We can learn more from our failures than we can from our successes. This isn’t just a good rule for us to live by personally but is applicable to the products that we design and manufacture. In my experience, the all-important step that is short-changed in “learning from our failures” is “learning”—not just getting to the root cause in order to solve the problem but to understanding the gaps that exist in our current design and manufacturing requirements and practices that allowed the failure to spill into the field. Identifying these gaps is the key to future failure prevention. In this installment, I’m going to highlight how Weibull Analysis (a reliability tool when used in the time domain) of module field failures can be used to identify the holes in our design or manufacturing requirements or processes.
[Read more…]Fooled or Just Foolish
Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Abraham Lincoln is attributed to have famously said “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” A more recent US President coined a more manipulative spin on Lincoln’s erudite words… “You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.” Preying on ignorance is a human trait which, although frowned upon, certainly thrived in history, and definitely thrives today.
[Read more…]Strategic Maintenance Planning and Comprehensive Risk Abatement
Guest post by B.D. McLaughlin, ScD, MInstrP
Using a comprehensive and inclusive definition, risk may be defined as the cost of “failure to add value” per unit time. Such failure includes performance deficiencies for employees, equipment, material and method. It includes the types of “failure to add value” comprising traditional waste such as overproduction, wait time, transportation, processing, inventory, motion and defects. It includes the cost of injury, litigation and damage to company reputation. It encompasses the total cost of failure and not just the cost of remediation. You must minimize risk to stay competitive. Risk is consuming the hidden wealth of your enterprise. It is disguised and concealed as the “cost of doing business.”
Reliability Prediction using Stress Strength Interference (Analytical Method)
Often, products fail, and we don’t understand why! One of the reasons why such failures occur is not giving consideration for variation in load or stress levels. For example, potholes and speed breakers can create excessive stress on automobile suspensions; or larger number of clothes washed in a machine more often than the designer has considered; or a bus used in public transport would carry varying number of passengers! Designers often do not realize that the materials used in the product will also have variations! For example, wall thicknesses of castings will vary; or chemical composition of steel will vary from lot to lot! Thus, designers need to address the variations in usage patterns and variations in the materials used in the product as these can seriously affect reliability of systems! In my recently uploaded video, I have discussed how to predict reliability when load (stress) and strength of the part both vary and can be modelled using normal distribution. The video will also be very useful to those who wish to take ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer exam and all those who wish to learn the basics of reliability in design. This is the first video where the stress and strength can be modelled using normal distribution. In the next video related to this topic, I will explain reliability prediction using Monte Carlo Simulation.
[Read more…]Maintenance and Reliability Best Practices: Asset Criticality
Ramesh Gulati and George Williams discuss Asset Criticality!
[Read more…]The Seven Basic Quality Tools: Getting Started with Data Visualizations
A common first step in the learning journey of a quality engineer is mastering a set of data visualization tools called the “Seven Basic Quality Tools.” Popularized by an architect of the modern quality movement, Karou Ishikawa, the seven basic quality tools allow practitioners to readily extract useful insights from raw data and build a foundation for further statistical analysis. These tools stand as pillars of systematic problem-solving, aiding in the identification, analysis, and improvement of processes.
These seven tools, in order of complexity, are: Check Sheets, Flowcharts, Cause and Effect Diagrams, Histograms, Pareto Diagrams, Scatter Plots, and Control Charts.
[Read more…]10 Crucial Attributes to Optimize your CMMS set-up for Reliability Analysis
CMMS overview
A proper CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) setup can make a world of difference in an organization’s asset management journey. Conversely, a substandard setup can be a living hell for Reliability Engineers like myself and other analysts. I have personally wasted hundreds of hours of my work life sifting through a poor CMMS structure trying to find records. Ever wanted to make your Reliability Analysts more productive and engaged? If yes, then this article highlights 10 highly recommended set-up requirements.
