Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
Reliability engineering, analysis, management, testing… − Where do I get the skills and training to be really effective? University or College? In-house? Conferences? Webinars? Software or Equipment Suppliers? Journals? A colleague? − Do I need a Certification? − Do I need an integrated program, or only specific stand-alone techniques?
Everyone has to start somewhere. And if we are going to be smart about it, we should examine our needs and make a plan… [Read more…]
The most common types of engineering data are measurements. There can be a few, thousands, or millions of data points to analyze. Without analytic tools, one can get lost in the data.
This article presents
To reduce schedules, prototype cycles are often randomly slashed. Eventually the time and resources are needed and create cost and schedule over runs. We need to recognize that prototypes exist to help us learn about our product. If we use a risk based test strategy approach, we can test at lower levels to gain the required understanding. Then, we can confirm our learning with the higher level, system prototypes.
Just 4 minutes and 19 second long. To me, a prototype does include bench testing at lower levels as long as it includes the relevant functionality to represent the area for learning. [Read more…]
Just for fun a few months back I wrote a blog on what I listed as the 5 worst inventions in last 10 years. I looked over that list today and was astonished to find out that I did not list the Web-based meeting as one of these inventions. Those who have known me for years know that I really despise non-value added work and over the last 5 years according to my calculations I have wasted a full 6 months of time attending web meetings. Time that could have been spent working on great idea or invention the entire world has been waiting for while I was listening to someone read through a list of agenda items that could have been sent in an email.
The result however is a blog post on the 5 critical mistakes of Web Meetings! (Please be sure to read on for my 5 rules for web-based meetings!) [Read more…]
Do you know why we ask for the “mode” of failure when performing FMEAs? This article will provide theory and practical examples of defining failure modes, and highlight an application tip that can improve your FMEA effectiveness.
“I haven’t failed, I’ve just found ten thousand ways that don’t work”
Thomas Edison
I like the occasional good catchphrase. I typically tend to speak in analogies and anecdotes and many of my customers and colleagues have suggested documenting them. So on occasion, I will write them in my notebook. Here are a few. [Read more…]
Managing all the information and data in maintenance can be overwhelming, yet it is critical to the success of your organization. If you are not yet using a CMMS, or thinking of changing it, you could be in for some major improvements.
A recent study by Software Advice concluded that a cloud based CMMS can offer three main benefits to organizations. These benefits are the type of benefits that will make a difference in your organization and deliver bottom line results. These three benefits are: [Read more…]
The temperature of a process is an important measure to know as it indicates whether or not the process is in control.
The selection of the temperature sensing method depends on
The critical success factors for ISO 9001:2015 RBT are much like Six Sigma and lean. Our hard lessons learned over the last dozen years migrating organizations from quality to ERM include: [Read more…]
If a tree falls in a forest with no one around to hear it, does it still make a sound?
If a fault occurs in a combinational circuit but its masked at the outputs is it still a fault?
If you can’t excite a fault from the circuit inputs does it really exist?
If you can’t propagate a fault to an output pin, does it matter?
In assessing an integrated circuit’s testability engineers consider the concepts of controllability and observability. In these specific characteristics of testability came up often the academic test literature of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The challenge back then was automatic test generation and fault simulation. [Read more…]
So you’ve probably heard of elevator speeches before. You know, a speech that you could blurt out if you had 20 seconds on an elevator with someone. In theory, this should give someone an overview of what you do.
Let’s be real here, shall we? Most people don’t care about your elevator speech. When introduced via a typical elevator speech most people have already zoned out and are thinking about the best route to the snack table. Admit it – You do this too!! If you use those precious few seconds of introduction to rattle off a resume you’ve wasted an opportunity to make a memorable impression.
You know what else no one cares about?? Your job title. The majority of the time, job titles do not tell you that much information – especially if the person is working in a different industry. So sharing your title alone does not really do much to pique the interest of others. It is often the starting point, but do not get lazy and think this is the end of it.
Also, no one wants to hear a speech. People do NOT want to be talked TO. Booooooorrrrring! They want to talk WITH interesting folks. So let’s not think of it as a speech or a chance to lecture someone on what you do, ok? Ok!
Instead, shift your thinking to the goal of the elevator speech. When someone says you, “So, Tell me about yourself,” think of it as an opportunity to hook them. Make them curious. Make them ask more questions. The purpose of your elevator speech should be to entice the other person to want to get to know you. THIS, my friend, is how you make an impression. And THIS is why I like to call it a Ten Second Tease.
Model Building is a key theme for several advanced techniques. It boils down to creating an equation. Done well, one can predict and forecast how things will behave. Creating understanding reduces product risk and increases the chances for success.
Just 3 minutes and 9 second long, lets get the basics of model building to improve your understanding of how a system works. [Read more…]
I can remember attending my first Maintenance and Reliability Conference, while it was over twenty years ago I was excited to go and find out what other companies were doing to improve. I can remember looking at the agenda and feeling a bit overwhelmed, there were so many different presentations to choose from sometimes I had a difficult time selecting which one to attend at a given time slot. [Read more…]
In this question, a reader asks how to define system-level functions, and how they are different from subsystem and component functions.
“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”
Francis Bacon
This is the final post in the series on roles & responsibilities and is the final step in ensuring the team is working together. So far in the series we cover the importance of defining role & responsibilities. How to determine roles & responsibilities, and the major roles in the maintenance department. In the last post, we will cover how to tie it all together in a simple, easy to use document. A RACI. [Read more…]
