Reliability Engineering versus Quality Engineering podcast episode I recently received a question about the differences and similarities and which discipline is better concerning reliability and quality engineering. Some say reliability is a characteristic of quality, while I say reliability is quality yet over time. Both use statistics, both support design or operations teams, and both […]

PDFs, CDFs, and other ‘Fs’ What the hell are they? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Ok. They say there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. At the heart of statistics are these intimidating functions like ‘probability density functions’ and ‘cumulative distribution functions.’ They mean something – but are practically useless unless they help inform […]

How to Learn Reliability Engineering podcast episode It’s impossible to point to one moment, class, seminar, workshop, or conference where I learned reliability engineering. Not one situation, project, conversation, or meeting, either. Learning reliability engineering is a journey, and each is different. Some of us start in the field of reliability engineering by choice. Others […]

Weibull Probability Plotting How to learn more by just looking! podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson If you are a reliability engineer – chances are you have done a Weibull plot. You take something like failure data, put it into a piece of software, and presto! You get a straight line with other numbers and […]

3 Ways to Do Reliability Allocation podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Having a reliability target for your product is excellent. But how does that help all the little design teams, who make their own decisions on all the different parts of your system? Well – it starts with reliability allocation. Reliability allocation takes your […]

Why Reliability Engineering Is Important podcast episode What do you tell someone you just met when they ask, “So, what do you do?” Saying you’re a reliability engineer will likely get a polite nod or confused look. How do you explain what you do and why? Why is what we do as reliability-minded folk important? […]

How is Reliability Engineering Changing? podcast episode The reliability engineering discipline, like all fields of endeavor, is changing. The inclusion of risk management, the shift to proactively avoiding field failures, and the increasing use of sensors and models all make the future fascinating. Let’s explore a brief history plus the major trends in business and […]

3 Steps to Improve Your Reliability Culture podcast episode The reliability culture of an organization is about how individuals make decisions. It combines priorities & policies, behaviors & motivations, and information & capability. Understanding the current culture allows you to improve the culture. Improving decision-making concerning reliability has a number of benefits, including lower development […]

Creating Effective Reliability Graphics podcast episode When you ‘pass’ a standard-based test, what does that mean? How can you use test results meaningfully besides just noting the product ‘passed’? Understanding the failure mechanisms at play, along with the statistics, is key. Military standards, GEIA, IEEE, ANSI, etc, provide detailed test procedures for a wide variety […]

Creating Effective Reliability Graphics podcast episode Graphics, when used well, can convey easy-to-understand information. Reliability graphics may focus on trends in failure rates or the verification of improvement work. Often, reliability graphics convey time-to-failure patterns. Pareto Diagrams, dot plots, and measles charts help you and others grasp what the data has to say. Cumulative distribution […]