[Read more…]Re-Introducing Communicating with FINESSE on Accendo Reliability
We launched Communicating with FINESSE two years ago to help technically trained professionals become better communicators and facilitators. Breaking it away from JD Solomon, Inc. as a not-for-profit organization was a first step in building a broader community to execute the mission. We have done that in many ways, although such endeavors never go as fast as you first imagine. Today, we summarize seven key concepts of Communicating with FINESSE.
#1 Systems Thinking Is the Foundation
The good news for most of us is that communication is indeed a system. Even better, as technical professionals, we are blessed with the reality of what that means. The next time you serve as a trusted advisor, remember that effective communication requires systems thinking.
Why Systems Thinking Produces Effective Communication – Accendo Reliability
[Read more…]Is MTBF a True, Beneficial, and Timely Metric
How Good is MTBF as a Metric?
Let’s look at the characteristics of a sound reliability metric and how MTBF is not true or beneficial. A metric should be true, beneficial, and timely. We’ll start with a rock climbing analogy.
A bolted hanger along a rock climbing route is often a welcome site. It provides the climber safety (clipping the rope to the bolt), direction (this is the way), and confidence. Does MTBF as a metric do the same for your organization?
As climbers, we count on the bolts to provide support in case something goes wrong or we need to rest along the route.
A reliability metric is often used in the same way as a climbing bolt. The measure, whether MTBF, Reliability, or Failure Rate, assures that the product’s reliability performance is as expected.
The organization’s profits are or will be safe. The development team uses the measures to guide design and supply chain decisions. The measure provides confidence to the organization regarding meeting customer expectations around reliability.
[Read more…]Robustness, Reliability and Quality
Robustness: That Often Overlooked Yet Powerful Discipline and Toolset. Most companies have a Quality organization, and some have a Reliability organization. But rarely will you find a company with a Robustness organization or even a single Robustness Engineer. And yet, of these three disciplines, Robustness can have the largest impact on your customer satisfaction because Robustness as a discipline and toolset addresses:
- a wider range of field issues than reliability and quality
- those issues that occur during the “design life”
ISO 31000 Risk Assessments
Guest Post by Peter Holtmann (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
This article is the eleventh of fourteen parts to 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 previous articles we’ve looked at the core elements of the risk management framework, as well as the role of leadership and commitment, integration, design, implementation, evaluation and improvement more specifically. We’ve also briefly looked at the risk management process in a general sense, and we’ve also focused on the importance of communication and consultation, as well as how to set your scope, context and criteria. In this article, we’ll be looking at risk assessments and the role of risk identification, analysis and evaluation in such assessments.
[Read more…]How Big Fortunes Are Made with the Plant Wellness Way
Let a Plant Wellness Way EAM System-of-Reliability halve your Annual Maintenance Costs
A Plant Wellness Way enterprise asset management system is a powerful solution for world class enterprise asset management (EAM) success. There are three scenarios when it is justifiable for a business to adopt PWW EAM as your company’s EAM methodology.
[Read more…]Total Productive Maintenance and CMMS
For conscientious plant managers and production leaders, achieving successful and sustainable Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a top priority. TPM is the key to reducing downtime, preventing breakdowns, and ensuring top-notch product quality during the process of manufacturing maintenance. But how do you put a TPM plan into action, and what steps should you follow to seamlessly integrate it into your existing operations and maintenance procedures? Keep reading, and we’ll break down what TPM is, how to implement it step by step, and why it matters. [Read more…]
Weibull Probability Plotting of Complete Data
This video explains step-by-step procedure for probability plotting of failure data. Probability plotting is a technique used to determine whether given data of failures follows a distribution. The video also explains various types of failure data: complete, right censored, left censored and interval censored data. Viewers can try Weibull Probability Plotting to estimate shape parameter beta and scale parameter Eta. The video also shows how to estimate median rank for complete data.
[Read more…]Are RCM, FMEA, FMECA, and CBM Independent Processes?
Do you ever mutter to yourself: “Reliability Centered Maintenance, FMEA, FMECA, and CBM? I’m so confused! Where do I even start?” If so, don’t skip this one!
[Read more…]