INTEGRATING RELIABILITY PROGRESS INTO DESIGN AND ENGINEERING: A STUDY OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Many questions arise concerning the adequacy of reliability considerations in a development project. In order to assess the situation through a survey, the field of reliability engineering was studied to establish what discrete tasks are normally associated with the field. To define reliability in an aerospace industry, a survey was made to determine the group responsible in each firm surveyed for selected reliability activities and the extent of authority that their Central Reliability Groups had for these activities. To aid each individual firm to optimize its reliability organization, a three dimensional reliability check list is included, together with criteria for its utilization.

Twelve tasks were then selected and an analysis was made of a development organization. In particular, the conduct of reliability tasks by non-reliability personnel was estimated as related to the total effort of the organization. If a “norm” exists regarding what proportion of development is reliability, it was hoped that the analysis might provide the standard.