Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

You are here: Home / Archives for Podcast Episodes

by Leave a Comment

What is the difference between Design and Process FMEAs?

What is the difference between Design and Process FMEAs?

What is the difference between Design and Process FMEAs?

podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson

Ever heard of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)? It is a wonderful activity that can do amazing things for … what? It depends on what you might have heard or what you are used to. Why? Because there are several different FMEAs that do different things for … different things. A Design FMEA can help us prevent really basic, simple flaws in a new product. A Process FMEA can help us prevent really basic, simple flaws in a new process. What process? Any process … but typically manufacturing. Many people who have heard of FMEAs usually associate them with either design or processes. Then, there are System and Software FMEAs. Want to get an overview of which FMEAs do what and when you would use one instead of the other? Join us for this webinar.

[Read more…]

by 2 Comments

RM 126: Moisture Mitigation Strategies with Dan Jenkins and Rob Lowery

RM 126: Moisture Mitigation Strategies with Dan Jenkins and Rob Lowery

Moisture Mitigation Strategies with Dan Jenkins and Rob Lowery

Moisture. The industrial world has been fighting moisture since the beginning of the industrial world. From a general point of view, moisture leads to issues such as • Mold and mildew • Rust • Wood rot • Damage to building materials • Microbial growth • And so much more.

In the electronics world, moisture creates a host of reliability problems including:
• Popcorning
• Delamination of conformal coating
• Corrosion • Electrochemical migration
• Adhesion degradation (such as on labels and glues)
• And more

I wanted to dive into moisture mitigation, so I invited two guests onto my show to discuss this very topic.

Dan Jenkins is sales manager and partner of the Steel Camel, an industrial solutions company specializing in corrosion and water intrusion control for fuel systems and industrial equipment. Prior to Steel Camel, Dan worked as consultant and instructor in the crane accident prevention industry. He has consulted to large organizations such as Shell Oil, and the United States Department of Interior.

Dan earned an MBA from the University of South Florida and earned his BA in Industrial Arts / Technology from Cal St. University Chico and his Post Secondary Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University.

Bob Lowry has both BS and MS degrees in Chemistry. His experience includes 31 years as Sr. Scientist and Lab Manager for three integrated circuit manufacturing companies, where measurement of moisture and moisture control activities were a major part of services he provided.

Dan has 20 years of experience consulting to the microelectronics industry on a wide variety of topics including materials analysis and measurements and methods of moisture control for electronic components. Bob is also the co-author of the book Hermeticity of Electronic Packages.

Dan Jenkins’ Contact Info:
djenkins@steelcamel.com
https://www.steelcamel.com/

Bob Lowry’s Contact Info:
rlowry98@aol.com

 

[Read more…]

by 1 Comment

TLC 036 Leadership Connection Interview with Bambi Hoyt

TLC 036 Leadership Connection Interview with Bambi Hoyt

Leadership Connection Interview with Bambi Hoyt

In this episode, Vice President Life Cycle Engineering, Bambi Hoyt joins guest host Tara Holwegner in a discussion about personal triumphs and failures that made them the leaders they are today.
In Bambi’s 14 years with LCE, she has seen it all – leading key growth initiatives, including managing and executing IT and technical programs for the U.S. Navy, DISA, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps and Veterans Affairs customers. Her career spans 20 years of experience in the DoD, Federal, pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Professional Communications from Clemson University.

[Read more…]

by Leave a Comment

QDD 122 Information Development in Design, with Scott Abel – Part 1 (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts)

QDD 122 Information Development in Design, with Scott Abel – Part 1 (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts)

Information Development in Design, with Scott Abel – Part 1 (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts)

Dianna Deeney interviews Scott Abel about information development management, a discipline concerned with best practices for managing and coordinating all activities related to the development, production, and distribution of information. He shares ideas, strategies, and best practices for unifying all product information – technical documentation, product specifications, customer support, training, and on-boarding – in a single online knowledge center.

This is Part 1 of 2 episodes with Scott. In Part 1 (this episode) we talk about information development management. In Part 2 (next episode), we talk about technical communication as part of product design success.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts”. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they’re involved and work with product design engineering teammates.

About Scott

Scott Abel serves as Content Strategy Evangelist at Heretto. He also runs a consultancy called The Content Wrangler, which helps companies improve how they author, maintain, manage, and deliver technical product information to those who need it, when, where, and how they prefer it. He writes regularly for content industry publications, produces a series of content strategy-focused books for XML Press, and is a dynamic presenter often featured at content industry events worldwide.

