Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
The deeper you drill into process capability analysis, the more you realize just how many capability indices are available. The two most common capability indices are Cpk and Ppk, and the closely related Cp, Cpu and Cpl, and Pp, Ppu and Ppl, respectively. Cpm is less commonly used, and has a unique way of accounting for the centeredness of a process within its specification limits. (See my past blog posts for extended discussions about all of these.) [Read more…]
Do you ever get frustrated with long Product Development processes? Why does it happen? Is it always this way? We have produced development speed records for multiple companies. There are principles for advancing technology but also finishing in a practical time. [Read more…]
People appreciate great leaders. What sets them apart? What characteristics can be applied and learned? Vague or high level descriptions do not help implement leadership for a team. This video provides practical considerations. [Read more…]
One of the more confusing distinctions for quality professionals, especially those working within one of the quality management standards such as IATF 16949 or ISO 13485, is the difference between a Corrective Action Request (CAR) and a Preventive Action Request (PAR). [Read more…]
As organizations focus more on data, the quality of data is important. But what does it mean? How do we know if we have it? This video provides some insights for understanding your data situation. [Read more…]
One of the most important principles in reliability engineering and management is the differentiation between the vital few and the trivial many. The application of special product characteristics uses that principle.
“The whole of science is nothing more than the refinement of thinking.” – Albert Einstein
Design of Experiments is a great approach for confident modeling of systems. It does have limitations. What are the limits? How can those be dealt with? How important is it for practical systems? [Read more…]
Metropolises in 2020, like New York and Shanghai, disconcertingly resembled London in 1831, in that a strange new disease passed through the population leaving in its wake confusion, grief and death. 2020 was beginning of Covid-19; 1831, Cholera. [Read more…]
Many organizations are using online meetings. With work from home being so popular, this is an important area to improve. How can they be used to be more effective? How can a leader make the most of the meeting, and the features available? Which options are best for a given situation? [Read more…]
When approaching design validation, what can make us increase our success rate? This video hits highlights of how we approach validation. [Read more…]
If you’ve worked around the fields of reliability or quality for any length of time, you’ve certainly encountered and have likely assembled the humble yet mighty histogram. This specialized bar graph is one of the most common starting points for analyzing continuous data. It not only portrays the frequency of numerical data across its range of values, but also provides hints at the data’s underlying probability distribution. [Read more…]
While the push for remote working or work from home is efficient, there are some downsides that people need to be aware of. This video discusses certain advantages for in person situations. [Read more…]
In last month’s article we discussed the most common FMEA mistakes and how to convert them into quality objectives. This month we will focus on how to audit FMEAs, using the FMEA quality objectives as a guideline.
“Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.” Plato
My limited formal training about America’s Industrial Revolution came in tenth grade history class. And my few remaining recollections of my studies from that era include characters like James Watt and Alfred Nobel, and their inventions, the steam engine and dynamite. Oh, and how could I forget Eli Whitney and his cotton gin?
Now 40 years later, my interest in manufacturing has grown far beyond these elementary school lessons, and the Industrial Revolution continues to intrigue me. Yes, this era was rife with its inventors and their inventions. But the enduring gains from this era were the philosophies of manufacturing that transcended the specific inventions. [Read more…]
As organizations engage virtual teams, they still need interactive training on certain topics. How can this be done with multiple locations? What about colleges, high schools and elementary schools? While details can vary depending on age, the tips provided come from years of academic and industrial training situations. Contact us to learn more to help for your specific situation. [Read more…]