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Reliability Engineering Basics, Statistics, Accelerated Testing, Program Assessment and Improvement. Listen in on in depth discussions held during the live monthly Accendo Reliability webinar series. We explore topics ranging from reliability engineering basics, statistics, accelerated life testing, program assessment and improvement. Catch up or review past events below.
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What’s Wrong with Using ‘FITs’ to Measure Electronic Component Reliability? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Every industry has its own way of characterizing reliability metrics. For example, the ball bearing industry uses the metric B_10' to represent the time by which they expect 10 % of all ball bearings of a specific type to fail. Ele…
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Fundamentals of System Effectiveness podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg System or Operational Effectiveness is comprised of three elements. An early definition included capability, reliability, and availability. Another early definition included availability, dependability, and capability. In essence, can the system do what it's suppose…
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What’s the Difference Between FMEA and FMECA? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson And the answer is not the letter C.' A FMEA is a group activity that follows a logical (and time-proven) structure to effectively brainstorm' what are called corrective actions' for existing or likely problems in design and manufacture of products. Production t…
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Fundamentals of Reliability Goals podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Goals, objectives, milestones, targets, whatever you call them, just have a clear one. Setting a reliability goal is easy. Get a few people together for a short discussion and in less then 10 minutes you can craft a meaningful reliability goal. Let's explore the elemen…
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Using Fault Trees to Conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA) podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson What is a root cause' of failure? It is something that you did (or didn't) do that ultimately resulted in failure. It's not corrosion (that's a physical process that follows the laws of nature that you can't change). It's not a porous seal that allows …
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Fundamentals of a Professional Development Plan podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Professional development is not about pursuing a degree or title. It's about what you can do with your knowledge. Of course, that is my opinion. Some seek credentials that may lead to a new position or opportunities. Some seek knowledge without intending …
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What is the ‘3 Parameter’ Weibull Analysis podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Some of you might have heard of the Weibull distribution. It is an uncannily accurate way of describing many of the ways components fail. It can model things that wear-in where failure is caused by pre-existing damage and defects in a fraction of products. The Wei…
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Fundamentals of Pareto Analysis podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Pareto Analysis is a simple yet powerful tool that provides a visual way to help focus on the most critical tasks. The idea that 80% of your field failures come from 20% of the failure mechanisms is one way we can focus on the vital few instead of the insignificant many.…
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Understanding (how bad) the Exponential Distribution (is) podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson We often use probability distributions to help us characterize the likely values a random variable will have. This includes the random variable we call time to failure' or TTF, which is how long something works before it fails. Failure is a random p…
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Fundamentals of Hypothesis Testing podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Let's make a comparison. Let's check our product's key characteristics against specifications, compare vendor life data, or compare the newest design changes to prior performance. We can and should do comparisons well using the appropriate statistical approach. Let's …
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Using FMEA (or Functional) Block Diagrams to Understand Your Item podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Many engineers rush to design or build something that we think is awesome' or at least proves a concept.' But this often means we build something that we like (not necessarily what our users like) or doesn't work (because we didn't realize t…
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Fundamentals of Process Capability podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Calculating and interpreting the process capability ratios is the easy part. Getting valid results takes more work and thinking. Knowing that the process is capable is only one use of this information. We should also use the information contained in these ratios to in…
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Using Monte Carlo Simulation to Make Hard Reliability Analyses Easy podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Sometimes the equations we need to model reliability are just so complicated that we simply avoid them, or use other equations that are simpler but model the wrong thing (see some of my earlier webinars!). But it doesn't have to be this wa…
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Fundamentals of Control Charts podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg On one of my first vendor visits, they proudly showed us the control charts behind glass near the conference room. They were nicely printed, all in perfect control, and rather odd. A control chart belongs on the production line, where the operators make the measurements. …
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AI Product Development and Deployment podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins AI is or will be integrated into every product and service. The world of AI product development is really confusing. What is required? What are good practices? What's next? Greg will discuss the critical architecture and design practices that need to be considered in A…
