Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
High reliability is expected of mature products with track records (low hazard rate). But new products with little or no track record (hazard rate = ?) are commercialized every day in the upstream industry. The technical objectives for new equipment always consist of performance targets, but should also include designing to maximize reliability. So, how does an OEM achieve this? The answer involves culture, capabilities, and best practices. [Read more…]
On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) learned of several cases of severe pneumonia in the Chinese city of Wuhan. This strain of coronavirus has since spread through China and into other countries. WHO later named COVID-19.
The emergence of the coronavirus was exactly the type of fast-emerging risk with uncertain consequences that could have triggered quick actions by governments and organisations. Instead, it was played down or dismissed by many. They adopted a wait and see approach to risk management. [Read more…]
This is where the achievement of objectives must be translated into tangible successes that are linked to positive outcomes.
Growth for growth’s sake is meaningless. Achieving objectives for the sake of it is meaningless unless you want to game the system and get your financial bonuses by meeting some meaningless performance targets. It becomes a meaningless compliance exercise. [Read more…]
Equipment risk is a reality of every oil or gas well completion, but is this risk the exclusive responsibility of the equipment manufacturer (OEM)? To answer this question, let’s examine the major aspects of equipment risk in more detail. [Read more…]
COVID 19 throws a curve ball in the path of life and job security. If you compare life as a walk through a forest, then COVID-19 is a high stone wall (curve ball) along the path of life. Do you stop and retreat or go over or around it and continue your journey? I think you get through the pandemic and continue along the path back to job security and low unemployment. [Read more…]
I was shocked to find out about our drug and medical supplies reliance on China, a dangerous risk to the U.S. I believe most Americans were also shocked. I believe this revelation is a game changer and the American people will insist on change. [Read more…]
When a product is said to be of “high quality”, it is usually perceived to be reliable. Conversely, if the product is said to be “reliable”, it is probably perceived it to be of high quality. Why is this?
A product is an assembly of many components, all of which must be manufactured to some quality standard. Quality in component manufacturing is achieved through rigor in the manufacturer’s Quality Assurance (QA) system. QA systems define the Quality Control (QC) processes which ensure that materials, components, and assemblies meet the quality standard. The rigor must be appropriate for the product’s application. In critical applications (e.g. for sub-surface safety valves), the rigor must be high. [Read more…]
In the past, organizations have pr
acticed agility more than anything else because it is easy to simply pivot and put out small fires as they arise.
But with the world facing a global pandemic, statewide lock downs here in the United States, and a once booming economy now seemingly frozen in time, organizations both large and small are caught in the blaze as those small fires are now an uncontrollable inferno of a great unknown. [Read more…]
In his book “Willful Ignorance: The Mismeasurement of Uncertainty”, Herbert I. Weisberg notes: “Medical research is often held up as the paragon of statistical research methodology. Evidence-based medicine, based on randomized clinical trials, can provide proof of the effectiveness and safety of various drugs and other therapies.” (1) He goes on to note that clinical practitioners, who’s judgement is informed by evidence-based data, are finding little in the research that is useful. [Read more…]
“A failure analysis is a waste of resources. We know why it failed. We need to move on.”
If you have participated in a failure analysis, you have likely heard the preceding comments, and been told to fix the problem ASAP. You make a change, but the same failure re-surfaces and you are in the hot seat again. What can you do to improve the failure analysis process in the future? Let us begin by reviewing some realities of failures. [Read more…]
The risk of a pandemic is not an unknown unknown. In the 2019 World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report it ranked at a less than average likelihood with a more than average impact. Not a bad assessment but the causes and consequences are difficult to evaluate. There is a barrage of statistical data by country; a lack of knowledge and changing opinions which generates misinformation that is then clouded by journalistic sensationalism in the hunt for yet more breaking news and a spot on the TV. [Read more…]
It is undoubtedly and incontrovertibly true that global extreme poverty has declined as capitalism has driven globalization – the trade between and among nations – to increase over time. Certainly, there are arguments to be made that the growth in wealth has also been increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer people, but the world as a whole has benefited. The charts below from Our World in Data, showing the number of people living in extreme poverty from 1820 to present, clearly demonstrate that the economic benefit of globalization has been as positive as it has been apparent [Read more…]
“It was supposed to work in our application. This failure is going to cost us a lot of rig time.”
Was this product checked out prior to purchase? Was it fit-for-purpose? Some due diligence was probably used, but the better question is…was the product assessed through Design Assurance? Design assurance is an engineering process that confirms the product meets performance requirements and complies with design policies and industry standards. [Read more…]
Naturally, a lot of time and effort in risk management goes into understanding the risks that you face. After all, if you don’t understand what you’re up against, there’s not a lot of risk management to be done. However, even when you complete a comprehensive risk assessment, this is just the beginning of the process. Now the real work starts and you have to answer the big question. [Read more…]
The term Black Swan has been used frequently. This is particularly so, with respect to the Coronavirus. In an earlier piece, I discussed the term Black Swan. Given the increased use of the term in the current circumstances, it is worth revisiting the concept. [Read more…]