Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
“Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgment.” Will Rogers
Much is learned by observing the mistakes companies have made in doing FMEAs. Based on the experience of over 2,000 FMEAs and working with many companies in a wide variety of applications, certain common mistakes show up repeatedly. In this article, I’ll share ten common FMEA mistakes and how to convert them into quality objectives.
Carl and Fred discussing the proper role of standards in reliability programs: what makes for good standards, what makes for poor standards, and how to know the difference.
ᐅ Play Episode
Carl and Fred discussing the important role of models in reliability engineering programs.
ᐅ Play Episode
More than one operational mode may need to be considered to ensure that all important failure modes are identified and analyzed in the FMEA. This article focuses on what you need to know about modes of operation when performing FMEAs.
“My favorite mode of transport is hot-air ballooning. It’s so graceful to be blown by the wind, to go where the wind takes you.” Richard Branson
Carl and Fred discussing ideas about how to maximize effectiveness while working remotely.
ᐅ Play Episode
Carl and Fred discussing what you can do if you only have 3 samples for testing.
ᐅ Play Episode
Many companies miss out on the value of System FMEA and begin with lower level sub-assemblies or components. This article explains why it is usually best to begin with a properly done System FMEA.
“Big whirls have little whirls,
That feed on their velocity;
And little whirls have lesser whirls,
And so on to viscosity.”
Lewis Fry Richardson
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” Niels Bohr
In an FMEA, is it possible to think of everything that might happen in the future? What strategies can be used by FMEA teams to maximize the opportunity to anticipate what can go wrong, so risk can be reduced to an acceptable level?
[Author note: This article is being published mid-month, and is part of the FMEA Preparation series. It was earlier written, but inadvertently omitted from publication, as part of this series.]
One of the most important steps in FMEA preparation is gathering all of the relevant documents and information. If this step is missed or done inadequately the FMEA meetings will be burdened with extra tasks related to missing information, the time of the subject-matter experts will be wasted, and the FMEA results potentially compromised.
“True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.” – Winston Churchill
Carl discusses the unique role that FMEA can play in a reliability program, when done exceptionally well.
ᐅ Play Episode
Carl discusses the role of advanced reliability methods, and why both traditional and advanced reliability methods are important.
ᐅ Play Episode
Carl discusses how good people skills can supplement your reliability engineering skills, and why they are both important.
ᐅ Play Episode
Carl discusses the importance of understanding how things fail, during product development.
ᐅ Play Episode
“Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding…” – B
Properly done, Process FMEAs should improve manufacturing and assembly processes and corresponding process controls. This article describes how PFMEAs can be used to improve process controls, which are embodied in the Process Control Plan (PCP).
Carl discusses why Design for Reliability is so essential to attaining high reliability.
ᐅ Play Episode