June 23, 2023

Design Process Blindspots

23 minutes

Abstract

Carl and Fred discussing the interesting subject of “blind spots,” and how they can impede good designs.

Key Points

Join Carl and Fred as they discuss the nature of “blind spots” and how they can be addressed in teams.

Topics include:

On an FMEA team, why not have the design engineer make the decisions?

Why do you need an engineering team?

What are “blind spots” and how can they be mitigated?

Sometimes you can get so close to a problem that you cannot see the solution

Discussion of Henry Petroski’s book “Design Paradigms”

Three reasons to use teams to overcome blind spots

The solution to a problem can create other unintended problems

Some problems need a pause to see the solution

Look at problems from other points of view

People do not have the same blind spots

People are often unaware of their blind spots

Use of brainstorming to enhance solutions

Be open to other people’s ideas

You cannot anticipate everything; but you can minimize risk

If you do a very good job of FMEA preparation and facilitation, you can reduce risk to an acceptable level

Risk never goes to zero

Management needs to understand the limitations of individual engineers

The culture has to allow people to say something is not right

Reliability engineers need to speak up when there is a high-risk issue

What do you do if you see something, and the culture does not support speaking up?

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.

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Design Process Blindspots

23 minutes

Design Process Blindspots

Abstract

Carl and Fred discussing the interesting subject of “blind spots,” and how they can impede good designs.

Key Points

Join Carl and Fred as they discuss the nature of “blind spots” and how they can be addressed in teams.

Topics include:

On an FMEA team, why not have the design engineer make the decisions?

Why do you need an engineering team?

What are “blind spots” and how can they be mitigated?

Sometimes you can get so close to a problem that you cannot see the solution

Discussion of Henry Petroski’s book “Design Paradigms”

Three reasons to use teams to overcome blind spots

The solution to a problem can create other unintended problems

Some problems need a pause to see the solution

Look at problems from other points of view

People do not have the same blind spots

People are often unaware of their blind spots

Use of brainstorming to enhance solutions

Be open to other people’s ideas

You cannot anticipate everything; but you can minimize risk

If you do a very good job of FMEA preparation and facilitation, you can reduce risk to an acceptable level

Risk never goes to zero

Management needs to understand the limitations of individual engineers

The culture has to allow people to say something is not right

Reliability engineers need to speak up when there is a high-risk issue

What do you do if you see something, and the culture does not support speaking up?

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Design Process Blindspots

Design Process Blindspots