The Soft Skill of Making Memorable Presentations

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James and Fred discussing the elements that make a presentation that is remembered.
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Evolutionary vs Revolutionary Design and How It Affects Reliability

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Adam and Chris discussing the difference between organizational strength’s in evolutionary vs revolutionary design process
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The Definition of Reliability and Quality

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Chris and Adam discuss how the definitions of ‘reliability’ and ‘quality’ align … or differ. What are the differences? Do these differences matter for all applications? Is there merit in arguing that there is a difference? Well … the answer to each question is both ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ Confused? Perhaps listening to this podcast might help. Because we should only use definitions that help us and our organization. In a way, using a definition that makes the most sense to your organization is not only acceptable, it is necessary. And many organizations have failed because they have never understood these differences.
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When Organizational Leaders Won’t Invest in Reliability but Require Deliverables

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Adam and Chris discussing organizational situations where upper management does not commit to reliability even though it advertises it does.
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Do Certifications or Degrees Help a Reliability Engineer?

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Carl and Fred discussing the role of certifications and degrees in forming the career path of a reliability engineer. This discussion builds off the previous podcast on the ultimate goal of a reliability career.
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Ultimate Career Goal for Reliability Engineering

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Carl and Fred discuss a suggested topic from a listener: what is the ultimate career goal for a reliability engineer? Which are the advantages and disadvantages for each possible career path?
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How to Find an Intermittent Failure Mechanism?

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Kirk and Fred discussing ways to find intermittent system failures.
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What is Operational Failure and How Do I Know?

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Kirk and Fred discussing a real case of product failure for a OEM sub-supplier and determining how to isolate the cause
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Why Pareto Analysis is Not Sufficient

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Adam and Fred discussing how Pareto analysis can be a good guide for failure mode analysis but is only a start for the process.
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Reliability Data and Decisions

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Adam and Fred discussing how data influences design and program decisions.
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Collecting Data and Condition Monitoring

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Alex Desselle and Fred discussing dealing with and using data especially concerning condition monitoring.
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HALT Versus ALT

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Chris and Adam discussing HALT and ALT. What are these? HALT stands for Highly Accelerated Life Testing. ALT stands for Accelerated Life Testing. They sound very similar. But they are not. HALT is a destructive test regime. In fact, a good HALT plan will involve that product failing many times. This is done by subjecting the product to stresses (vibration, thermal cycling et cetera) well beyond actual operating stresses. Some of the failures this creates will not be relevant. That is, they will simply never occur when the product is used ‘normally.’ But many failures are relevant. And by undertaking HALT, we now have a good idea of which failure mechanisms and modes are likely to occur when it is used normally. And this information is incredibly valuable to a design team. ALT on the other hand starts with a failure mechanism you know about. And in a short period of time, you can predict how long that failure mechanism will cause your product to fail when used normally.

Still confused? Well listen to this podcast.

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Reliability Security Blankets

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Chris and Adam discuss ‘reliability security blankets.’ What are these? These are things that people or organizations do to give the illusion of ‘achieving something to do with reliability’ primarily to make them ‘feel’ better. Reliability security blankets tend to have little positive benefit. When we are focused on a feeling of ‘reliability goodness’ we quickly try to find the easiest way to get that feeling. Which leads us to standard or outdated methods, non-critical thinking, or (worst case) tests that are structured to ensure a system or product passes. Resources are sucked away from good reliability activities to create these reliability security blankets. If you think this applies to your organization, listen to this podcast.
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A Brief History of Reliability

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Chris and Adam discuss a ‘brief history of reliability.’ There are many significant milestones in the history of mankind. The dawn of the iron age meant that instead of having tools that lasted a matter of days, humans could (in a very short period of time) create tools that lasted several human lifetimes. The Industrial Revolution of the 1800s taught us that we could ‘over-engineer’ a device so that it would last longer than its ‘useful life.’ There are many more different milestones and events that have defined reliability over time. And these have shaped how we deal with product and device reliability today. Learn more by listening to this podcast. ᐅ Play Episode

Best Practices When Dealing with Field Failures

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Kirk and Fred discussing the value of  getting field failures returned for failure analysis and best practices in determining the causes.
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