I like to say Reliability is all about quality over time. Quality professionals tend to say reliability is an element of quality. David A. Garvin of the Harvard Business School suggests there are eight dimensions to quality, including reliability.
Either way one relates quality and reliability we need to remember that quality or reliability are not a department, team, the engineering down the hall. Quality and reliability are part of the culture of the organization. It is how we make decisions the impact how the product or service performs for customers.
The 8 Dimensions of Quality
According to Garvin, these are the 8 dimensions of quality:
- Performance: Performance refers to a product’s primary operating characteristics. This dimension of quality involves measurable attributes; brands can usually be ranked objectively on individual aspects of performance.
- Features: Features are additional characteristics that enhance the appeal of the product or service to the user.
- Reliability: Reliability is the likelihood that a product will not fail within a specific time period. This is a key element for users who need the product to work without fail.
- Conformance: Conformance is the precision with which the product or service meets the specified standards.
- Durability: Durability measures the length of a product’s life. When the product can be repaired, estimating durability is more complicated. The item will be used until it is no longer economical to operate it. This happens when the repair rate and the associated costs increase significantly.
- Serviceability: Serviceability is the speed with which the product can be put into service when it breaks down, as well as the competence and the behavior of the serviceperson.
- Aesthetics: Aesthetics is the subjective dimension indicating the kind of response a user has to a product. It represents the individual’s personal preference.
- Perceived Quality: Perceived Quality is the quality attributed to a good or service based on indirect measures.
{Source: Eight dimensions of quality, Wikipedia article accessed 10 May 2018 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_dimensions_of_quality]
For reliability professionals, we recognize the elements related to what we do, such as reliability, durability, and serviceability. Plus, we understand the need to create performance, features, and aesthetics that endure for some expected duration.
What is interesting is none of these elements are the purview of the Quality Department (some may argue that they do the conformance dimension, yet the quality folks are really just monitoring the work to others.) Organizations without an identifiable quality or reliability group still achieve some level for each of these dimensions. Some create remarkably good (high quality and reliability) across all these dimensions without attending quality or reliability engineers.
Since all these aspects of a product exist independent of a dedicated quality or reliability team, the decisions and supporting work occurs throughout the organization. Electrical engineers design for performance, yet also consider durability as well as all of the other quality dimensions. Industrial design engineers tend to focus on aesthetics, yet have to consider serviceability and conformance at a minimum in order to create a successful product.
In short, whether talking about quality or reliability we are not talking about the end of line measurements or accelerated life testing. We are talking about the many decisions that occur across the organization that result in the customer perceived attributes of the product’s behavior today and over time.
The Reliability Maturity Model
I’ve written about the reliability maturity model elsewhere, yet want to mention the concept here. The model is based on Phil Crosby’s work around the Quality Maturity Model in his book, Quality Is Free. In both, there are stages where the organization’s approach to quality or reliability is characterized as reactive, where the organization only responds to reported quality or reliability problems. Mature organizations are predictive, anticipating the potential problems before they occur.
The focus on the maturity models is on the culture around decision making related to quality and reliability. Are the tools, information, and behaviors in place which consistently result in the creation of a product that meets or exceeds customer expectations. The culture around decision making can be improved by the work of quality and reliability professionals, yet is typically not done by them. An organizations culture is more than one person or team.
Quality and Reliability Occur at the Point of Decision
The result of many individual decisions, from which component to use in this power supply, to the surface finish of the product case, and many more decisions, impact the ultimate quality and reliability of the product in the hands of a customer. Quality and Reliability rely on the culture of the organization to occur or are a result of the culture concerning decision making.
If your organization makes more decisions that improve the resulting quality and reliability then the resulting products perform and are perceived as performing well. If the decisions do not support creating a quality or reliable product then the results will reveal the impact of such a culture.
In either case, it is the moment of decision, the many decisions across the organization, that determine the results. Keeping this in mind as either a quality or reliability professional or even as someone wishing to create a successful product, may guide your work to create and support a proactive culture concerning making each decision.
Bio:
Fred Schenkelberg is an experienced reliability engineering and management consultant with his firm FMS Reliability. His passion is working with teams to create cost-effective reliability programs that solve problems, create durable and reliable products, increase customer satisfaction, and reduce warranty costs. If you enjoyed this articles consider subscribing to the ongoing series at Accendo Reliability.