#454 – CAN A PRODUCT HAVE PERFECT RELIABILITY? – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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In the poem by Oliver Wendall Holmes, The One Hoss Shay, a deacon is confounded by the various parts of his carriage the fail.

And, he decides to do something about it.

But the Deacon swore (as Deacons do,
With an “I dew vum,” or an “I tell yeou,”)
He would build one shay to beat the taown
‘n’ the keounty ‘n’ all the kentry raoun’;
It should be so built that it couldn’ break daown:
“Fer,” said the Deacon, “t’s mighty plain
Thut the weakes’ place mus’ stan’ the strain;
‘n’ the way t’ fix it, uz I maintain, Is only jest T’ make that place uz strong uz the rest.”

 

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#453 – DURATION AND RELIABILITY GOALS – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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Coupled with probability is the duration over which the probability applies.

For example, if we desire 99 of 100 to survive, we must state over which period of time this applies. It is proper to state the couplet of 99% reliable over 1 year. Continue reading

#451 – PURPOSE OF A RELIABILITY PROGRAM – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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The reliable performance of a system is important. It is important to the customer, to our business and to us.

Very few argue that we should ignore the reliability characteristics of a product. We also deem cost, time to market or feature set as important also. The trouble is we can measure the latter directly every day, where the reliability performance is often difficult to measure. Continue reading

#450 – FIVE STEPS TO CREATE A RELIABILITY PLAN – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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A specific reliability plan may include any number of specific tasks. To build an effective plan you need the knowledge of the individual tools and techniques, plus how they may fit together to create an overall plan to achieve your goals. Continue reading

#449 – UNCOVERING FIELD FAILURES – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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A reliable product does not fail often. Customers expect to a level of reliability performance and failures that occur too early dash their expectation.

The design and development team work to create a robust product. To meet the customer’s reliability expectations. The team may use a range of tools to detect any reliability problem prior to launch. Continue reading