When approaching design validation, what can make us increase our success rate? This video hits highlights of how we approach validation. [Read more…]
Design Validation
on Tools & Techniques
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
- Dennis Craggs — Big Data Analytics series
- Perry Parendo — Experimental Design for NPD series
- Dev Raheja — Innovative Thinking in Reliability and Durability series
- Oleg Ivanov — Inside and Beyond HALT series
- Carl Carlson — Inside FMEA series
- Steven Wachs — Integral Concepts series
- Shane Turcott — Learning from Failures series
- Larry George — Progress in Field Reliability? series
- Gabor Szabo — R for Engineering series
- Matthew Reid — Reliability Engineering Using Python series
- Kevin Stewart — Reliability Reflections series
- Anne Meixner — Testing 1 2 3 series
- Ray Harkins — The Manufacturing Academy series
Sturge’s Rule: A Method for Selecting the Number of Bins in a Histogram
If you’ve worked around the fields of reliability or quality for any length of time, you’ve certainly encountered and have likely assembled the humble yet mighty histogram. This specialized bar graph is one of the most common starting points for analyzing continuous data. It not only portrays the frequency of numerical data across its range of values, but also provides hints at the data’s underlying probability distribution. [Read more…]
Lost in Remote Working
While the push for remote working or work from home is efficient, there are some downsides that people need to be aware of. This video discusses certain advantages for in person situations. [Read more…]
Using FMEA quality objectives to audit FMEAs
In last month’s article we discussed the most common FMEA mistakes and how to convert them into quality objectives. This month we will focus on how to audit FMEAs, using the FMEA quality objectives as a guideline.
“Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.” Plato
Thomas Jefferson’s Role in Modern Manufacturing: Interchangeable Parts
My limited formal training about America’s Industrial Revolution came in tenth grade history class. And my few remaining recollections of my studies from that era include characters like James Watt and Alfred Nobel, and their inventions, the steam engine and dynamite. Oh, and how could I forget Eli Whitney and his cotton gin?
Now 40 years later, my interest in manufacturing has grown far beyond these elementary school lessons, and the Industrial Revolution continues to intrigue me. Yes, this era was rife with its inventors and their inventions. But the enduring gains from this era were the philosophies of manufacturing that transcended the specific inventions. [Read more…]
Online Training
As organizations engage virtual teams, they still need interactive training on certain topics. How can this be done with multiple locations? What about colleges, high schools and elementary schools? While details can vary depending on age, the tips provided come from years of academic and industrial training situations. Contact us to learn more to help for your specific situation. [Read more…]
Measuring Relative Variation: A Review of the Coefficient of Variation
Consider the following two targets:
Shooter #1
Shooter #2
Shooter #1 and Shooter #2 both fired 15 rounds into their respective targets. Who is the better marksman? [Read more…]
Online Meetings
As working at home and virtual teams grow, so does the need for effective online meetings. Having done this in our corporate and consulting life, including with international organizations, we thought we should share some tips with you. [Read more…]
The Most Common FMEA Mistakes and How to Convert Them into Quality Objectives
“Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgment.” Will Rogers
Much is learned by observing the mistakes companies have made in doing FMEAs. Based on the experience of over 2,000 FMEAs and working with many companies in a wide variety of applications, certain common mistakes show up repeatedly. In this article, I’ll share ten common FMEA mistakes and how to convert them into quality objectives.
Work from Home
People like the idea of working from home but how can we be most effective? This video provides tips from over 14 years of experience working from home full time. [Read more…]
Root Cause Analysis — What is 8D?
The “D” is 8D stands for “disciplines”, and the 8D process is a problem-solving methodology employing eight sequential disciplines or steps that can be applied to a wide range of industries, situations, and disciplines.
The 8D process was developed in the late 1980’s by the Ford Motor Company to give its engineers a standardized method for dealing with design and manufacturing problems. Ford’s predecessor to 8D was called “TOPS”, Team Oriented Problem Solving. This is a fitting name to the methodology since it strongly emphasizes a team-based approach. In fact, the first of the eight D’s is “Assemble the Team”. [Read more…]
Are you rolling the Product Development dice?
Development challenges are rarely simple. Is your team rolling the dice in hopes it gets resolved quickly? Do you start with two dice in your hand, yet are hoping for a Yahtzee? Understand the risks and impacts and make sure the plan is appropriate. [Read more…]
Root Cause versus Solutions
Many problem solving processes include separate steps for determining root cause and generating potential solutions. In cases where a clear and single cause is identified, maybe there is some sense to this. However, for complex situations the causes tend to be tangled together through interactions, which cannot be determined with simple comparative tests. A well constructed Design of Experiments can uncover the causes and expose the solution at the same time. [Read more…]
Root Cause Analysis — 5 Why Analysis
No discussion of root cause analysis is complete without a review of 5 Why Analysis. This brainstorming technique was developed by Japanese industrialist and founder of the Toyota Motor Corporation, Sakichi Toyoda, and used throughout Toyota since the 1930’s. As the wave of continuous improvement moved through the aviation industry in the 1970’s, the auto industry in the 1980’s, and the healthcare industry in the 1990’s, 5 Why Analysis moved along with it. The tool’s simplicity is what makes it so adaptable in the safety, quality, engineering and production disciplines. [Read more…]
Data Gathering
On the surface, it is easy to run a test. What is less easy is gathering the required and desired information. Set up and analysis do not matter if the data is of low quality. Consider these points to improve your effectiveness. [Read more…]
