliability. Fred’s expertise is program development, accelerated life test design & analysis, reliability statistics, risk assessment, test planning, and training. He is a graduate course lecturer with the University of Maryland, the initial Producer of the ASQ Reliability Division Webinar program, and a regular speaker at the Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS®). He also founded and maintains accendoreliability.com, a reliability engineering professional development hub.

Fred and Dianna talk about

the realities of internal team dynamics and the delicate dance between innovation and issue resolution
advantages of initiating reliability conversations early in the design process
practical advice on how design teams can triage problems by applying the right tools, thus ensuring a more robust product design process

Fred’s tales from the trenches offer a unique lens into the challenges and triumphs of creating products that not only work but last.

Visit the podcast blog for links to Fred’s recommendations.

What can you do today?

Fred suggested that design engineers could engage with reliability teams, pursue independent research, or even conduct their own tests to ensure the right choices are made without solely relying on end-stage testing.

Engineers should initiate conversations, seek out resources, or even take matters into their own hands by learning and applying reliability engineering principles themselves.