Track 1 Session 4
2:20 to 3:20 p.m. Tuesday June 9, 2009

Reliability Goal Setting and Validation at John Deere

Customer expectations require the John Deere brand to be of the highest quality, performance, durability and innovation. Competition is continually improving and quality/reliability is one aspect of the customer experience where John Deere has the opportunity to place itself above the competition. In all John Deere divisions, customer research shows clear linkages between customer satisfaction and quality/reliability. In order to achieve the enterprise goals of high reliability and improved customer satisfaction, John Deere’s reliability assessment process begins with setting reliability goals that are aligned to customer and business requirements and ends with validation of the product using reliability growth techniques. This presentation will outline the general steps of the Reliability Assessment Process used at John Deere to assure products will meet the reliability goals and, ultimately, our customer requirements.

Key Words: Product Reliability Goals, Warranty Goals, Useful Life Goal, Design Life Goal, Component Reliability Metrics, B Life Goal for Warranty, B Life Goal for Durability. Inherent Reliability Assessment, Product Verification and Validation (PV&V) Plan, Reliability Growth Testing, Development Testing, Operational Testing