Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
Concept development and selection is critical for New Product Development. Approaches vary, so what should you do? The video helps you consider your situation and how to blend an approach for increased chances for project success. [Read more…]
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
Design of Experiments (DOE) sounds far more complex than it is. The point is to create an empirical equation to make decisions. This video defines DOE in an extremely simple manner. [Read more…]
Anyone who knows me knows I love hearing from the students who take my online classes. One reason is that they ask the most challenging questions. Here’s a recent question from a student taking my “Process Capability Analysis” class: [Read more…]
Our view of success impacts our ability to improve our opportunity for success. How do we consider our own outcomes? What about results of competition? Perspective from Behavioral Science can help us perform at a higher level and find ways to always improve. [Read more…]
Our optimism or pessimism can impact performance and decision making. How do our natural biases impact emotions? We explore this topic to help gain a competitive advantage. [Read more…]
I remember the feeling I had as child when I first heard about Rudolf. I was certain that Santa had eight reindeer. Then suddenly one day, I was wrong. Somehow a ninth reindeer had appeared on the scene and forever altered my view of St. Nick’s tiny sleigh. This feeling of cognitive dissonance recurred years later when I first heard about Cpm – the “Rudolf” of capability indices. I knew about Cp and Cpk. I knew about Pp and Ppk. And I thought that was it. But once again, the mental rug was yanked from beneath me when abruptly I realized there was more. [Read more…]
Communication is important for success, but constant meetings kill team productivity. Improvement can allow greater productivity and greater accomplishment. This video talks about characteristics that can help with that effort. [Read more…]
Project budgeting can determine if a project is selected or cancelled. How accurate are budgets? They are often far away from reality. How can we do better? [Read more…]
“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?
Several years ago, I was trying to fill a quality engineer’s position within my department. One person’s resume caught my attention. Under a section titled “Areas of Expertise”, it read “Quality Engineering Statistics”. “My gosh”, I thought, “We’ve got to call this guy for an interview. [Read more…]
New Product Development is a high impact situation. Getting to market so sales can begin is big. Yet, projects seem to constantly take longer than expected. [Read more…]
[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
Problem solving can often be accomplished using Seven Simple Tools. Scope, data collection and data display need to be addressed, and these tools cover the needs in a manner with limited complexity. [Read more…]
I recently read the results of a AAA survey where Americans were asked to rate their own driving abilities. 73% of those surveyed considered themselves “better-than-average” drivers. Obviously only 50% of the drivers can actually be better than average. So it follows that at least 23% of those surveyed are mis-estimating their own skills.
This over-confidence in one’s abilities seems to find its way into all sorts of areas … including process capability analysis. Everyone who’s been around manufacturing for any length of time has certainly heard of Cp and Cpk. Most of them know that “higher is better” when it comes to these indices. And many will nod their heads and smile when you suggest that Cpk and Ppk account for centeredness, whereas Cp and Pp do not. But only a small percentage of manufacturing professionals can cogently answer the question, “What is Process Capability analysis?” [Read more…]