I. Reliability Management
C. Ethics, safety, and liability
This section rounds out the overall set of reliability management considerations.
I. C. Ethics, Safety, and Liability
I. B. 6. Systems Engineering and Integration
I. Reliability Management
B. Reliability program management
6. Systems engineering and integration (Understand)
Describe how these processes are used to create requirements and prioritize design and development activities.
System engineering is a superset of the other engineering fields (mechanical, civil, electrical, software, etc.) as the system engineers work to bring all the various elements of a system together into a final and cohesive whole. Reliability engineering plays a central role including requirements and activities.
Additional References
System Engineering and Reliability (article)
Life cycle cost analysis and reliability (article)
Quick Quiz
I. B. 5. Design Evaluation
I. Reliability Management
B. Reliability program management
5. Design evaluation (Analyze)
Use validation verification, and other review techniques to assess the reliably of a product’s design at various lifecycle stages.
Feedback to the design team at each stage should include meaningful identification of reliability risk, estimates, evaluations and performance.
Additional References
Reliability and the Development Phase Gate Process (article)
Design Reviews with Reliability Matter (article)
Reliability Questions to Ask During a Review (article)
Quick Quiz
1-97. Who is the best candidate to chair a design review committee?
(A) the reliability engineer
(B) the chief designer on the project
(C) the person most capable of making design decisions
(D) a member of senior management
(C) the person most capable of making design decisions
Every organization will establish a policy (written or not) on the make up of design review teams. The leader or chair of the review committee may change to suit the nature of the review, and in each case should be someone able to make decisions as needed to address issues raised and discussed during the review. This may be any of the named positions in the responses, yet best serves te purpose of the review if the person is able to make decisions and allocate resources to implement action items.
I. B. 4. Product Lifecycle Engineering
I. Reliability Management
B. Reliability program management
4. Product Lifecycle Engineering (Understand)
Describe the impact various lifecycle stages (concept/design, introduction, growth, maturity, decline) have on reliability, and the cost issues (product maintenance, life expectation, software defect phase containment, etc.) associate with those stages.
The creation and use of a product or system evolves over time from the initial idea to eventual retirement. Each stage of the lifecycle includes reliability considerations along with the many other constraints informing decisions and actions.
Additional References
Software Defect Phase Containment (article)
Life cycle cost analysis and reliability (article)
Software Defect Phase Containment (article)
Life Cycle Cost Analysis for a Reliability Engineer (webinar recording)
Quick Quiz
1-1. Two systems are built to perform the same function. What factors should be considered in comparing the financial effects of reliability over the designed operating time of the two systems?
I. failure rates
II. operating life of each system
III. cost of each system (including repair, replacement, and loss)
(A) I only
(B) I and III only
(C) II and III only
(D) I, II, and III
(D) I, II, and III
Consider all the elements that lead to a financial gain or loss. The available answers include failure rates and operating life of each system, which, permits the calculation of the expected number of failures, and multiplied by the cost of a failure provides the cost of failures.
Another financial element is the cost of maintaining the system, including preventative and corrective maintenance costs, which impact the overall financial performance of a system. Maintenance costs tend to focus on avoiding system failures or returning the system to service after a failure.
1-9. A new production machine is to be introduced into a production line. The new machine and associated costs will require an investment of $120,000. However, maintenance costs for the production line operating with the new machine are expected to decrease from $42,000/year to $20,000/year. If administrative overhead is 21%, the profit coefficient is 7%, and the present worth is subject to 4% discounting, which of the following techniques would you not use to determine the cost effectiveness of the new production machine, amortized over its 7 years of expected useful life?
(A) internal rate of return analysis
(B) return on investment analysis
(C) return on rate of expansion analysis
(D) discounted cash flow analysis
(C) return on rate of expansion analysis
An analysis of the rate of expansion plans for the production line may include marketing, demand, distribution, warehousing, capacity and flexibility, and may include one of the other three listed analysis approaches, yet does not address the question of the new equipment being a good investment using only the given data. Plus I made up the analysis name.
