About Reliability Engineering

Reliability engineering consists of the systematic application of time-honored engineering principles and techniques throughout a product lifecycle and is thus an essential component of a good Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) program. The goal of reliability engineering is to evaluate the inherent reliability of a product or process and pinpoint potential areas for reliability improvement. Realistically, all failures cannot be eliminated from a design, so another goal of reliability engineering is to identify the most likely failures and then identify appropriate actions to mitigate the effects of those failures.

The reliability evaluation of a product or process can include a number of different reliability analyses. Depending on the phase of the product lifecycle, certain types of analysis are appropriate. As the reliability analysis are being performed, it is possible to anticipate the reliability effects of design changes and corrections. The different reliability analyses are all related, and examine the reliability of the product or system from different perspectives, in order to determine possible problems and assist in analyzing corrections and improvements.

Reliability engineering can be done by a variety of engineers, including reliability engineers, quality engineers, test engineers, systems engineers or design engineers. In highly evolved teams, all key engineers are aware of their responsibilities in regards to reliability and work together to help improve the product.

The reliability engineering activity should be an ongoing process starting at the conceptual phase of a product design and continuing throughout all phases of a product lifecycle. The goal always needs to be to identify potential reliability problems as early as possible in the product lifecycle. While it may never be too late to improve the reliability of a product, changes to a design are orders of magnitude less expensive in the early part of a design phase rather than once the product is manufactured and in service.

What is Reliability?

Reliability is a broad term that focuses on the ability of a product to perform its intended function. Mathematically speaking, assuming that an item is performing its intended function at time equals zero, reliability can be defined as the probability that an item will continue to perform its intended function without failure for a specified period of time under stated conditions. Please note that the product defined here could be an electronic or mechanical hardware product, a software product, a manufacturing process or even a service.

Why is Reliability Important?

There are a number of reasons why reliability is an important product attribute, including:

• Reputation. A company's reputation is very closely related to the reliability of its products. The more reliable a product is, the more likely the company is to have a favorable reputation.

• Customer Satisfaction. While a reliable product may not dramatically affect customer satisfaction in a positive manner, an unreliable product will negatively affect customer satisfaction severely. Thus high reliability is a mandatory requirement for customer satisfaction.

• Warranty Costs. If a product fails to perform its function within the warranty period, the replacement and repair costs will negatively affect profits, as well as gain unwanted negative attention. Introducing reliability analysis is an important step in taking corrective action, ultimately leading to a product that is more reliable.

• Repeat Business. A concentrated effort towards improved reliability shows existing customers that a manufacturer is serious about its product, and committed to customer satisfaction. This type of attitude has a positive impact on future business.

• Cost Analysis. Manufacturers may take reliability data and combine it with other cost information to illustrate the cost-effectiveness of their products. This life cycle cost analysis can prove that although the initial cost of a product might be higher, the overall lifetime cost is lower than that of a competitor's because their product requires fewer repairs or less maintenance.

• Customer Requirements. Many customers in today's market demand that their suppliers have an effective reliability program. These customers have learned the benefits of reliability analysis from experience.

• Competitive Advantage. Many companies will publish their predicted reliability numbers to help gain an advantage over their competitors who either do not publish their numbers or have lower numbers.

What is the Difference Between Quality and Reliability?

Even though a product has a reliable design, when the product is manufactured and used in the field, its reliability may be unsatisfactory. The reason for this low reliability may be that the product was poorly manufactured. So, even though the product has a reliable design, it is effectively unreliable when fielded, which is actually the result of a substandard manufacturing process. As an example, cold solder joints could pass initial testing at the manufacturer, but fail in the field as the result of thermal cycling or vibration. This type of failure did not occur because of an improper design, but rather it is the result of an inferior manufacturing process. So while this product may have a reliable design, its quality is unacceptable because of the manufacturing process.

Just like a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a highly reliable product is only as good as the inherent reliability of the product and the quality of the manufacturing process.