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Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.

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How to be ‘qualified’ in Weibull Analysis 

How to be ‘qualified’ in Weibull Analysis 

(and Why It Matters)

In the world of reliability engineering, few tools are as powerful – or as misunderstood – as Weibull analysis. It is a statistical tool, which can turn people ‘off’ straight away, as we can immediately leap to a list of equations and tables of numbers that we need to memorize and embrace. But Weibull analysis is different. You actually don’t need equations.

Check out the chart below, which is called a ‘Weibull plot.’ The different shapes and colours representing the failures of different components can tell us so many things without having to evaluate a single equation.

[Read more…]

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FMEA in Practice: Lessons Learned from Mistakes

FMEA in Practice: Lessons Learned from Mistakes

I usually write articles about topics I personally struggled to understand from the sources available to us such as books, online resources, and so on. I believe most technical concepts are fairly straightforward at their core, but the way we express ideas and translate our understanding into writing often makes them harder for others to grasp. That’s an area where we can all continue to improve.

As part of that journey, my goal with the Breaking Bad for Reliability newsletter is to be a communicator of Reliability Engineering principles, and I am doing this mainly for two categories of people: [Read more…]

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Quality Objective 8: SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Quality Objective 8: SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality” – George Lucas

In this article, I will outline how to evaluate an FMEA against the FMEA Quality Objective for identifying special characteristics. Special characteristics are often not well understood by FMEA teams, and yet have potential to be highly useful in FMEA applications.

[Read more…]

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REVIEW Analyzing Repairable System Failures Data

REVIEW Analyzing Repairable System Failures Data

Recently, Ziad let me know he published an article titled Analyzing Repairable System Failures Data in the April-May 2017 issue of Uptime magazine (subscription required). He suggested I’d be interested in the article since it provides a way to analyze repairable system data without using MTBF. He was right.

The article is a short description and tutorial on using mean cumulative plotting and function (MCF). While the article recommends staying away from using MTBF, it could be a bit of a stronger message. The article does provide a very nice worked out example illustrating the use of a mean cumulative plot. [Read more…]

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How to Create a Healthy Organization

How to Create a Healthy Organization

Guest Post by Patrick Ow (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Healthy organisations create an environment where organisational members have mutual trust and respect for each other, especially in terms of how they decide and implement decisions. They create an environment in which organisational members are empowered to deal with their problems and where problems can be identified, discussed, and solved with mutual trust and respect through cooperation and communication amongst themselves.

When there is mutual trust and respect, there will be more teamwork and collaboration. This constructive and collaborative culture will generate a positive ‘risk culture’ and a collaborative approach to risk management. It builds a higher level of risk maturity for the organisation.

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Moving from Quality to Accuracy in Production and Maintenance 

Moving from Quality to Accuracy in Production and Maintenance 

The Accuracy Controlled Enterprise: Using Accuracy-Controlled 3T SOPs for Production and Maintenance Quality Assurance

 Reliable equipment is necessary to reduce production costs and maximise production throughput. High reliability from operating equipment requires high quality reassembly, coupled with the correct operating practices. You can guarantee correct maintenance and proper plant operation by specifying a target and tolerance in maintenance and operating procedures. 

Having a target and tolerance sets the recognised acceptance criterion. A simple proof-test will confirm if it has been met. Specifying a mark and tolerance range changes the focus from one of simply doing the job; to now doing the job accurately. This results in high quality trades’ workmanship and sound equipment operator practices that deliver reliable equipment performance. Those organisations that use ‘target, tolerance, proof-test’ methodology in their procedural tasks move from being a quality-conscious operation to being an Accuracy-Controlled Enterprise (ACE). 

[Read more…]

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The Truth About RCM’s Weakness in Industrial Settings

The Truth About RCM’s Weakness in Industrial Settings

True or False? Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) has serious weaknesses in an industrial environment. False!

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) has been successfully applied across nearly every industry—from manufacturing, to oil and gas, to the military, to power generation, and beyond. The original authors of RCM, Stanley Nowlan and Howard Heap, aimed to make RCM principles applicable to all complex equipment, not just airplanes. In this video, we dive into why RCM continues to thrive in diverse environments.

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Probability Functions in Reliability and Related Mathematics

Probability Functions in Reliability and Related Mathematics

Dear friends, we are happy to release our 90th technical video! In this video, Hemant Urdhwareshe, Fellow of American Society for Quality (ASQ), explains the various functions in reliability mathematics. Hemant has explained Probability Density Function (PDF), Cumulative Failure Distribution Function (CDF), Reliability Function and the Hazard Function. Hemant has also briefly explained the mathematical derivations of these functions as well as their relationships. In addition, the video includes an application example of estimating B02 life when the hazard function is known. The video is little long, so viewers are requested to be patient and watch the complete video. This will be very useful in preparing for the Certified Reliability Engineer Exam conducted by ASQ.

[Read more…]

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The McNamara Fallacy 

The McNamara Fallacy 

… and why we still make rubbish products that break a lot

Modern militaries don’t win many wars these days. The most dominant, well-funded, highly-trained armies have consistently lost (or at least not won) the Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghanistan War, arguably the Iraq War, and plenty of others. And many dominant, well-funded, highly-trained companies are consistently spitting out unreliable or unimaginative products that smaller and less dogmatic companies have no problem bettering.

To understand why, let’s look at a man called Robert McNamara.

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Reliability Engineering 101

Reliability Engineering 101

September 2013. That was the date I accepted an offer for a Maintenance and Reliability Engineer role in one of the largest oil and gas service companies in the world. I had no clue what the role really meant. Since it was about industrial equipment, I thought, I am a Mechanical Engineer, I will figure it out.

Later I realized it was not only me who did not know what reliability engineers do. More or less all my stakeholders, including my manager, were not very clear about it either. So, I had to learn on my own, and later find ways to add value to the business.

What you will get out of this article?

If you are a fresh graduate engineer looking to build a career in reliability engineering, or a company unsure about what type of engineering service to seek or who to hire to improve product or process reliability, you are in the right place.

By spending just 10 minutes reading this article, you will learn:

  • What reliability engineering really is
  • The different reliability engineering roles
  • The key skill sets required for each role
[Read more…]

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The Benefits of Establishing In-House Hardware Manufacturing

The Benefits of Establishing In-House Hardware Manufacturing

Article by Wayne Miller

Many companies, especially for high-complexity products such as energy storage and robotics, are moving away from outsourced manufacturing to establish their own internal operations. In fact, Kearney’s 10th Annual Reshoring Index finds that reshoring has substantially increased during the past decade.

This paradigm shift, driven by the need for closer design and production integration, poses opportunities and challenges. This article delves into the essential steps and considerations to set up an effective internal manufacturing facility tailored for the hardware-based product industry.

[Read more…]

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Return Parts Analysis – Why?

Return Parts Analysis – Why?

As industries increasingly rely on complex electromechanical systems, the importance of Return Parts Analysis (RPA) cannot be overstated. This crucial process involves forensic examination of failed components to determine root causes and prevent future issues. Let’s explore why RPA is essential, particularly for components like valves, sensors, pumps, and electrical boards.

Return Parts Analysis provides invaluable insights into component failures offering benefits that extend far beyond simple troubleshooting.

[Read more…]