Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
In my previous article, we established some high-level objectives for lean product development as follows:
Hi Ash,
Several managers at my company have told me they think I should pursue getting my Professional Engineer license. While I am not opposed to getting it, I am just not sure it will be worth it.
What do you think?
Thanks,
-Anonymous, Cincinnati, OH
This is part of a short series on the common distributions.
The Triangle distribution is univariate continuous distribution. This short article focuses on 4 formulas of the triangle distribution.
The distribution becomes a standard triangle distribution when a = 0, b = 1, thus it has a mean at the $- \sqrt{{c}/{2}\;} -$ and the median is at $- 1-\sqrt{{\left( 1-c \right)}/{2}\;}-$. The distribution becomes a symmetrical triangle distribution when $- c={\left( b-a \right)}/{2}\;-$.
The triangle distribution is used to approximate distributions when the actual distribution is unknown and bounded, often useful for Monte Carlo simulations. Other applications include subjective representation when there is evidence of bounds and a mode, or as a substitution to the beta distribution since it is bounded. [Read more…]
There are a few ways to demonstrate statistical confidence in reliability of a design. Each has it reasons for selection. here are three of my favorites [Read more…]
Innovation is vital for company and economic growth. What is it? How can you achieve it? We begin to explore this with you.
While working in the field of Asset Management formerly known as Maintenance and Reliability for over 30 years I have worked with my share of Managers and Leaders. Those who have known me for years know that I started in the field as a Pipefitter Apprentice, worked as a Journeyman and Team Leader for a number of years, did a stint as a Maintenance Supervisor, went to night school to become a Reliability Engineer and then as a business owner working with customers around the world. [Read more…]
OK, let’s admit it. We don’t always make the best decisions. And of course, those around us don’t either. And yet, to deliver a product with all the best features to a customer or market, at a competitive price and in time to make the sale, and that also will have good reliability and long life, requires everyone to make the right decisions in a timely fashion all along the way. It doesn’t take many adverse decisions to introduce field issues, increase warranty claims and lessen product life.
Reliability management and engineering is all about using the best tools to guide our decision-making. Becoming a good reliability engineer, or decision-maker of any kind, is about learning those tools – including when and where to use them.
What readers will learn from this article.
A process logic controller is a computer designed for monitoring and controlling equipment. The personal computer that many people have at home is designed to accept signals from the keyboard or mouse and use instructions (software) to display the resulting effects on a screen (monitor). A PLC accepts signals (inputs) from sensors located throughout a piece of equipment or process plant. It then follows the instructions (program) within its memory and sends out commands (output) to operate equipment. [Read more…]
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
The Law Dictionary defines Collateral Risk as:
The RISK of loss arising from errors in the nature, quantity, pricing, or characteristics of COLLATERAL securing a transaction with CREDIT RISK. Institutions that actively accept and deliver collateral and are unable to manage the process accurately are susceptible to loss. A subcategory of PROCESS RISK. [Read more…]
In my last article the high level goal of lean product development was established as follows:
Develop products that maximize customer value and minimize product cost, in the least amount of time, and at the least amount of product development cost.
Let’s analyze this goal statement and establish some high-level objectives. [Read more…]
This is part of a short series on the common distributions.
The Uniform distribution is a univariate continuous distribution. This short article focuses on 7 formulas of the Uniform Distribution. A common application is as a non-informative prior. Another application is to model a bounded parameter. The uniform distribution also finds application in random number generation. [Read more…]
I recently came across this announcement that HP is going to develop computer systems and peripheral devices that are optimized for environments where they are cleaned frequently, often medical environments. In the medical and scientific fields cleaning solutions are a significant stress for plastics, inks and touch control surfaces. It’s a smart strategy to evaluate where your products are used and optimize your test use cases. It most often will lead to more accurate test results and reliability projections. It may, as well, lead to a market opportunity that was previously unknown, and if you are the first among your competitors to acknowledge this need and create a specialized or derivative product you now grabbed a portion of the market that you may have not previously held.
A few others
-Adam
Agile has gained popularity as a software development tool, however it has also been implemented in hardware situations. What is unique about it? What are the core principles? Can I use those ideas with my existing methods? This video answers those and many more questions. [Read more…]
I was taking questions from the audience following my presentation at a conference last spring when a young lady stood up and asked me if I could give my Elevator Pitch.
She must have noted the confused look on my face because she repeated herself this time adding further details.
“If you were riding an elevator with someone and you had a quick minute to sell your RCM services what would you say?” [Read more…]
Threaded connections on process chemicals and utilities piping can be difficult to seal. Leaks from threads in steam and compressed air service are common. This article looks at pipe thread design and the proper sealing of threads. [Read more…]