In Part 1, Scott and Dianna talk about:

  • Why technical documentation is more important than it’s generally treated: it relates to the success of existing customers, the loyalty of customers to a brand, attracts new customers, and provides confidence to perspective customers.
  • How technical documentation affects regulated products, and why “future fear of noncompliance” is a trap that leads to a loss of information management advancements and their benefits.
  • What object-oriented technical communication management is and COPE (create once, publish everywhere).

[Read more…]

by Leave a Comment

WQW 003: Building the Quality Army

WQW 003: Building the Quality Army

Building the Quality Army

In Episode 1, quality for products and services was defined as “Presence of desired features and the degree of excellence of those features.” How do we develop the capability of the team  so that our company delivers the quality that makes us the first choice of our customers?

Key Points in this episode:

•Customers have choices and not just between you and competitors who sell the same things

•Customer expectations are constantly increasing

•Competitors can buy the same things as you

•If you have an advantage, it will be in your people’s performance

•Everyone has to know what is known

•Excellence has to be cultivated

•There’s no end to the quality journey

[Read more…]

by 1 Comment

QDD 121 Crafting Effective Technical Documents for the Engineering Field

QDD 121 Crafting Effective Technical Documents for the Engineering Field

Crafting Effective Technical Documents for the Engineering Field

Ready to hone your technical writing skills as an engineer? This episode of the Quality During Design podcast is a must-listen! We delve into the critical role of technical communication in engineering, and why written communication skills are non-negotiable for engineers. Join me, Dianna Deeney, as we consider different perspectives to make your technical writing the best it can be.

Our chat takes us on a journey through the past, present, and future of technical writing, as we root ourselves in the realities of presenting findings, interpreting data, and making actionable decisions. In the spirit of past, present, and future, we discuss techniques to ensure that your writing is effective and reaches your audience – be it your project team, auditors, or a future engineer referencing your work. Grab your pen and paper or open your word document as we together make strides in improving our technical communication skills.

This Quality during Design Redux episode was originally “The Spirits of Technical Writing Past, Present, and Future”. Visit the podcast blog, here.

[Read more…]

by Leave a Comment

Why You Should Avoid MTBF

Why You Should Avoid MTBF

Why You Should Avoid MTBF

podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg

In the past two months, I’ve received a few questions concerning why I recommend avoiding using MTBF or similar metrics. I’m also moving the articles I and others wrote on the topic from NoMTBF.com to Accendo Reliability. So, the topic of MTBF has been on my mind.

This morning’s email included a question on why I was so against using MTBF. This event is my answer. [Read more…]

by Leave a Comment

RM 125: DFM Best Practices with Pride Industries’ Engineering Manager Andrew Williams

RM 125: DFM Best Practices with Pride Industries’ Engineering Manager Andrew Williams

DFM Best Practices with Pride Industries’ Engineering Manager Andrew Williams

As all of you are well aware, this show is all about reliability, specifically reliability of circuit assemblies. One challenge that seems to be persistent within our space is design for manufacturability or DFM. If you’re a contract manufacturer, I have no doubt that you’ve had the experience of being asked to build a product that seems unbuildable. One example that rings true in my world was the introduction of bottom terminated components or BTC’s. BTC’s are marvelous components.

Because all the lead terminations are below the part, they allow for highly dense component placement and highly miniaturized assemblies. They also presented a number of unique challenges in reflow, in many cases voiding, cleaning, and inspection. Like many other industries, we are not immune to the introduction of new technologies that may lack implementation knowledge. We then spend the next several years at technical conferences and symposiums learning us how to implement these new technologies. There are many acronyms in our industry that begin with DF…

Design for testability, mechanical assembly, serviceability, reliability, and so many more. So many in fact, that there is a placeholder acronym for all of the various design fours refer to as DFx. Perhaps the holy grail of DFx is DFM, Design for Manufacturability as it encompasses so many aspects of assembly.

To help us understand what exactly is DFM, I invited Andrew Williams to be my guest on this episode. Andrew Williams is the Engineering Manager for Electronics Manufacturing at PRIDE Industries. He has more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing and design and holds an SMT Process Engineer certification from SMTA and an IPC Certified Electronics Program Manager. Andrew is a guest lecturer at UC Davis and Cal State University Sacramento for Supply Chain Management, Operations, and TQM courses, and speaks frequently on DFM, DFS, and other DFX topics and today, he’s my guest on the Reliability Matters Podcast.

Andrew’s Contact Information:
Pride Industries
andrew.williams@prideindustries.com

[Read more…]