Why do so many avoid failure? In product development of plant asset management, we are surrounded by people who steadfastly do not want to know about nor talk about failures.
Failure does happen. We cannot ignore this simple fact. Continue reading
How many reliability engineers does it take to replace a light bulb? Well, none, but that’s because reliability engineers would use a reliable bulb to avoid the need for replacement.
Of more importance is answering the question ‘How many reliability engineers does an organization need?’ Is it
(a) none,
(b) one really good reliability engineering professional, or
(c) an entire staff of highly talented reliability engineers? Continue reading
SETTING THE MARGIN FOR SAFETYEstimating the set of stress and stress curves is an interesting exercise that may have a greater purpose: safety. The connection is clear when considering the potential consequences of failure. For example, the loss of braking power when landing an aircraft may result in the aircraft rolling off the end of the runway. Continue reading
The concept of a maturity model is not new. A maturity model provides a means to identify the current state and illuminate the possible improvements to a reliability program. The matrix serves a guide to assist an organization in improving its program.
The matrix has five stages. In general, the higher stages are most cost effective and efficient at achieving higher rates of product reliability performance. These stages—uncertainty, awaking, enlightenment, wisdom, and certainty—are described in the following. The complete matrix is posted at http://accendoreliability.com/reliability-maturity. Continue reading
Worst-case tolerance analysis is the starting point when creating a tolerance specification. It is a conservative approach as it only considers the maximum or minimum values of part variation—whichever leads to the worst situation. Setting tolerances such that the system will function given the expected variation of manufactured components improves that ability of the system to perform reliably. Continue reading