Thirty-eight reliability experts from the US Department of Defense(DOD) and industry were asked to identify and rank order factors whichpotentially contributed to the difference between actual and predictedreliabilities (referred to as the reliability delta). Total qualitymanagement (TQM) tools were used to analyze the relationships among andimpact of key variances on the reliability prediction process andexplain apparent differences between the DOD and industry perspectives.The literature review identified eleven factors as possible causes ofthe reliability delta; however, only six were noted as being significantby the experts. The six factors identified were: problems with datacollection; assumptions underlying and use of prediction techniques;lack of understanding of the operational environment; problems withmanufacturing processes; short-term management focus; and design-relatedproblems
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