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The MTBF and Modeling System Reliability podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) appears in lots of textbooks and standards, so it must be really important right? Well, not really. The MTBF is the most overused and misunderstood term in reliability engineering, including system reliability modeling, where we …
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Fundamentals of Safety Margins podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg One way to create a robust product or system is to consider all the stresses and design to withstand those stresses. We often do not know all the stresses, magnitudes, and ranges of variation. We know that many materials degrade with time, yet we do not know precisely how…
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How to Get Unstuck: Do Good. Be Happy. podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins In this presentation, Greg Hutchins will explain how to Get Unstuck: Do Good. Be Happy based on the Working It book (4.9/5.0 stars on Amazon). Today's Linkedin review: A wonderful book by a great author. A must recommend for those who are looking to enhance their skil…
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Reliability of a K out of N' System podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson We often use the term system reliability modelling' to describe any scenario where we need to somehow convert what we know about component reliability into system reliability in order to make a decision. Some of us might have heard of series systems' that have no redunda…
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Fundamentals of Lessons Learned podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Within an organization or a team, we collectively know a lot. We, again collectively, have a wealth of information. And, if you follow my Mom's advice, we learn something new every day. We also forget a lot every day. When we forget something that we learned by making a …
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Risk 101: Future of Quality podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins We've evangelized for more than 20 years that the future of quality and its related disciplines, including reliability, will be risk-focused. Why? We're living in a time of uncertainty and risk. Understanding and managing risk is important for quality and reliability professiona…
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What is WeiBayes Analysis? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Some of us might have heard of the Weibull distribution. Some of us might have heard about Weibull analysis. Weibull analysis uses the Weibull distribution to help us visualize failure data in a really useful way. We can see' if our product is wearing out. We can see if our produ…
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Dealing with Small Sample Sizes podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg It's rare to have sufficient samples for all the desired reliability work. It's common to have very few samples. So, how does one manage to learn what is necessary to learn from the few samples? How can you maximize the value of reliability work in the scant sample situa…
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Risk-Based Auditing: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins Risk-based auditing (RBA) is all about risk management. Risk-based auditing is simply risk transfer from the auditee to the auditor. In today's uncertain world, the lens for most, if not all, problem-solving and decision-making is risk. Risk-b…
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Why Accendo Reliability podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg I recently received a question about the artwork found at Accendo Reliability. Why castles? So, I provided an answer and thought I would share it in this webinar. Also, let's talk about how and why Accendo Reliability got started and how it's been doing over the past ten years. …
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ISO 42001 10X Bigger Than ISO 9001 podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins Greg is an opportunist. Greg wrote 4 best selling books on ISO 9001 in the 1990's (John Wiley). Greg now believes that ISO 42001 will be 10 X bigger than ISO 9001. Find out why? ISO 42001 is the new (FDIS) management system standard. Learn how to reposition your work/care…
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What is ‘fatigue’? … and no I don’t mean feeling ‘tired’. podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Many reliability engineers know what fatigue is (in addition to feeling tired). Fatigue is an example of a failure mechanism.' A failure mechanism is the physical, chemical or electrical process that results in failure. Fatigue is interesting in tha…
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Reliability as a Process podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg We do not do reliability . Reliability doesn't just happen to a product well, it does with or without our intervention. To achieve the stated reliability objectives for a new product or production line, we can trust to luck or sort out what needs to happen to realize the object…
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How do I link Process Capability Indices to Number (PPM) Defects? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson We often use the word quality' to describe products that are manufactured with minimal defects ( and within tolerances). If you are involved in the field of quality (and manufacturing), then you might have heard of capability indices.' These…
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Reliability Data podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg One role reliability engineers enjoy is that of analyzing data. We have available to us a wide range of statistical methods, yet each does require some form of data. In some cases, we are data rich with almost too much data. In other situations, we are lacking data or have insufficient…
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AI Decision-Making: Existential' Threat or Salvation podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins Trust' in AI decision-making is one of the most important public policy challenges facing the world. Some pundits place this on the same level as climate change and pandemics. Trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) can bring many benefits, such as bett…
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Reliability is More than Testing podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg During the interview, I turned down a job when I learned the hiring manager expected me, a potential new reliability engineer on the team, to only conduct tests. Creating and assembling a reliable product or service takes more than testing. Reliability engineering is ab…
