RELIABILITY DISASTERS

摘要

Reliability evaluations present a challenge for manufacturers and consumers because there is an elapsed time between when the product is designed and built, and when the reliability Information is forthcoming. For instance, the manufacturer of a newly designed car might have only three years to demonstrate its reliability before it is brought to market. But you might want to know, for example, whether-if the car is properly cared for-it will provide trouble-free service for the next 12 years or if it is going to lead to mounting problems after just a few years.The desire for high reliability is not new. Throughout history, people learned from their successes and mistakes, for example, in building durable wheels, larger domes, stronger ships and longer bridges. The learnings from disasters, such as the Titanic sinking, the de Havilland DH 106 aircraft crash and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, can help achieve improved reliability and safety of subsequent generations of products1.In the past, reliability assurance was often an afterthought-even in organizations that emphasized quality. This is sometimes referred to as the "design, build, test and fix" approach. Using this approach meant that manufacturers discovered and addressed reliability issues through extensive testing after the product already had been designed.