Fundamentals of the Cost of Unreliability podcast episode When a product or system fails, there is a consequence. Often, there is a loss of value. Each warranty replacement costs money. Downtime may result in lost revenue. Do you know the full extent of the costs involved when something fails? Remember your customer is using your […]

Fundamentals of Measurement System Analysis podcast episode When we make a measurement, we make a decision based on the data provided. It’s important to have data close enough to the actual measurement. What is the measurement error if something is supposed to be 2 cm long and we measure it at 2.1 cm? Every measurement […]

What You Need to Know About MTBF podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson MTBF stands for ‘mean time between failure.’ This sounds intuitively easy to understand. But … if you haven’t taken the time to understand MTBF, and your organization relies on the reliability of its products, you are almost certainly in trouble. For example, […]

Fundamentals of Field Data Analysis podcast episode Once a product is launched, it’s time to understand its performance. The design is done, and the assembly process is working. Now we can focus on answering the question: is the product hitting reliability targets or not? Thus, we do field data analysis. The basic process is to […]

Fundamentals of Tolerance Analysis podcast episode There are three approaches to setting tolerance limits for design elements. Each has ramifications for the eventual manufacturability and reliability performance—design for manufacturability and reliability hinges on correctly setting design tolerances. If you want to create a reliable product, the work starts well before the first prototype arrives. The […]

Fundamentals of Monte Carlo Analysis podcast episode The survival of an individual item is difficult to determine. Use and environmental conditions, along with material and assembly differences, count. Let’s explore how to model and use the naturally occurring variability to improve reliability performance. The Monte Carlo method is a relatively simple process that permits you […]

Using Available Weather Data podcast episode The local weather affects your products and systems. Knowing the weather helps you plan your wardrobe for the day. Likewise, knowing the weather helps you design a product or system that can thrive in the weather conditions it will experience. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tracks, […]

Improve Your Reliability Teaching Skills podcast episode As a reliability professional, you will be asked to teach. You are part teacher, coach, mentor, and expert. Being effective enhances the understanding of reliability objectives and methods to achieve them.  Let’s explore becoming an amazing teacher. Teaching is not limited to a formal classroom setting. You may […]

Fundamentals of Physics of Failure podcast episode A good physics of failure (PoF) model helps you understand the impact of stresses on the time-to-failure distribution for a specific failure mechanism. Let’s discuss PoF models, including how to create and use them effectively. The development of PoF models got off to a slow start in the […]

Fundamentals of Reliability-Related Standards podcast episode Standards provide guidance, a common language, and a bit of confusion. Using the right standard and using it well can help your reliability program. Using standards poorly will harm your ability to create reliable products. Let’s consider the good, the bad, and the total fails of industry standards. Some […]