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Understanding Context: Context is Worth 20 IQ/EQ Points podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins Understanding context is essential for making smart, risk-based decisions and solving tough problems. Understanding context is important to ensure you are correctly solving the right problem. Understanding context helps you understand the root cause o…
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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…
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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…
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Using ISO 31000 for Risk Based, Decision Making podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins Risk is now incorporated into many, if not all, ISO quality and reliability standards. ISO 31000 is the go-to international standard for risk management and risk-based decision-making. ISO 31000 can be used by all types of organizations, regardless of their s…
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How Do I Do MTBF Testing? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson First thing the MTBF is not a reliability metric (other webinars explain why!) But there are many times when (for reasons good and bad) we need to test something to see how often it fails. This can help us determine how many spare parts we need, how many maintainers and technician…
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How to Learn ALT podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg When first charged with designing, conducting, and analyzing an ALT, I didn't even know there was such a thing as accelerated life testing. Along with the assigned task was the expectation that I would learn what was necessary to design, conduct, and analyze a suitable ALT. I like thos…
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Four Ways to Manage Supplier Risk podcast episode with speaker Greg Hutchins Covid taught us the importance of managing suppliers, especially those from China and Asia. Risk became the top supply management concern over supplier delivery, quality, and cost. For example, just-in-time deliveries became just-in-case many common sense ideas of lean cha…
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10 Reasons to Do Reliability podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Everyone knows' why we do reliability engineering right? Customer experience. Organization reputation. Reduced warranty claims ten years from now. But these are boring reasons that really don't motivate me to take reliability seriously now. Why should I invest so much time into…
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An Accelerated Life Testing Q&A podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Over the past few months, we've received some questions about accelerated life testing. There are bound to be more questions as ALT can be confusing to plan, conduct, or interpret. Let's get together and address your questions related to ALT. Send us your questions befor…
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Communicating as a Reliability Engineer podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg Creating a plan and generating information is part of reliability engineering, yet it's not enough. To be a successful engineer, one must communicate well. This means we need to write, discuss, and present well. We are often called upon to examine failures and re…
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What is Supportability' and How Does it Relate to Reliability? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson What is supportability? Is it working out how many spare parts you will need (and when)? No. Is it working out how many maintainers or technicians you will need to keep your system working? Still no. What about working out what tools these main…
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Selecting a Reliability Method podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg A key element of reliability engineering is doing the right thing at the right time. When running an experiment or test, conducting an assessment, or performing an analysis, the method we use must fit the situation. Being busy does not add value; getting meaningful result…
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Where does the Bell Curve come from? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Everyone has heard of the bell curve.' Sports show hosts, teachers, scientists, and a bunch of other people routinely use the term bell curve' to describe uncertainty. But do you know where it comes from? It is not just a pretty shape' that seems to work, It comes from …
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Building a Reliability Plan podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg This is an overview of the six steps to achieve high reliability from Carl and Fred's book. Creating and executing a reliability plan that assists the team in designing, manufacturing, and supporting meeting reliability objectives takes effort. Let's discuss the details of t…
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What is Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT)? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Some of you have heard of HALT (and I don't mean someone asking you to stop). HALT is a very powerful form of testing that really helps us improve the robustness and reliability of new products. So what is HALT? HALT is a targeted test strategy to stress your…
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The State of Reliability Education podcast episode with speaker Fred Schenkelberg We have many options to learn reliability engineering books, magazines, newsletters, conferences, seminars, etc. We have options. Some options are better than others, depending on what you want to know. Likewise, some options are better than others, depending on what …
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What is Accelerated Life Testing or ALT? podcast episode with speaker Chris Jackson Sounds simple right? We simply test faster! Great! But what does this get us? Many organizations are faced with a dilemma when it comes to testing to MEASURE reliability. If we test an amazing new product in at use' conditions, it might take many years before it wil…
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Design for Reliability – Stressors podcast episode with speaker Michael Pfeifer Any product is a collection of materials that have been engineered, shaped, and modified to become components and joints (e.g., weld and braze joints). The materials can degrade due to exposure to use conditions steel screws corrode when exposed to water, some plastics …
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