Key Characteristics Revisited
Abstract
Carl and Fred having a new conversation about the age-old topic of key characteristics, and how they are used to improve products and processes.
Key Points
Join Carl and Fred as they discuss what is meant by key characteristics, and the application of key characteristics in achieving high reliability.
Topics include:
- Specific examples of product characteristics
- Which product or process characteristics are most important (key characteristics)?
- How to prioritize characteristics
- Key characteristics must be measurable, part of product requirements, impact safety or performance
- CTQ vs key characteristics
- Linkage between key product characteristics and key process characteristics
- Examples of using key characteristics in testing
- Examples of using key characteristics in process control plans
- Is everything the same importance?
- Use of FMEA severity and occurrence to aid in identifying key characteristics
- How to derive key characteristics from FMEA
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.
SOR 724 Key Characteristics RevisitedCarl Carlson
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Show Notes
how can planner prepare a work without knowing enough information about the task detail.
for example we need to rebuild a pump that is still running but I can’t tell which parts need to be ordered before we dismantle the pump.
Hello Mohamed. Thank you for your question. One of the ways that I prepare for maintenance activity is using Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM). There are many excellent articles on RCM on the AccendoReliability.com website (search on RCM). In the case of which replacement parts will be needed for the pump, RCM will guide the decision. Basically, you conduct a maintenance FMEA on the pump equipment, and use the RCM procedure to guide the optimum maintenance tasks. Regarding specific pump parts, you should be able to identify the pump component parts by examining the pump specifications (sometimes called the bill of material) from the manufacturer. Please let me know if this answers your question, or if you have any follow-up questions. Carl
When working with product characteristics, how do you recommend we practically work with them? I have seen one school of thought which recommends putting all the product characteristics into the DFMEA and then determining what is key or not. This seems like a cumbersome process, so I am curious to hear what you think
Thanks for the question. Here are a few thoughts. First, the hard part of prioritizing product characteristics is different customers and/or situations will require different sets of priorities. Many products have sets of features that are important to different sets of customers. What is key for one is of no consequence for another. While we should focus on characteristics that are important to customers, realize this can be complex.
Another approach is to focus on the characteristics that have the most unknowns – which have little information on how it will perform over time for a range of customers/situations. Focus on the elements of a product that are new (new materials, new vendors, etc) and focus on understanding what we need to know to achieve our objectives.
Another approach, which should always be considered, is which characteristics may lead to safety issues. An FMEA or hazard analysis may be useful. this includes considering how the product is used and what happens if there is a failure.
I’m sure there are other considerations, just a thought. This may make a good episode topics.
cheers,
Fred
Hello Mads,
I’ll build on what Fred wrote with a few more thoughts.
First of all, thanks for the question about the practical application of special characteristics, and the possible role of FMEA.
I would not advise putting all the product characteristics into the DFMEA and then determining what is key or not. I agree that would be cumbersome and could undermine the value of the FMEA.
Here are two links to highlight the proper role for key characteristics in both DFMEA and PFMEA.
https://accendoreliability.com/dfmeas-can-identify-special-product-characteristics/
https://accendoreliability.com/pfmeas-can-identify-special-process-characteristics/
Hope that helps.
Carl