Tom Izzo has often talked about the difference between winning games and winning championships. Observing him, I believe I understand his comment better now. [Read more…]
Winning Championships or winning games
Articles
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
The Importance of a Reliability Engineering Community
Years ago I was a part of a reliability engineering community and I had not met more than two or three members. This was before the internet and was using a new-fangled system called an email list.
At the time, it filled the role of helping me understand the many facets of reliability engineering. It helped me answer questions and allowed me to help others as well.
My desire is to help create more such communities that can help you and your organization improve the discussion concerning reliability. Let’s explore exactly how to make this work. [Read more…]
The Antidote to VUCA is OODA
Guest Post by Joseph Paris (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
The date is September 15, 2008. The crisis in subprime mortgages had been going on for a little over a year. It was triggered in the last half of 2006 when house prices began to fall as the housing bubble in the United States burst. This caused those who had taken NINJA (No Income, No Job, or Assets) loans to buy their home, with the expectation that prices were going to increase five per-cent year on year forever, to default. This accelerated the decline in home prices which, in turn, accelerated the number of defaults – a financial and economic death spiral had formed.
Calculating the Probability of a Sample Containing Bad Parts
Received a question from a reader this morning that will make a nice tutorial.
A box contains 27 black and 3 red balls. A random sample of 5 balls is drawn without replacement. What is the probability that the sample contains one red ball?
So here’s my thinking and two ways to solve this problem. Instead of red and black balls in an urn type problem, which is pretty abstract, let’s say we know 3 bad parts are in a bin of 30 total parts.
What Should I Learn as a Reliability Engineer?
Ran across this question the other day from someone just starting in the role of reliability engineer. I wasn’t smart enough to ask this question when I started in the field, yet looking back I’m sure to have found the list of what one should learn and apply daunting. [Read more…]
Field issue resolved – DOE Case Study
Have you considered understanding your design better to eliminate service calls? An example of an organization that did this – powerful results. “Return to original factory settings and call back if that does not resolve it.” No calls for years! [Read more…]
From Millwright To World-Class Manufacturing – Kirk Wolfinger
I’ve always been proud to say that the first customer I provided RCM training and consulting for was Whirlpool in Findlay, Ohio.
Having just presented at SMRP’s annual conference in Denver, Colorado, I received an e-mail from Kirk Wolfinger who at the time was Whirlpools’ Maintenance Manager. Kirk wanted to know if I could come to Findlay and help his team get started in Reliability Centered Maintenance.
I was that one phone call that gave me the courage to leave Eastman Kodak and start my own company. [Read more…]
Status of ERM in the U.S. Federal Government
Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
In 2015 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Circular A-123. It requires all federal agencies to implement Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). ERM is a methodology which allows an organization to, in a systematic manner, identify, prioritize and reduce the adverse impact of risks events, such as fraud, cyber-attacks, mismanagement, and natural disasters, that could prevent the organization from accomplishing its mission and objectives.
For the past several years federal agencies have been surveyed to determine the extent of the ERM implementation. This article reviews the results of the past four years. [Read more…]
An Introduction to the Cause and Effect Diagram
Also called the Ishikawa or fishbone diagram, the cause and effect diagram is a graphical tool that enables a team to identify, categorize, and examine possible causes related to an issue. The intent is to expose the most likely root causes for further investigation.
This diagram is part of a complex failure analysis process when there are many potential causes for the problem or condition. Similar to a brainstorm session about the problem, this graphical tool provides a bit of structure and may prompt additional potential causes.
The Ishikawa diagram is one of the seven basic tools of quality control. [Read more…]
Parameter Diagram and FMEA
When creating a robust design, there is probably no more important consideration than identifying the correct parameters and associated values. A robust design is insensitive to anticipated variation and P-Diagram visually shows the relationship between what the system is designed to do, the anticipated noises the system will encounter and the correct parameters to achieve the desired outcome. P-Diagram can be an essential input to FMEA.
“Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.” Albert Einstein
If this thing Breaks We are Going to Freeze to Death!!!
In February I did a hit and run trip to Fairbanks Alaska with my daughter, age 11, to try and see the Northern Lights. It was a long shot but I’ve done nuttier expeditions and she was game. It was actually her idea, and she knew who the right person was to ask for such a trip. She turned 11 in January. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. I was ready for the “this or that electronic” request. Instead she said “I want to see the Northern Lights.” First thought was “Geez that’s a bit extravagant” but
then my second thought was she’s 11 and this could have a great impact on her and what an interesting/cool thing to ask for. It might energize an interest in physics or natural photography, or cold weather clothing design. I also thought about how in a few years she may not want to do anything with me because I’ll be an “idiot who doesn’t get it.”
Predicting Repair Rates with Plots
Published in Quality Progress in Nov. 2018, pp 34-39. Final 1/27/18 Posted here with permission of Dr. Wayne Nelson and by his suggestion.
PREDICTING REPAIR RATES WITH PLOTS
Guest post by: Wayne B. Nelson, consultant
Schenectady, NY , WNconsult@aol.com
What Keeps The Fire Burning?
I’ve been proving RCM Facilitator Training for over twenty years….
I ran into an old friend at a conference recently and after we chatted about the things going on in each of our lives he asked me a series of questions that caught me a bit off guard.
How much longer do you plan to work?
Don’t you get sick of the travel?
You’ve been teaching and facilitating Reliability Centered Maintenance for over twenty years, doesn’t doing the same thing all the time get boring?
Have you ever thought about teaching other courses just to change it up a bit?
What motivates you to keep doing what you’re doing? [Read more…]
What is Optimization
Everyone wants excellence and continuous improvement, but what does optimization mean? And how do you get there? This video covers two basic optimization methods and how we blend them for Robust Design. [Read more…]
The D-Word – Discipline Is Not a Dirty Word
Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
In our aging societies with a work force ranging from Baby Boomers through Generation Xers to Millennials the ‘D-Word’ may summon up images of stoical sergeant-major types shouting and barking and removing any freedom of thought or act. Discipline is variously defined but it is generally understood to be ‘the ‘training that produces orderliness, obedience and self control to follow rules‘ and, operatively, if rules are broken ‘chastising or punishing‘. . [Read more…]
