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Track 1 Session 3
1:10 to 2:20 p.m. Wednesday
April 11, 2007
Reliability Engineering: Are We Really
Making Progress?
Notwithstanding the development and
use of reliability engineering practices by organizations, it is not
uncommon to observe many instances of low reliability in products
and systems. This presentation discusses possible reasons for the
apparent failure of reliability engineering, especially as practised
by the defence industry. It argues that incorrect practices are
often applied, frequently performed by incorrect departments in the
organization and at the incorrect time during the product or system
life cycle. The differences in approach to reliability engineering
as followed by the defence and commercial industries, especially as
far as electronic product development is concerned, are discussed.
It argues that the defence industry is placing too much emphasis on
the quantification of reliability as performance requirement. This
focus necessitates the continued use of incorrect and misleading
“industry standard” practices, especially for reliability
specification, prediction and demonstration. Commercial industries
follow an approach that rejects the accounting activities of
specification, prediction and demonstration in favour of engineering
activities. These activities include well-known techniques such as
FMEA and FTA, thermal and derating analysis, and new techniques such
as HALT and HASS.
Key Words: Reliability
Engineering, Reliability Accounting, FMEA, FTA, HALT, HASS
Albertyn Barnard
Lambda Consulting
Hatfield, South Africa |
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