What is Reliability?

Abstract

What is the definition of reliability? Outside of the field of reliability, who defines it or what a failure is? Join Mojan and Fred as they explore how reliability is perceived across the product development ecosystem—from customers to suppliers to design engineers—and why the classic “but it met the spec!” defense misses the point. They discuss why the customer’s perspective is ultimately the only one that matters, and how asking the right questions can prevent the costly mistake of building something that technically works but fails in the real world.

Key Points

Join Mojan and Fred as they explore what reliability really means when you step outside the engineering textbook:

Topics include:

Defining reliability beyond the standard textbook answer of “function over time”—and who actually gets to decide when something has failed?
Why customer-driven requirements trump internal specifications every time
The supplier’s dilemma: understanding how your product will actually be used when the customer hasn’t told you (or doesn’t fully know themselves)
Why “meeting the spec” is a dangerous false finish line—and how to avoid the trap of building something technically correct but practically useless
The uncomfortable truth: if your product fails to do what the user expects it to do, the spec becomes irrelevant

Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches.