Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
Dear friends, we are happy to relaese this video on Fault Tree Anlayis FTA). FTA is an important technique used in reliability engineering. Hope you find the video interesting! Link to our video on Binomial distribution
[Read more…]
How do you determine the right interval for a Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) task? It all comes down to the P-F Interval—the time between when a Potential Failure Condition is detectable to when the failure occurs.
In this video, I break down how to set CBM task intervals correctly using a simple example. The Failure Mode is: “Filter clogs due to normal use.” I’ll explain that CBM task intervals aren’t based on Criticality, MTBF, or the Useful Life, but instead on how quickly failure occurs once a Potential Failure Condition is detectable.
Learn how to properly identify and set your CBM task intervals to keep your equipment running reliably
[Read more…]
How effective are the repair tasks you conduct on your equipment?
This article looks at quantifying the effectiveness of corrective maintenance, typically an unplanned repair on an asset. Unplanned repairs are undesirable because the asset loses its function and cannot produce what is required often leading to loss of revenue. Yet, this advent is inevitable because assets are subject to degradation over time.
The effectiveness of a repair relates to the condition in which the asset is restored to after a repair. But also how long it will operate until the next repair, Evaluating the effectiveness of the repair will provide the asset operator with a decision making tool. Can we do something different if the repair effectiveness is unsatisfactory? Or do we have to replace the asset as it is failing too frequently?
[Read more…]
Article by Mike Freier
In the last blog post, we discussed why Design for Excellence (DfX) is important to your business. Building on several important concepts, this blog will focus on the Product Development phase and discuss how incorporating Agile principles can improve and accelerate your hardware product development process.
[Read more…]In the world of engineering reliability, there is a crucial aspect that spans various domains, the two fields that often get confused due to their similar names. While site reliability engineering (SRE) and hardware reliability engineering are both aimed at ensuring the dependability of systems, they focus on vastly different areas and employ distinct methodologies.
Let’s explore the key differences between these two disciplines and delve into the history behind the SR naming convention.
[Read more…]
My wife and I moved to a new home last year. We have yet to organize our tools.
The bedroom and kitchen are now organized. We, for the most part, can find the sweater or pan that we’re seeking.
No so for our tools in the shop. We have an assortment of hand tools for painting, home maintenance, yard work, and woodworking. In our previous home, we had the tools on pegboards, on shelves, in cabinets. We could find the right tool for the job at hand quickly. We’ve avoided the tool aisle at the hardware store recently, as we were sure we had the tool we need in the jumbled mess in our garage already. Still haven’t found it, though.
Have you noticed the number of statistical tools available? It’s like visiting a well-stocked tool store. There are basic tools like trend charting and advanced tools like proportional hazard models. Let’s explore the available tools a little so you can quickly find the right tool for the question or problem you are facing today.
[Read more…]Many ideas grow better when they are transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up. Oliver Wendell Holmes
In this article, I will outline how to evaluate an FMEA against the FMEA Quality Objective for FMEA Team. I’ll include relevant information from the chapter in the FMEA Preparation series called “Assembling the Correct FMEA Team.”
Today’s Gremlin – “lube it wrong”, is a leading cause of machinery breakdown. 60% to 80% of all bearing failures are due to lubrication related problems. Wrong lube, too much lube, too little lube, contaminated lube, degraded lube, overheated lube and even poor lube selection can all lead to premature failures of bearings. Put a tiny bit of dirt into a hydraulic system and watch it fail quickly.
[Read more…]
This paper is primarily on understanding how to get extraordinary equipment reliability. The paper explains where equipment failures start in organisations. It clarifies the need to recognise the effect, and to control the influence, of interacting processes across the life cycle. It explains the successful philosophies and practices used in high reliability organisations and it introduces a reliability-causing methodology to help companies find what to do to become high-reliability organisations.
Organisations are systems that consist of sub-systems like sales and production. Change impacts the organisational system and subsystems in different ways and speeds – sales may react quickly to the changing external environment, but production may take time to change the process. Unfortunately, people are the hardest to change.
When organisational subsystems change at different speeds caused by external changes, it creates gaps or cracks in the system. This is where the system gets disintegrated.
[Read more…]
Dear friends, we are happy to release this video on relatively unknown subject of Extended Reliability Growth Model! Please watch our previous videos on the subject of Reliability Growth before watching this video.
Links are provided below:
Reliability Growth Introduction and Duane Model
Crow AMSAA Reliability Growth Model
[Read more…]
Change is an inevitable part of every industry, and maintenance is no exception. Whether it’s the introduction of new technologies, processes, or leadership, how an organization handles change can significantly impact its operational efficiency and overall success. However, when it comes to maintenance, true change management goes beyond simply implementing new systems—it’s about transforming the culture, mindset, and approach of the entire organization to ensure lasting improvement.
[Read more…]
A client wanted to compare the Kaplan-Meier (nonparametric maximum likelihood) estimators of the reliabilities of the old and new products. That is, he wanted me to test reliability functions, Ho: R1(t)=R2(t) for all nonnegative t vs. Ha: R1(t)≠R2(t) for some nonnegative t.
Because I’m lazy and fixed in my ways and because I thought it would be easier to explain, I chose the Kolmgorov-Smirnov (K-S) test [Gnendenko]. It’s convenient, practically every statistics text has the tables, and I can program tables and the test statistic easily. The test uses the maximum absolute difference between the Kaplan-Meier estimates of the two reliability functions. Reject Ho if maximum absolute difference, Dmn=max|R1(t)-R2(t)| exceeds a critical value, where m and n are the two sample sizes.
[Read more…]
Why Inherent Reliability is About More Than Just How Long Equipment Lasts 🌟
In this video, filmed at the iconic Kukulcan Temple in Chichen Itza, Mexico, I explore one of the most important concepts in Reliability: Inherent Reliability. Inherent Reliability isn’t just about how long something will last without failing—it’s about how long it will last when we “feed” it with the right proactive maintenance and appropriate default strategies.
Just as the ancient Mayans offered blood sacrifices to feed their gods, we need to feed our equipment with the right maintenance tasks at the right intervals to keep it performing as needed. Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) helps us identify the precise tasks and timing to protect our assets, ensuring that we get the Reliability we need.
In this video, you’ll learn:
The true meaning of Inherent Reliability
How Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) helps define what failure means to you
The importance of performing the right maintenance tasks at the right intervals
Equip your team with the knowledge to “feed” your assets and achieve the Reliability you’re aiming for. Watch now to learn more!
[Read more…]
We are well aware of cases when Accelerated Testing is successfully creating by statisticians, here I would like to propose an engineer’s approach.
We have created a new product, there is (is) an order for it (50 products at a price of $200). Can we start manufacturing and delivery? No, we can’t. We are stopped by significant warranty obligations and lack of confidence in the reliability of the product during the warranty period.
This is a typical task with uncertainty.
[Read more…]