#266 – RISK MATRIX AS A COMMUNICATION TOOL – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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Not all risks the same. Some are minor with little consequence, while others are not. Every organization or reliability program facings a plethora of risks and being able to communicate the range of identified risks is helped by using a risk matrix.

The risk matrix is a simple two-dimensional grid that lays out on one access the expected consequence of risk, from minor to catastrophic. The other axis has the likelihood or occurrence of the risk becoming realized, ranging from rare too certain. Continue reading

#259 – WHAT IS RELIABILITY ENGINEERING? – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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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. Continue reading

#253 – EXPLORING DRONE RELIABILITY – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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In a few Twitter conversations, I’ve learned about the perceived lack of reliability of commercially available quadcopter or drones.

And, being encouraged to write a paper or two on drone reliability. Now that Amazon has a delivery drone patent, and industrial applications continue to announced daily, there is a need for serious reliability in these devices. Continue reading

#247 – 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

#240 – THE IMPORTANCE OF A RELIABILITY ENGINEERING COMMUNITY – FRED SCHENKELBERG

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Years ago I was a part of a reliability engineering community and I had not met more than two or three members. This was before the internet and was using a new-fangled system called an email list.

At the time, it filled the role of helping me understand the many facets of reliability engineering. It helped me answer questions and allowed me to help others as well. Continue reading