Dear friends, we are happy to release this Part-2 of our videos on Confidence Intervals. In this video, Hemant Urdhwareshe explains how to estimate confidence interval of population mean when population standard deviation sigma is not known In such cases, we need to use Student’s t-distribution instead of normal distribution and Z-Score.
[Read more…]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
Confidence Interval of Population Mean (Part-1)
Dear friends, we are happy to release this video on confidence interval when population standard deviation is known. This is part-1 of our series on confidence intervals.
[Read more…]Exponential Probability Plotting on Excel
Dear friends, we are glad to release this interesting video. In this video, Hemant Urdhwareshe explains procedure for probability plotting of failure data in Exponential Distribution using Excel. Hemant is a Fellow of ASQ and is certified as CRE, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, CQE and CMQ/OE by ASQ.
[Read more…]FMEA Quality Objective 1: FMEA PLAN
Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning Thomas Edison
As summarized in the first article in this series, “New Series – The Quality of FMEAs,” each month, I will write an article focusing on one of the 14 FMEA Quality Objectives. The intent is to provide insights and application tips for evaluating how well an FMEA meets the quality objectives. By learning to apply FMEA quality objectives, you can help to ensure that product designs and manufacturing processes are safe and reliable. If you didn’t read the introductory article, now is a good time to read it, since it explains FMEA Quality Objectives, and how they are used to create high-quality FMEAs.
In this article, I will outline how to evaluate an FMEA Plan against the FMEA Quality Objective for FMEA Plans.
The 1.5 Sigma Shift: What It Is and Why It Matters
One of the most persistent points of confusion in quality engineering is the difference between traditional statistical process capability analysis and the Six Sigma approach. Specifically, why does Six Sigma define a “six sigma” process as having 3.4 defective parts per million (DPPM), when a straightforward application of statistical tables suggests that six standard deviations from the mean should correspond to a far lower defect rate—about 2 parts per billion? The answer lies in what Six Sigma practitioners call the 1.5 sigma shift.
[Read more…]Remember this Memoryless Exponential Distribution!

Dear friends, I am happy to release our 59th video on Exponential Distribution! Exponential Distribution is an appropriate mathematical model when failure or hazard rate is constant. It is often known as “Memoryless” as reliability in any time interval is same! Exponential Distribution has many applications in Reliability Engineering such as electronic components. Many reliability procedures in MIL Standards assume constant failure rate and Exponential Distribution! Hope you find the video interesting and useful! Your feedback is welcome! Do subscribe to our channel to get updates on our new videos and programs!
[Read more…]Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) Part-4 Determination of Activation Energy for Arrhenius Model

Dear All, This is our fourth video on Accelerated Life Testing (ALT). Some of the viewers had requested for procedure to determine the Activation Energy used in Arrhenius Model. This video explains experimental procedure to determine Activation Energy. Hope you find this useful! If you like the video, click on the “Thumbs-up icon” and subscribe to our channel for more videos on Quality and Reliability!
[Read more…]Renewal vs. Generalized Renewal Process?

How to distinguish a renewal process from a “generalized” renewal process? Compare observed monthly returns vs. actuarial returns forecasts using actuarial return rate estimates of TTFF and TBF (Time To First Failure and Time Between Failures). A geophysicist masquerading as an Apple reliability engineer said, “It’s too hard to figure out the probability that a return came from a computer made in an earlier year.” It’s harder if returns could be second, third, or???
[Read more…]ANOVA Part-2: Partitioning Sum of Squares

Institute of Quality and Reliability is happy to release this second video on ANOVA! Viewers need to watch our video ANOVA Part-1 before watching this video. In this video, Hemant Urdhwareshe explains One-way ANOVA calculations using Sum of Squares on Excel. Hemant is a Fellow of ASQ and is certified by ASQ as Six Sigma Master Black Belt, CQE, CRE and CMQ/OE.
[Read more…]ANOVA Part-1 Introduction, Concepts, and F-Test

Institute of Quality and Reliability (IQR) is happy to release this first video on Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). In this video, Hemant Urdhwareshe, Director of IQR and Fellow of ASQ, explains basic concepts of ANOVA and F-test of equal variances.
[Read more…]Principles of Effective Teaching – A Summary
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” — Socrates
Reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. If you want to convey knowledge to another person, you are teaching. If you want to learn from another person who is teaching, you will benefit from learning these principles.
What is effective teaching?
Effective teaching results in the target knowledge and skills being conveyed to the student, with each student having a working knowledge of the content, and able to apply the subject matter successfully. You have successfully taught a subject when students understand the material and have attained the ability to apply the skills for the subject being taught. [Read more…]
New Series – The Quality of FMEAs
“Quality is not act. It is a habit.” – Aristotle
This month will begin a new series of articles on the quality of FMEAs, part of the Inside FMEAs series. The series will provide insights and application tips for evaluating how well an FMEA meets quality objectives. The intent is to create FMEAs that add value by accomplishing the objectives for FMEA, not filling out a form.
What is an FMEA Quality Objective?
We’ll begin with definitions from the Oxford English dictionary. “Quality” is defined as “the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.” “Objective” is “a thing aimed at or sought; a goal.”
Building from the above definitions, FMEA quality objectives are specific goals or aims that measure the degree of excellence of an FMEA. [Read more…]
Hypothesis Testing: Part-7 One and Two-proportion tests

Dear friends, we are happy to release this seventh video in our series on hypothesis testing. In this video, Hemant Urdhwareshe explains the applicability of proportion tests, procedure to perform these tests and interpretation of results. The concept is explained with application examples. Do let us know your feedback and subscribe if you like!
[Read more…]Troubleshooting Guidelines for Unacceptable Gage R&R Results

For engineering, quality and manufacturing professionals, the accuracy and precision of measurement systems are essential. Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (Gage R&R) studies provide a formal method for evaluating measurement system variation. And when the results of a study indicate that the gage is unacceptable, it’s a signal that something needs to change. But how should you approach solving the problem? This article provides a detailed guide to systematically troubleshoot and improve your measurement system when your Gage R&R results fall short of expectations. [Read more…]
Hypothesis Testing Part-6: Chi-Sq Test Contingency Tables

Dear friends, we are happy to released this sixth video in our series on hypothesis testing! In tis video Hemant Urdhwareshe has explained procedure to perform chi-square test in case of contingency tables. Our objective is to compare different groups to assess whether these are independent or related.
[Read more…]