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis is the most likely analysis to conduct in this case. DCF adjusts the future cash flow changes adjusted for the time value of money. Given the discount rate it means that $100 today is worth 4% less a year from now.
Net Present Value (NPV) is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows.
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) analysis is a metric useful for capital budgeting and is the discount rate. The analysis adjusts the IRR until the net present value of all cash flows equal to zero. This permits comparing different investment options or projects and the one with the highest IRR is then considered the best investment.
Return on Investment (ROI) analysis is a performance measure useful to understand the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of two or more investment options. ROI measures the amount of return relative to the investment’s cost. The ROI is the ratio of the benefit or return (calculated as the gain from the investment minus the cost of the investment) divided by the cost of the investment. ROI may or may not include the consideration of the time value of money by using NPV adjusted values.
I. B. 3. Types of Risk
I. Reliability Management
B. Reliability program management
3. Types of Risk (Understand)
Describe the relationship between reliability and various types of risk, including technical, scheduling safety, financial, etc.
A range of ISO standards now include elements on risk management. The concept of risk and how well risks are identified, monitored, controlled, and mitigated start with a basic understanding of the range of risks you may encounter.
Additional References
Types of Risk (article)
Reliability Management & Risk (article)
Risk Assessment: What Future are you Planning for? (article)
Quick Quiz
I. B. 2. Elements of a Reliability Program
I. Reliability Management
B. Reliability program management
2. Elements of a reliability program (Understand)
Explain how planning, testing, tracking, and using customer needs and requirements are used to develop a reliability program, and identify various drivers of reliability requirements, including market expectations and standards, as well as safety, liability, and regulatory concerns.
A reliability program starts with understanding customer needs and the current situation, risks, and capabilities of the designing organization. Building a reliability program includes identifying risks, reducing uncertainty, and verifying & validating performance, and monitoring actual performance. Each program is also buffeted by a range of constraints
Additional References
Program Elements Part 1 (article)
Program Elements Part 2 (article)
SOR 070 Creating a Reliability Program Plan that optimizes usage of reliability testing and tools (podcast)
SOR 004 High Level Steps to Create Your Reliability Program (podcast)
Purpose of a Reliability Program (article)
Quick Quiz
Reliability Program Management Introduction
I. Reliability Management
B. Reliability program management
Creating, monitoring, executing the range of activities involved to deliberately create a reliably performing product of system takes a concerted and coordinated effort.
Additional References
SOR 042 Reliability and Senior Management (podcast)
How to Assess Your Reliability Program (article)
Intro to Reliability Engineering Management (recorded webinar)
I. B. 1. Terminology
I. Reliability Management
B. Reliability program management
1. Terminology (Understand)
Explain basic reliability terms (e.g., MTTF, MTBF, MTTR, availability, failure rate, reliability, maintainability).
Know your terms as a step toward knowing the concepts.
Additional References
Reliability Management Terminology
Quick Quiz
1-127. Identify which of the following are aspects of a mission profile.
I. It is time-phased.
II. It includes product dimension specifications
III. It gives a summary of events and environments.
IV. It includes all activities from initiation to completion of a mission.
(A) I and III only
(B) II and III only
(C) III and IV only
(D) I, III, and IV only
(D) I, III, and IV only
The product specifications are generally listed in a product requirements document. The PRD then may include or reference the mission profile which describes the where and how of product operation.
1-140. Product reliability involves looking at which relationship?
(A) product function vs. time
(B) product function vs. customer demands
(C) product design vs. cost
(D) product design vs. product function
(A) product function vs. time
This is from the definition of reliability. The function in an environment with a probability of success over a duration. I often think of reliability as quality over time.
I. B. Reliability Program Management
I. A. Bonus — Building Influence
I. A. 8. Supplier Reliability
I. Reliability Management
A. Strategic management
8. Supplier reliability (Understand)
Define and describe supplier reliability assessments that can be monitored in support of the overall reliability program.
