What is ‘fatigue’? … and no I don’t mean feeling ‘tired’.

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

Many reliability engineers know what fatigue is (in addition to feeling tired). Fatigue is an example of a ‘failure mechanism.’ A failure mechanism is the physical, chemical or electrical process that results in failure. Fatigue is interesting in that it allows something to fail without it ever being exposed to stresses that are beyond its strength. How does this happen? Fatigue is based on cracks. Cracks magnify stresses at their tips. So cycling stresses can have the effect of incrementally (and sometimes very slowly) increasing the crack length at the tip. Fatigue has caused all manners of failures that have surprised us throughout the history of engineering. But now we have learned so much more about this really fascinating failure mechanism can cause steel, aluminium and other material to fail, even when the stresses they experience are tiny. Want to learn more about fatigue? And how you can help prevent it? Join us for this webinar.

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Reliability as a Process

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

We do not “do reliability”. “Reliability” doesn’t just happen to a product – well, it does with or without our intervention. To achieve the stated reliability objectives for a new product or production line, we can trust to luck or sort out what needs to happen to realize the objectives. [Read more…]

How do I link Process Capability Indices to Number (PPM) Defects?

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

We often use the word ‘quality’ to describe products that are manufactured with minimal defects (… and within tolerances). If you are involved in the field of quality (and manufacturing), then you might have heard of ‘capability indices.’ These are simple numbers that essentially describe the ‘quality’ of things being manufactured. There are certain guidelines and industry ‘standards’ for what these numbers should be. Have you ever heard of the ‘6 sigma’? It promotes a capability index of two (2). But what does this mean? These numbers also correspond with the fraction of defective products. Want to learn what these capability indices mean? … and how to get them? … and how to convert them to things like Parts Per Million (PPM) defects? Or better yet … if you need to learn a bit more about manufacturing and how we measure quality in general? Join us for this webinar.

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Reliability is More than Testing

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

During the interview, I turned down a job when I learned the hiring manager expected me, a potential new reliability engineer on the team, to only conduct tests. Creating and assembling a reliable product or service takes more than testing. [Read more…]

Understanding Context: Context is Worth 20 IQ/EQ Points

podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins

Understanding context is essential for making smart, risk-based decisions and solving tough problems.

Understanding context is important to ensure you are correctly solving the right problem. Understanding context helps you understand the root cause of the problem and the key stakeholders. It helps you develop effective solutions. It helps you define your assumptions and biases. [Read more…]

What is the difference between Design and Process FMEAs?

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

Ever heard of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)? It is a wonderful activity that can do amazing things for … what? It depends on what you might have heard or what you are used to. Why? Because there are several different FMEAs that do different things for … different things. A Design FMEA can help us prevent really basic, simple flaws in a new product. A Process FMEA can help us prevent really basic, simple flaws in a new process. What process? Any process … but typically manufacturing. Many people who have heard of FMEAs usually associate them with either design or processes. Then, there are System and Software FMEAs. Want to get an overview of which FMEAs do what and when you would use one instead of the other? Join us for this webinar.

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Why You Should Avoid MTBF

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

In the past two months, I’ve received a few questions concerning why I recommend avoiding using MTBF or similar metrics. I’m also moving the articles I and others wrote on the topic from NoMTBF.com to Accendo Reliability. So, the topic of MTBF has been on my mind.

This morning’s email included a question on why I was so against using MTBF. This event is my answer. [Read more…]

Using ISO 31000 for Risk Based, Decision Making

podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins

Risk is now incorporated into many, if not all, ISO quality and reliability standards. ISO 31000 is the go-to international standard for risk management and risk-based decision-making. ISO 31000 can be used by all types of organizations, regardless of their size, industry, or sector. ISO 31000 provides a standardized and systematic approach to risk management. This helps organizations to identify, assess, and manage risks consistently and effectively. [Read more…]

How Do I Do MTBF Testing?

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

First thing … the MTBF is not a reliability metric (other webinars explain why!) But there are many times when (for reasons good and bad) we need to test something to see how often it fails. This can help us determine how many spare parts we need, how many maintainers and technicians we need to employ, and many other really useful (typically logistic) considerations. We sometimes also need to be able to work out if a product meets an MTBF requirement. But when we do … we need to take into all sorts of statistical considerations like producer’s risk, consumer’s risk, and discrimination ratio. Shouldn’t the requirement be the requirement? If you want to learn more about MTBF testing and how it might (or might not) work … then join us for this webinar.

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How to Learn ALT

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

When first charged with designing, conducting, and analyzing an ALT, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as accelerated life testing. Along with the assigned task was the expectation that I would learn what was necessary to design, conduct, and analyze a suitable ALT. I like those kinds of tasks – one where I must learn to succeed. [Read more…]

Four Ways to Manage Supplier Risk

podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins

Covid taught us the importance of managing suppliers, especially those from China and Asia. Risk became the top supply management concern over supplier delivery, quality, and cost. For example, just-in-time deliveries became just-in-case—many common sense ideas of lean changed. Incoming, in-process, and final inventories rose. Overall costs increased. Risk became the overarching concern for managing suppliers. [Read more…]

10 Reasons to Do Reliability

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

Everyone ‘knows’ why we do reliability engineering … right? Customer experience. Organization reputation. Reduced warranty claims ten years from now. But these are boring reasons that really don’t motivate me to take reliability seriously now. Why should I invest so much time into an activity that benefits the ‘company’ or the ‘customer’ in the future but won’t make an immediate difference when my boss gives me a ‘gold star’ on my next performance appraisal? Besides, no one person is responsible for reliability, so any effort I invest in reliability will be ‘lost in the noise’ anyway. And, of course, reliability will increase the budget and schedule today. Right? [Read more…]

An Accelerated Life Testing Q&A

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

Over the past few months, we’ve received some questions about accelerated life testing. There are bound to be more questions as ALT can be confusing to plan, conduct, or interpret. Let’s get together and address your questions related to ALT. [Read more…]

Communicating as a Reliability Engineer

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

Creating a plan and generating information is part of reliability engineering, yet it’s not enough. To be a successful engineer, one must communicate well. This means we need to write, discuss, and present well. We are often called upon to examine failures and recommend solutions, examine a dataset and explain the finding, or conduct an experiment and detail the results. [Read more…]

What is ‘Supportability’ and How Does it Relate to Reliability?

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

What is supportability? Is it working out how many spare parts you will need (and when)? No. Is it working out how many maintainers or technicians you will need to keep your system working? Still no. What about working out what tools these maintainers or technicians need? No again. But many people think that this is what ‘supportability’ is. ‘Supportability’ is actually a characteristic of your product or system. Is the ‘ability’ for it to be ‘supported.’ And this can mean different things in different scenarios. It is also not a ‘number.’ If you have two comparable systems, but one needs fewer spare parts, is easier to maintain, needs fewer tools, has lots of sensors that give plenty of warning for maintenance, and so on … then it might be more supportable. But the main thing you need to ‘think about’ regarding supportability is that because it is a characteristic of a product or system … it has to be baked INTO the design. Want to learn more about how to do this? Join us for this webinar.
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