Articles

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

Supplier’s Reliability Responsibility

We, as developers, create designs that we call “our own.” Rarely are the materials for our in-house manufacturing process raw steel, rubber, and glass, like Henry Ford had feed into the Ford factory in 1930. Our manufacturing process receives a mix of materials and fully functional sub assemblies from other technology companies. It’s unlikely the PCB electronic components, bearings, motors, gears, drivetrains, sensors, power supplies, harnesses are ours. Why would you design any of these with so many options available made by specialists? This results in us having little input or control in the development and demonstrated reliability of our entire product. [Read more…]

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

Pets on Planes

So I got to wondering today, is it just me or are there way too many pets on planes these days?

And, just so I can maybe avoid 1 or 2 hate replies I am a pet owner. I have always loved all of my pets, I have spoiled them on occasion and we treat them like family. I love coming home the unglued excitement of a wagging tail powerful enough to take anything not nailed down off the closest table but I have to wonder how much our pets really enjoy being dragged onto a flying tin can captured in close quarters for hours at a time only to have the doors opened to an environment where their owners speed walk to the nearest rest room but poor Jake still isn’t allowed to relieve himself? [Read more…]

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Understanding FMEA Causes – Part 1

Getting to the Root of the Matter

Does a cause description need to be a design or manufacturing deficiency? Why? This is one of the more important questions to consider if you want to achieve quality FMEAs.

“The effort to get at the truth has to precede all other efforts.”
Albert Einstein

[Read more…]

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Becoming More Effective With Your Day

How To Save Time As A Maintenance Professional

You are running from one meeting to another, to a breakdown, to the storeroom and at the end of the day you stop and think. What did I really get done today? The day was busy, but did you accomplish what you wanted to or will make a difference in the long run?

The organization needs to focus on effective maintenance, and as a maintenance professional you need to be effective with your time. Only if you are effective with your time, can you drive the organization and the maintenance program forward. Being a maintenance professional it can be difficult to discern between the urgent and important and it is easy to get caught up in the rat race.

This will be a 4-part series on how a maintenance professional can free up time in their day and be more effective in driving their goals forward. [Read more…]

by Greg Hutchins 5 Comments

Moose Lodge Syndrome

Some 20 years ago, I was volunteering with a not-for-profit organization to develop new products and services.

Our team had lots of ideas. We were excited to innovate, change, add value, and do better. You could feel the energy. It was electric.

The challenge: The organization was riding high and making lots of money on its core products. They did not want or did not need to look at anything new. Why fix something that was not broken from its point of view. OK. We got it.

Well, our great ideas were stuffed. The energy and enthusiasm dissipated. I left the organization.

Several of us wondered what had happened. Dr. Lindborg, an expert in organizational dynamics, in a moment of inspiration, uttered:

This is the Moose Lodge Syndrome at work.

“What’s that?” we said. A little history may help: [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini 1 Comment

Electric Motor Problems

This article presents a basic explanation of electric motor construction and operation along with eleven problems that can be encountered with their use.

Most electric motors in industrial equipment are three phase alternating current induction motors. Induction is the creation of an electric current across a gap. Two types of induction motors are commonly used: squirrel-cage and wound-rotor. The names come from the way they are built. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

The Check Step of a Risk Management Framework

Planning and Implementing a risk management framework is an admirable accomplishment. Now make sure it is running well and will do so into the future.

As with any process, there will be opportunities to make improvements. By monitoring and reviewing your program you will find what is working well and what is not. [Read more…]

by Adam Bahret Leave a Comment

Pioneers and The Settlers

The Pioneers rarely reap the rewards of new discoveries. It’s usually the settlers that really profit from the new expansion. Many companies, especially small ones striving to get into a market, bet on a big technology breakthrough to get their foot in the door. As consumers, we do eventually become aware of “the others” once the market for that technology is in motion. “The others” were quietly watching and diligently developing the improved version based on the experiences of the pioneer’s first take. [Read more…]

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

What Can We Learn From Flint Michigan?

The finger pointing in Flint Michigan has already begun and it’s likely to reach and cross several levels of Michigan’s government. We have developed a society where it has become more important to find out who is to blame, than it is to find out what happened and how we can be sure it never happens again.

Regardless of what you may have read in the papers or seen on the news the effects of lead poisoning are real. Chronic lead poisoning over time like one would expect from a contaminated water source results in damage to every part of the human body and lasts a lifetime. [Read more…]

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

FMEA Q and A – FMEA Boundary Diagram

FMEA Q and A

In this Q and A article, a reader asks a challenging question about the linkage between FMEA boundary diagrams and Design FMEAs. There are many linkages between different elements of FMEAs, and this question/answer highlights one of the key linkages.

“In all affairs, it’s a healthy thing to hang a question mark on the thing you have long taken for granted.”
Bertrand Russell

[Read more…]

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Speaking the Same Maintenance & Reliability Language

The Importance of Understanding the Terms and Definitions of the Maintenance & Reliability Language

Imagine being asked to discuss a breakdown during a production meeting. Only you are not aware of a breakdown, but production is claiming there was one and it could have been prevented by some Preventative Maintenance. You ask what equipment the breakdown was on and check the records. The records show there was a minor corrective action on the equipment last night, but not a breakdown.

After some discussion, the production manager explains that there was a leak, and the line had to be stopped to repair the leak. You know that a leak is not a breakdown, and will not impact production. The production manager saw a leak and assumed it was a breakdown. The end result was an unplanned outage lasting 30 minutes. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini 1 Comment

Pulse Jet Bag House Dust Collectors

In this article on pulse jet bag house dust collectors we cover twelve factors spanning their design and operation.

A bag house dust collector is used to separate dust from a dust-contaminated gas stream. The gas is filtered through bags made of fabric. The fabric traps and filters out the dust while the cleaned gas passes through. The fabric consists of either woven or intertwined (felted) fibres. The bag fibre is selected for its ability to give a long working life within the internal environment of the dust collector. [Read more…]

by Greg Hutchins Leave a Comment

ERM in ISO is Enhanced Risk Management

ISO maintains risk has implicitly been a part of the standard since the ISO 9001:2015 revision. How? In the new standard, ‘preventive action’ has evolved to ‘actions to address risk and opportunities.’ This changes the Corrective Action – Preventive Action (CAPA) model. In the past, Preventive Action was implemented as a result of Corrective Action specifically to prevent the recurrence of the nonconformity. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Reliability and Implementing a Risk Management Plan

With the advent of ISO 31000 and other ISO standards suggesting organizational risk management practices, your organization may have or soon will implement a risk management plan. Reliability of your products, systems, or assets is an element of the organization’s risk profile.

As reliability professionals, your knowledge and skills are a natural fit within any risk management plan. You may focus exclusively on the reliability performance-related risks You may find the skills and tools to identify and mitigate risks play an important role beyond just reliability performance.

Large and small organizations face risks. The lines of communication differ as do the context, culture, and management practices between any two organization. The implementation of a risk management plan has to fit your organization.

Here are few general guidelines and practical considerations when implementing your organization’s risk management plan. [Read more…]

by Dennis Craggs Leave a Comment

A Primer on Probability Plots

In my prior article, “A Primer on Probability Distributions”, the usage of different types of histograms to display data was discussed. The histogram would acquire a bell shape if the data were normally distributed. The main limitation of the histogram approach is that the shape of the histogram can change radically with the selection of the bins used. Instead, a probability plot could be used.

This article discussed probability plots. They are extremely useful for the analysis of big and small data sets.

[Read more…]