Quarter 4, 2001:  Volume 2, Issue 3

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Examining Reliability Specifications
Whether the goal of the analysis is to set reliability targets for parts or to demonstrate that a part meets desired reliability goals, reliability specifications are a central component of most reliability analyses. Despite their central importance, there is wide variation within industry as to the format and meaning of reliability specifications. In many cases, there are serious deficiencies in the specifications on which manufacturers base important business decisions.

In a future issue of Reliability Edge, we will examine the reliability specifications that are commonly used in industry today in order to clarify some of the assumptions that underlie the specifications and evaluate the value of the metrics for the business decisions they are intended to support. We invite you to participate by sharing non-confidential/non-proprietary information about the reliability specifications that you work with in your day-to-day efforts. Do you have experience with particularly effective reliability specifications? Have you struggled to educate decisionmakers in your organization about the inadequacies of the specifications that they have adopted? Have you received specifications from a client that just do not make sense? Please send feedback to Reliability Edge at: