Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
Statistical Process Control is about addressing business needs. It is not about charts. It is not even about control. It is about focused learning and taking action. Our successful implementation history means that we can help you too! [Read more…]
“. . . not everything that can be counted counts” Albert Einstein
A key, but often missed, step in FMEA preparation is to identify and prioritize the functions that relate to the item being analyzed. These become candidate functions to be brought into the FMEA.
A recent call to us asked about “Understanding Variation.” What does that really mean? We explore the topic with you in this video. [Read more…]
DOE is often seen as a manufacturing tool, or at least as a technical tool. However, any process with inputs and outputs can be improved with this tool. This video talks about 3 areas, including a focus on a running DOE which found a surprising medical issue. [Read more…]
What is numerical optimization? What are the limits of the approach? It can be used while trying to obtain robust design, but constraints need to be understood. [Read more…]
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…]
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…]
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
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…]
Coach Dean Smith always used this phrase with his teams and his teaching. It is how I focus my coaching, but also how I consider New Product Development. Would this mix be valuable for your organization and your career? [Read more…]
Most of us rely on accurate measurements. If these measurements are unreliable, then our decisions could be based on false information. How can we have confidence in our measurements?
The purpose of a measurement system analysis is to determine if a gauge is fit for use. This means that we can rely upon the measurements to give us a true indication of the parameter being measured. Our decisions will not be affected by erroneous data. So how can we know the quality of our measurements?
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Case studies always have good endings – but this one was not looking good. With some insights, we found an unexpected issue. This provided an important answer for a struggling manufacturing process. [Read more…]
Requirements for the typical company have few guidelines. This video gives an outline for what we have experience in industry and in our consulting experiences. It is essential for success. We can help you get there. [Read more…]
Once you have identified the scope of the FMEA project, made the scope visible, it is time identify the FMEA team members. This article discusses the composition of the FMEA team, including why each member is needed, and the underlying reason for a cross-functional team.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Helen Keller
In sports, people talk about a go to guy or a go to play. What about in business or new product development? Where do you go during critical times? We find companies calling us to resolve those items. [Read more…]