Lifecycle Target Misalignment
Abstract
Dianna and Fred discuss the dangers of lifecycle target misalignment and how they impact product engineering and customer satisfaction.
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SOR 1170 Lifecycle Target Misalignment
Articles tagged Reliability goal setting
The process of creating a statement that includes the function(s), environment and use conditions, probability of survival, and duration for an item. It is the reliability performance objective for the item under consideration. It provides a detailed statement that is measurable to communicate the desired reliability performance of an item. Included is sufficient information to guide decisions related to material selection, design architecture, and types of or expected environmental and use stresses.
Reliability is Not Metrics, It’s Decision Making
MTBF, KPIs, yield, return rate, warranty… bah!
We may use one or more of these when establishing product reliability goals. When tracking performance. When making decisions.
Goals, objectives, specifications, and requirements, are stand-ins for the customer’s experience with the product.
We’re not trying to reduce warranty expenses or shouldn’t be solely focused on just that measure. We need to focus on making decisions that allow our product deliver the expected reliability performance to the customer. [Read more…]
SOR 1082 Equations for Goal Setting
Equations for Goal Setting
Abstract
Chris and Fred discuss what equations (if any) exist for setting and optimizing reliability goals … sometimes trading off against other goals. Wo …
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Defining a Product Life Time
An Elusive Product Life Time Definition
The following note and question appear in my email the other day. I had given the definition of reliability quite a bit of thought, yet have not really thought too much about a definition of ‘product life time’.
So after answering Najib’s question I thought it may make a good conversation starter here. Give it a quite read, and add how you would answer the questions Najib poses. [Read more…]
Adjusting to Customer Expectations Changing
Customers Expectations Tend Toward Better Reliability Over Time
Reliability goals or objectives are just a starting point.
You goals represent your target at one point in time.
At best they represent what your customers expect for reliability performance at one point in time.
When goals are set well, they anticipate what your customer expects when they receive your product. In a perfect world, you customer will find the reliability performance just a bit better than expected.
It’s not a perfect world. [Read more…]
When is Best Time to Establish Reliability Goals?
The best time is at the product conception. The second best time as early as possible in the product development process.
It may change. Be refined. Altered later.
That is fine, yet the initial concept needs the boundary condition of a reliability goal. [Read more…]
Ready, Fire, Aim Reliability Goal Setting
“Keeping the end in mind”, “working toward a common objective” and “providing a vision” are all convention management wisdom based on setting goals.
Seeing a reliability goal is one of the first tasks when creating a reliability plan.
“How good (reliable) does it have to be?”
That is answered with a reliability goal statement.
There is a lot of uncertainty concerning a reliability goal. [Read more…]
Reliability Questions to Ask During a Review
Asking the right question is important.
During a review meeting (informal or formal) asking a few reliability questions may reveal weaknesses, strengths, or uncertainty. The design team has many priorities and reliability is often difficult to estimate, yet knowing what is and isn’t known provides a clear picture of risks for decision makers.
If you are a decision maker and need to ascertain the reliability risks of the current design, then asking a couple of questions may provide just the insights you need. It also conveys that reliability is on your mind and that you want to have answers that are meaningful and well thought out.
What to Specify with Suppliers to Achieve Reliability Goals
Selecting a supplier for components or subsystems involves many aspects including the desired reliability performance.
Once selected the ability of the supplier to provide items that meet or exceed the reliability requirements relies on their understanding of the requirements and operational conditions related to the specific item within the system. It also relies on the supplier’s knowledge of their own design and manufacturing processes as it related to the reliability performance. [Read more…]
Purpose of a Reliability Program
The reliable performance of a system is important. It is important to the customer, to our business and to us.
Very few argue that we should ignore the reliability characteristics of a product. We also deem cost, time to market or feature set as important also. The trouble is we can measure the latter directly every day, where the reliability performance is often difficult to measure.
Duration and Reliability Goals
Coupled with probability is the duration over which the probability applies.
For example, if we desire 99 of 100 to survive, we must state over which period of time this applies. It is proper to state the couplet of 99% reliable over 1 year.
It is not sufficient to define reliability as ‘5-year product’ as it does not contain the information related to how many are expected to survive the 5 years. Likewise, it is not sufficient to say a product has 5 – 9’s reliability (meaning the probability of failure is less than 0.00001) as it does not contain the duration.
If the product has high reliability for only a few seconds, that does not help us make judgments about the first year of life. [Read more…]
Probability and Reliability Goals
Roll the dice.
It is about that simple if any one product will survive to a specific time. Every product has a chance, not a guarantee. The time to failure for each product is a function of the use, stresses, assembly, latent defects or imperfections, and many other variables.
The result is generally unknown. And, we often establish a reliability goal that includes the probability of success. Keep in mind that a probability is only meaningful when defined over a specific duration.
Understanding Customer Reliability Expectations
Once asked a customer what they wanted concerning product reliability.
She fully understood that some units will fail, that it’s matter of chance. She seemed understanding of the difficulty creating every product such that none would fail.
Then she confided that all that is fine, as long as the product she buys does not fail. [Read more…]
How to Connect Reliability Goals to Business Objectives
Reliability goals provide you and your team a focus for the reliability program. They provide a measurable way to design, test, and maintain systems that meet customer expectations.
A goal of any kind in a business is relatively easy to set and publish. They are not easy to entwine into the culture of the organization so the objectives desired by achieving the goal become a meaningful focus. A product development team may have hundreds of pages of specifications and a long list of priorities and objectives. Simple listing a reliability goal, no matter how clearly stated, may not be sufficient to garner the interest of your team.
Simple listing a reliability goal, no matter how clearly stated, may not be sufficient to garner the interest of your team.
Perfect Reliability
Is it possible to foresee all reliability issues before a product launch?
No.
I don’t think so. Can we minimize surprises from field failures?
Yes.
The number of potential failures is often unknown.
