DLP TV reliability – what next?
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discussing our nature to seek root causes even with home appliances.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 132 Mechanical System HALT Hints and Tips
Mechanical System HALT Hints and Tips
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discussing the process of HALT on mechanical systems. Many times the simplest and most straightforward of accelerated testing is to increase the number of expected use cycles such as on a mechanical hinge. They discuss how a failure may come from degradation, such as a squeaking door hinge, before it actually has a functional failure.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 131 Pinball Machine Reliability
Pinball Machine Reliability
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discussing the history of our and other SOR podcasts on the Accendo Reliability Website and the improvements and additions since we did the first SOR podcast.
Fred also asks about Kirk’s new book and interest in the recent revival of pinball and the reliability issues that they have.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 130 General Trends with Reliability Conferences
General Trends with Reliability Conferences
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discussing Kirk’s upcoming paper and presentation for the next IEEE ASTR Conference next month. They also discuss past and future of Reliability Engineering conferences including the ASTR conference and long running RAMS annual meeting.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 114 60% of Profits from Spares and Repairs
60% of Profits from Spares and Repairs
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discuss the situation when an organization has a business model that actively minimizes reliability.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 113 How to Specify Reliability to a Supplier
How to Specify Reliability to a Supplier
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discuss working with suppliers to obtain the desired reliability performance. It starts with how you specify reliability. It must include sufficient detail so your supplier understands your request.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 112 Organization Culture May Create Barriers to Reliability Improvement
Organization Culture May Create Barriers to Reliability Improvement
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discuss how competing business priorities create obstacles to achieving desired reliability objectives. The culture of your organization may limit your ability as a reliability professional to do your job effectively.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 092 How to Prevent NDF Returns
SOR 091 How to Address NDF Issues
SOR 090 Not Sure Why Customer Says it Failed
You May Often be Exceeding Operating Specifications!
HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Test) requires exceeding specifications
One aspect of HALT, (a test to find weaknesses and reliability risks empirically), is the difficulty for many engineers that are new to the HALT- that it guarantees that the maximum or recommended operating environmental specifications for the system and components under test will be exceeded, and failures beyond spec are potentially relevant to field reliability. [Read more…]
SOR 079 When is it Time to Buy a Chamber
When is it Time to Buy a Chamber
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discuss when and how best to justify the costs to move from using an external lab to perform HALT testing to building an internal HALT lab.
There are many benefits of having a HALT chamber or environmental testing capability, but many of those reasons are not easily quantifiable in dollars.
ᐅ Play Episode
SOR 078 What to Expect When Contracting a HALT Lab
What to Expect When Contracting a HALT Lab
Abstract
Kirk and Fred discuss what should be considered when choosing to use an external lab to perform HALT evaluations. Distance, costs, measurement instrumentation, lab experience and knowledge of HALT by lab personnel are all part of the considerations deciding what HALT lab to use.
ᐅ Play Episode
Required Case History for Reliability Engineers
One for the (Reliability) Books
The GM Ignition switch failure case history should be required reading for all reliability engineers.
It is rare to have insight into any internal company history of serious electronic and electromechanical failures. Failure analysis and the causes of electronics or electromechanical systems failure can be a difficult investigation for any manufacturing company. Disclosure of the history and data is rarely if ever published due to the potential liability and litigation costs as well as loss of reputation for reliability and safety.
Eliminating early life failures
MTBF for electronics life entitlement measurements is a meaningless term. It says nothing about the distribution of failures or the cause of failures and is only valid for a constant failure rate, which almost never occurs in the real world. It is a term that should be eliminated along with reliability predictions of electronics systems with no moving parts. [Read more…]
