Product Reliability Archives - Accendo Reliability

3 Case Studies of How to Define the Right Reliability Requirements for Each Customer

We all probably know Fred’s fight against the use of “MTBF” as a default measure of reliability.

And I concur. “MTBF” offers the least insight to product reliability. It offers little to the user in terms of realizing the benefits of reliability.

However, we all would like to see products that deliver more appealing benefits; and reliability is a key factor. But reliability is only part of the equation.

Technical performance is important.

So is price. So is appearance. So is delivery. So is the customer: different customers may see the world differently. And so may your competitors.

So, we can’t all adopt the same measurement for reliability. [Read more…]

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Product Reliability Participants part 6

In this installment of the series dealing with the myriad participants within an organization, we’ll start with failure analysis specialists, before moving to marketing and sales, and finally getting to the finance team. We’re moving away from the positions where the focus on reliability is central, but there are important considerations in relation to product reliability for each of these roles still. The next post in this series will be the final one. [Read more…]

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Product Reliability Participants part 5

Continuing the series where we examine various roles within an organization and the ways in which each role interacts and affects product reliability, this post will start off with procurement engineers and managers. Since each role hereafter is a bit less involved, multiple roles will be grouped together. After procurement, we’ll take a look at warranty managers. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Product Reliability Participants part 4

The last post moved into the role of quality and reliability engineers, and the influence that leadership in design and product development has on the product reliability process. Similarly, this post will move to Q & R managers, again looking at the role of that position in relation to product reliability.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Product Reliability Participants part 3

The last post in this series dealt with management in design and the influence that leadership in design and product development has on the product reliability process. This post will turn to quality and reliability (Q & R) engineers, again looking at the role of that position in relation to product reliability. The next post in this series will take a look at the role of quality and reliability managers. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Product Reliability Participants – Part 2

The last post in this series dealt with the design team, and the influence that team has on the product reliability process. This post will turn to product development and design managers, again looking at the role of that position in relation to product reliability. The series of posts on reliability participants will continue after today’s post with the roles of quality and reliability engineers and managers.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Product Reliability Participants – Part 1

An effective product reliability process requires a strong team, at every level. The team of employees within an organization that participate and impact product reliability is a vast and widespread group of people. They include members of the design team, design managers, quality and reliability engineers and managers, procurement engineers and managers, warranty managers, failure analysis specialists, members of the marketing and sales staff, members of the finance and manufacturing teams, and field service and call center staffs. [Read more…]

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Reliability Organization – Part 2

Decision Focus and Value

Last week I discussed how the aspects of the structure of an organization relate to product reliability. Related to that, this week the discussion will remain on the level of a reliability organization but will look at something a bit more intangible – how decision-making policy and practice affects product reliability. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Reliability Organization – Part 1

Both organizational structure and decision-making policies have an impact on improving product reliability. The former is more quantifiable whereas the latter involves more intangible subtleties. First, in this post, I’ll discuss the connection between organizational structure and reliability, and in a follow-up post, I’ll address reliability and decision focus, still within the structure of an organization. [Read more…]

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Reliability Predictions

If only we had a crystal ball or another device to predict the future. From the general wondering about the enemies next move, to the soldier hoping their equipment will work. In the corporate boardroom estimating the competitions next move, to the maintenance manager ordering spare parts, we have many uses for knowing the future.

We often look to past performance to provide an indication of the future. Has this mutual fund regularly provided adequate returns? If so, we predict it will going forward. And anyone that has reviewed mutual fund performance also has read or heard the admonishment to not use past performance to estimate future returns. Mutual funds, markets, business and battlefields all change and respond in sometimes unforeseen ways. [Read more…]

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Reactive and Proactive

Do you let events happen to you, or do events follow your designs and expectations? Are you a spectator or actor? Do you wonder about your product’s future or do you control your product’s future? Are you reactive or proactive?

Every reliability and maintenance program is a system. Every program has inputs, such as product testing results and field returns. Every reliability program has outputs, such as product design and production. In the most basic terms, a reliability program includes product specifications for functionality including expected durability. The program includes some form of design, verification, production and field performance. Given this basic lifecycle description, it is possible for two types of approaches to executing the product lifecycle. [Read more…]

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Reliability Goal

The reliability goal is a key element across the entire product lifecycle. From product definition to determining warranty to judging performance, knowing the goal in clear terms sets the stage for a successful product.

Reliability in engineering terms is the probability of satisfactory product performance within a defined environment over a stated duration. [Read more…]

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Parts count variation

Just a short post to point to a newly added paper to the reference section. A few years ago I recalled seeing a paper that studied the difference to expect between various parts count methods and actual results. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 3 Comments

Reliability Apportionment

Diverging from reliability statistics for a post or two, let’s consider one way which R(t), reliability at time, t, is useful during the design phase of a product. Apportionment is the breakdown or allocation of reliability goals or objectives to elements within the product.

Overall, the product’s reliability is just one number, and it represents what the customer will experience with the product. During design, we often work on subsystems and components. Having a meaningful way to describe the reliability requirements that also assists the team to meet the overall product goal, is, well, useful. [Read more…]

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Engineering Management

As 12%* of the CRE exam, this is a major section, yet not a very difficult one. There are three basic areas:

strategic management
reliability program management
ethics, safety, and reliability

If you’ve ever needed to secure funding or samples for a reliability test or had to respond to customer field returns, then you probably already understand the value of reliability.

In some businesses, product reliability is critical to the product’s success. Some businesses strive to be the leading ‘reliable’ producer in the market. [Read more…]