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Being in a State of Flow(charting)

Being in a State of Flow(charting)

Today we look at how to draw simple flowcharts in R.

I think I am not far off when I say that flowcharts are an essential tool in the engineering toolbox. They provide a visual way to describe a set of activities, or a a process if you will. This can range from listing sequential steps in a manufacturing process to laying out a project plan to describing a decision making process (think decision trees).

“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

 – W. Edwards Deming

It comes as no surprise that engineers love to use flowcharts to describe or document stuff. If you’re like me, you’ve probably used various Microsoft Office applications to draw flowcharts. I, for example, have mastered creating flowcharts in PowerPoint over the years. Some prefer Visio or maybe some other application (Figma, Miro and the like).

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How to Reliably Design for a Single Point of Failure

How to Reliably Design for a Single Point of Failure

Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Reliability is designed into a product.  Poor reliability is long term, difficult and expensive to rectify because it is woven into the fabric of the product. That is why high reliability products require complete and accurate analyses, simulations, and models to be successful. High reliable components are essential as well. Single point failures are taboo but, in some cases, there is no way to avoid them.

This paper presents two examples of how to design single point failures for high reliability.

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Decoding the ISO 55001 Asset Management Standard – Understanding ISO 55001 Clauses

Decoding the ISO 55001 Asset Management Standard – Understanding ISO 55001 Clauses

Understanding ISO 55001 clauses is vital for building a compliant ISO 55001 Asset Management System. Understanding ISO 55001 clauses is easy with a logical flowchart.

The meaning of the contents in the ISO 55001 asset management standard must be correctly interpreted and properly addressed in your asset management system

To fully understand the implications of an ISO 55001 clause, it is necessary to strip each sentence, phrase, and sub-point down into its logical elements

Learn how to turn the text in an ISO 55001 clause into a logical flowchart that lets you fully appreciate the implications and build the correct application in your asset management system.

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Time Series Forecasts for Service Parts?

Time Series Forecasts for Service Parts?

Do you want easy demand forecasts or do you want to learn and use the reliabilities of service parts and make demand forecasts and distribution estimates, without sample uncertainty? Would you like to do something about service parts’ reliability? Would you like demand forecast distributions so you could set inventory policies to meet fill rate or service level requirements? Without sample uncertainty? Without life data? Don’t believe people who write that it can’t be done!

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Self Ownership Part 4

Self Ownership Part 4

The focus on attention to detail is one of the most critical portions of self-ownership. Everyone can walk by trash, but when the leader does it, it’s sending a message. The focus on attention to detail, especially in contracts, is best illustrated by the famous rock group, Van Halen.

Rock stars are able to put seemingly insane requests into what they need from the venues they perform at, and Van Halen was no different. After all, they’re the reason venues can charge hundreds of dollars per seat, they can choose to be picky.

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Why Managing Dissenting Views is Critical for Good Group Decision Making

Why Managing Dissenting Views is Critical for Good Group Decision Making

Majority voting and consensus decision making are two distinct approaches to making decisions in group environments, each with its own characteristics and implications. Consensus decision-making is an alternative to debate and passage of proposals that can be approved through a majority vote. It does not emphasize the goal of the full agreement but instead focuses on acceptance or “living with it.” Choosing the right method for the context, and more importantly, managing the dissenting view, is important in making good group decisions.

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Introduction to the ISO 31K Risk Management Framework

Introduction to the ISO 31K Risk Management Framework

Guest Post by Peter Holtmann (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

This article is the first in our risk management series. The series will be taking a look at the risk management guidelines under the ISO 31000 Standard to help you better understand them and how they relate to your own risk management activities. In doing so we’ll be walking through the core aspects of the Standard and giving you practical guidance on how to implement it.

In this particular article, we’ll be introducing you to the ISO 31000 Standards, the guiding principles, and outlining the risk management framework.

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Density Curves (With a Reliability Engineering Example)

Density Curves (With a Reliability Engineering Example)

Today we look at a couple different ways to visualize the distribution of your data.

Understanding the distribution of your data can be useful for engineers undertaking various tasks. The fact of the matter is that there are many different ways in which one can get an idea of the distribution of the data they’re interested in, one of which is density curves.

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Should The Cop Ticket Fred? Perils Of Performance-Based Regulations

Should The Cop Ticket Fred? Perils Of Performance-Based Regulations

When you are driving on a highway, usually there is a speed limit. If you exceed this limit, a cop can give you a ticket.

In Houston, most highways have a speed limit of 65-70 miles per hour…although most drivers appear to assume it implies “90-mph is okay”.

Let us say the city of Houston were to remove the speed restrictions.

Instead they put forward the mandate “drive safely”.

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Sell Solutions Before There’s a Problem

Sell Solutions Before There’s a Problem

Guest Post by Daniel Burrus (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

So long as there are products and services offered by an organization, there will be the existence of a sales force.

The basic fundamentals of selling are simple: a customer expresses a desire for something and, in turn, someone sells them a product or service to address that desire. Essentially, sales are how an organization converts a “want” into a “need.” While these fundamentals are timeless, they are rooted in a reactive process.

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