311 Product Quality Techniques

For whom intended  Program/Project Managers and Engineers, Design Engineers, Quality and Reliability Engineers and Technicians.

Applications  Advanced electronic assemblies for NASA, the US Department of Defense and leading industrial manufacturing companies were subjected to an extensive reliability improvement effort during the past decade. This effort included the development of innovative reliability test techniques. The overall approach resulted in dramatic improvements in reliability. This approach can be utilized during the development and acquisition of any complex equipment produced for government or commercial application.

n-squared diagramPurpose  To provide personnel involved in Product Design, Quality, Manufacturing and Testing an understanding of that engineering discipline called "Reliability Engineering."

Brief Course Description  While the Reliability discipline has traditionally focused on a mathematical approach, our instructor has many years experience and approaches reliability from a more "hands on" common-sense direction. The statistical methods are covered with reference to practical considerations. The course defines and explains the numerous terms used in reliability.

The course will provide the attendee with an understanding of the application of reliability techniques.

Lectures, illustrated with transparencies, present an overview of the reliability process.

Diploma Programs  This course may be used as an optional course for any TTi specialist diploma program.

Prerequisites  There are no definite prerequisites for this course, but it is assumed that course participants are actively employed in reliability related fields.

Text  Each student will receive 180 days access to the on-line electronic course workbook. Renewals and printed textbooks are available for an additional fee.

Course Hours, Certificate and CEUs  Class hours/days for on-site courses can vary from 14-35 hours over 2-5 days as requested by our clients. Upon successful course completion, each participant receives a certificate of completion and one Continuing Education Unit (CEU) for every ten class hours.

Click for a printable course outline (pdf).

Course Outline

Chapter 1 - Basic Concepts

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Reliability, Availability, Maintainability
  • Durability
  • Engineering and Management Tasks
  • Quality
  • Conceptual Models for Failure
  • Applying the Concepts to Failure Classification

Chapter 2 - Reliability-Quality

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Responsibility
  • Incentive Rule
  • Real Boundaries
  • Concept of Control
  • Investment Payback
  • Management function
  • Conceptual Models
  • Beginning Early

Chapter 3 - The Reliability Discipline

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Organizing Knowledge about User Needs
  • Setting R&M Goals and Requirements
  • Planning R&M Programs
  • Avoiding and Eliminating Risks

Chapter 4 - Improving Reliability

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Elements of the System-Acquisition Process
  • Kinds of redundancy
  • Closed-loop corrective action system

Chapter 5 - Reliability Program—Management, Engineering Tasks—MIL Standard 785

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Task 101 Reliability Program Plan
  • Task 102 Monitor/Control of Subcontractors and Suppliers
  • Task 103 Program Reviews
  • Task 104 Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action System (FRACAS)
  • Task 105 Failure Review Board (FRB)

Chapter 6 - Reliability Program: Engineering Tasks

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • MIL-STD-785B, Section 200

Chapter 7 - Conceptual Models for Failure Analysis

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Types of Analysis
    • Fish-Bone (Ishikawa) diagram
    • Tolerance analysis
    • Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis(FMECA, or FMEA)
    • Fault-Tree Synthesis and Analysis
  • Failure Budgeting
  • Take Action about Actual Failures
    • Test-fix-test process
    • Data Collection
    • Database Difficulties
    • Accelerated Service Tests
      • Difficulties in accelerated testing
    • Developmental Tests
    • Operational Tests
    • Reliability Growth
    • Maintainability
    • Corrective Action
  • Manage Reliability-Critical Parts and Situations
  • Computer-Aided Engineering

Chapter 8 - Reliability Testing

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Accelerated Testing
  • Environmental Stress Screening (ESS)
  • Reliability and Safety Improvement
  • Life (Attribute) Testing
  • Life-Testing Difficulties with Large Systems

Chapter 9 - Probability/Statistics

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Meanings of Probability
  • Probability vs. Statistics
  • Reserved Words (Jargon)
    • Future Tense
  • s-Event Space and Venn Diagrams
  • Statistical Significance (s-Significance)
  • Hypothesis testing
  • Nomenclature for Types of Variation
    • Common Cause Variation
    • Special Cause Variation
  • Proving a Conceptual Model
    • Assumptions for a Conceptual Model
    • Exponential Failure Model
  • Probability Notation and Rules
    • Standard Deviation (s)
    • Variance
    • s-Confidence
    • Stopping Rule for a Test
  • Greek Letter Symbols

Chapter 10 - Statistical Distributions

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • There is nothing magic about ANY of the distributions.
  • Concepts for Populations and Distributions
    • Population
  • Probability Distributions (PDs)
    • Exponential Distribution
    • Naming Probability Distribution Functions
  • Reference section (material not covered in classroom presentation)
    • Binomial Distribution
    • Poisson Distribution
    • Gaussian (s-Normal) Distribution
    • Parameter Estimation, Uncensored Samples
    • Chi-Square (χ2) Distribution
      • Table: Percentiles of Cumulative Chi-Square (χ2) Distribution Function (csqf)
    • Chi-Square/Nu (χ2/ν) Distribution
    • Student’s t-Distribution
    • Fisher-Snedecor F-Distribution
    • Weibull Distribution
    • Lognormal Distribution
    • Beta Distribution
    • Gamma Distribution

Appendix A - MIL-HDBK-217E

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00

Appendix B - MIL-STD-781D

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00

Appendix D - Goodness-of-Fit Tests

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Goodness of Fit Tests
  • Chi-square Goodness-of-fit
    • Example
  • Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) Limits
    • Example

Appendix E - Statistical Confidence Limits

Purchase Options
OnDemand Short Topics$25.00
  • Standard Deviation of a Normal (Gaussian) Distribution from the sample “s” statistic
  • Mean of a Poisson Process

Summary, Final Review

Award of Certificates for Successful Completion

Click for a printable course outline (pdf).