Fist to five voting is a simple and effective way to gather group feedback or to gauge consensus in a meeting or discussion. In this method, participants are asked to rate their level of support for an idea or proposal on a scale of 1 to 5, using their fingers. However, fist to five is a decision-making technique that should be described in the project charter and agreed upon by all participants. Ample time should be allowed between the initial poll and the final vote for negotiation and agreement to occur. [Read more…]
Professional Development & Growth
The key to growing your knowledge and career
To increase your knowledge, you need to learn new things, try new things and generally push outside of your comfort zone. One of the key components of growing your knowledge is knowing what is new and happening in Maintenance, Reliability, and Asset Management.
I recently had the privilege to attend and present two papers at the Society of Maintenance & Reliability Professional’s 2016 Annual Conference in Jacksonville. This premier event was 5 days long. The conference had 3 Days of workshops and courses, with 2 days of presentations. Many certification exams were held, such as the CMRT, CMRP, CAMA. [Read more…]
How Do You Stay Current?
When I first started working in a factory as a shift supervisor, it seemed there was some type of formal training nearly every month. And we were expected to attend a conference once a year. Little did I know that was a great time to start working in industry. We enjoyed a lot of great training.
Later in my career and as the economy changed budgets for training slowly declined. Travel budgets also slipped away. I don’t have hard numbers, yet I suspect there is less company-sponsored professional development than 20 years ago.
As an engineering working in the reliability field, how do you keep up and learn what you need to know to accomplish your work? [Read more…]
The Learning and Teaching Route to Success
Reliability engineers learn basic tools and techniques most often from others with that knowledge. During our careers, we also continue to learn and often find ourselves teaching. Even when mentoring we find ourselves learning. Being a deliberate and active student and teacher is a great way to remain inquisitive and helpful.
Learning and teaching route to success
Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. [1]
Learning never stops. [Read more…]
Networked and Positive as a Reliability Engineer
Many elements help make a reliability engineer successful.Two such elements are knowing the right people to get the job done and generally being a positive and enjoyable person to be around.
Talent and Professionalism as a Reliability Engineer
My dictionary says that talented is “having a natural aptitude or skill for something.”
We learn reliability engineering and those who understand the range of tools and techniques useful for a given situation would be considered talented.
Everything is not solved by running a highly accelerated life test (HALT) or only conducting detailed failure analysis. Knowing when and why to apply a particular tool and using the tool effectively (i.e., when to use a Weibull distribution to model lifetime data and how to use the information to make decisions) are critical. [Read more…]
Success as a Reliability Engineer
Whether by design or by accident some of us become reliability engineers. Making a career in reliability engineering relies on your ability to make a difference and to add value. Being successful as a reliability engineer, while creating reliable products, permits continuation and growth as a reliability professional.
Basics of Reliability Engineering
One of best features about working in reliability engineering is everything fails, eventually. This fact provides a bit of career stability.
Another aspect I enjoy is the concepts and approaches that create the foundation for reliability engineering knowledge do not change very much over time. The basics of reliability engineering are the same as when the earliest engineers began design structures and products.