Supplier’s can significantly contribute to your product’s reliability performance. Working closely with them will help insure you make your reliability goals.
Additional References
Supplier Reliability Program Maturity (article)
SOR 045 Supplier Not Meeting Your Reliability Requirements (podcast)
Quick Quiz
I. A. 7. Customer Needs Assessment
I. Reliability Management
A. Strategic management
7. Customer needs assessment (Apply)
Use various feedback methods (e.g., quality function deployment (QFD), prototyping, beta testing) to determine customer needs in relation to reliability requirements for products and services.
Additional References
3 Elements of Reliability Goal Setting
Approaches to Assess Customer Reliability Needs
Quick Quiz
1-5. Identify the best manner in which to set an overall reliability goal.
(A) Set numerical requirements for reliability and duration(s) in specific operating environments.
(B) Have upper management identify those responsible for achieving the desired reliability.
(C) Incorporate into a contract a design specification requiring a product to have a high reliability.
(D) Require that the reliability goal be expressed in terms of the mean time between failures.
(A) Set numerical requirements for reliability and duration(s) in specific operating environments.
Each of the response provide an element or approach to setting a reliability goal. The key words in this question are “best manner” and “set”. “Best manner” implies a rank ordering according to some general scope or capability. Here I think “set” is similar to “state” or “establish”.
(A) The correct response relies on three of the four elements of the definition of reliability. It is measureable and specific.
(B) Having management support is a definite plus, yet alone does not provide a means to state a goal.
(C) Contract language may create a binding reliability goal, yet when stated as “high reliability” is not specific.
(D) MTBF is a common measure of reliability yet alone does not include the duration nor environment for the item to operate.
1-141. Identify what QFD stands for in the context of reliability.
(A) Quantitative Functional Deployment
(B) Quality Function Deployment
(C) Qualification of Functional Design
(D) Quality Focused Design
(B) Quality Function Deployment
Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured approach to define customer needs and requirements as specific engineering specifications. The process also includes cascading the requirements to the assembly process thus linking customer needs to design specifications to assembly and component requirements.
I. A. 6. Warranty Management
I. Reliability Management
A. Strategic management
6. Warranty management (Understand)
Define and describe warranty terms and conditions, including warranty period, conditions of use, failure criteria, etc., and identify the uses and limitations of warranty data.
Field failures for what ever reason result in warranty, service contract claims, or help request to a call center. Each of these customer initiated actions have a direct cost to your organization. While warranty provide assurance to the customer for redress when a failure occurs too soon, the overall cost is determined in the design phase.
Additional References
Warranty Policy Establishment (article)
The Exciting World of Warranty Terms (article)
Warranty Evolution and Laws (article)
Quick Quiz
I. A. 5. Failure Consequences and Liability Management
I. Reliability Management
A. Strategic management
5. Failure consequence and liability management (Understand)
Describe the importance of these concepts in determining reliability acceptance criteria.
The days of buyer beware are mostly gone — the manufacture has obligations for how the product works and fails.
Additional References
The Liability Part of Reliability Engineering (article)
Quick Quiz
1-4. What is the best definition of reliability assurance?
I. The probability of performing a specified function without failure under given conditions for a specified time period.
II. The probability that a product, part, or component will be accepted by the customer.
III. The exercise of positive and deliberate measures to provide confidence that a specified reliability will be obtained.
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(C) III only
Reliability assurance is not a common phrase in reliability engineering. So, consider the phrase quality assurance, which we may define as
The planned and systematic actions that provide confidence a product or service will meet the given quality requirements.
If we substitute reliability for quality in the definition response III has a very similar structure and meaning.
Option I is the definition of reliability alone and does not include the assurance element.
Option II may be related to the assurance concept, yet does not closely match the quality assurance definition as it focuses on the customer’s acceptance only.
