What Counts

Abstract

Carl and Fred discuss a listener question about what type of field or test issues to count when assessing or estimating reliability in a project.

Key Points

Join Carl and Fred as they discuss how to collect and maintain field and test data when calculating or estimating reliability.
Topics include:

• Do you consider only failures that occur when the product is used as specified?
• Or, do you also consider failures that occur during misuse of the product?
• What types of field returns would you not use when estimating reliability?
• You have to define the environmental and operating conditions.
• Carefully consider which potential misuses will be included in reliability estimation.
• Err in the direction of including unintended uses in the failure database, so that a business decision can be made on warranty or customer service.
• Usage environments are a distribution of data, and it is important to know the nature of the distribution.
• ISO standards use the term “anticipated misuse.”
• You need a broad application of what you keep track of in your reliability database, however this doesn’t mean you have to take action on everything in the database, Pareto still applies. Business decisions are important.
• Field data can be filled with noise. Learn how to differentiate signal from noise.
• If someone complains or returns a product for any reason, learn why, so you can make informed decisions.

Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches.

Show Notes

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