Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
Just when I thought we had experienced every possible MTBF definition confusion, here’s another.
This one is courtesy of the thread concerning the impact on reliability when adding redundancy to a system. [Read more…]
A product warranty is a form of guarantee that if the product doesn’t work, it will be repaired or replaced. Yet, is this just marketing or is it smart business? Warranties are seemingly automatic with the purchase of an item, yet why do so many stores offer an ‘extended warranty’?
Let’s explore what warranties are and are not, plus why they even exist. How are the terms of a warranty set, and by whom? Also, analyzing warranty data is one way to learn how well a product is doing in the field.
In a Q&A forum, the response to a question concerning failure rate and repair times for a redundant system demonstrated yet another person confusing MTBF with something it is not.
The responder to the question mentioned that the reference to repair time implied the need for MTBF as a metric. Then went on to describe MTBF as the duration of repair time, which should not change given a redundant system over a non-redundant system. [Read more…]
[Note: I wrote and published this article in August 2016, almost 10 years ago. The overall house hasn’t failed yet some windows leak when it’s raining (replaced), the water heater and furnace have both failed (replaced, repaired), and we are enjoying the house as our home. And, while I do get out for walks, I do not play Pokémon Go anymore.]
Seriously, while out walking, listening to a podcast, and playing Pokémon Go, I found an open house to view. A week later our offer was accepted, and next week we close.
I would not have been out walking that Sunday afternoon if not out playing Pokémon Go.
Glad there are no dangerous cliffs nearby. [Read more…]
Product teams often face decisions where uncertainty meets cost, and the clock is ticking.
That’s where expected value shines. It’s a lightweight decision tool that translates probability and impact into a single, comparable figure.
More important, it pairs nicely with a simple three-phase flow (frame it, investigate it, choose it) so your decision is not a hunch, but an informed step tied to evidence and project priorities.
Spending too much on reliability and not getting the results you expect? Just getting started and not sure where to focus your reliability program? Or, just looking for ways to improve your program?
There is not one way to build an effective reliability program. The variations in industries, expectations, technology, and the many constraints shape each program. Here are three suggestions you can apply to any program at any time. These are not quick-fix solutions, nor will you see immediate results, yet each will significantly improve your reliability program and help you achieve the results you and your customers expect. [Read more…]
Have you ever heard the claim that “We use MTBF, as it’s working just fine”?
They may be profitable and successful in the marketplace. Is MTBF serving them well?
Probably not.
One way help the folks claiming MTBF is alright is to illustrate using a better reliability metric may provide an improvement over using MTBF. Asking a few questions may find the inevitable chink in the MTBF armor.
by Wes Cash of Noria Corportaion
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