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Problem/Question (December 23, 1999):
Hi: I am doing an internet search on available Reliability & Maintainability (R&M) courses. More specifically, I am looking for R&M courses that are available in North America, and can be “short” course(s), commercial course(s), university course(s), etc. For each course, I must obtain:

Contact: Daniel Messier
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
E-mail: daniel.messier3@sympatico.ca

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(January 11, 2000): One of the best ways to learn about reliability and maintainability is at the annual reliability and maintainability sympoisum (RAMS). The 2000 RAMS will be in LA during Jan. 24-27, 2000. It features many short (2 - 4 hour) tutorials and 1/2 paper presentations on various subjects in R&M. For more info check out www.rams.org.

Good luck,

Contact Name: Mark Morelli
Sr. Reliability Engineer
Phone: 860-676-6140
Email: relmark1@email.msn.com or Mark.Morelli@Otis.com

Company Name and Address:
Otis Elevator Co.

(December 30, 1999): At least two sources of Reliability Engineering graduate courses are the University of Arizona and the University of Maryland. Both universities offer video taped courses for distance learning, and both offer graduate degrees in Reliability Engineering.

For information on the University of Arizona courses and programs send an email to Marsha Ham: mham@u.arizona.edu

For information on the University of Maryland courses and programs, see the web site at www.enre.umd.edu.

Regards,

Contact Name: Mike Main
Reliability Engineering
Phone: 814-875-5104
Email: michael.main@trans.ge.com

Company Name and Address:
GE Transportation Systems

Problem/Question (December 22, 1999):
Background:
I have recently completed a RCM project at the oil refinery part of the plant. Maintenance strategies were developed, implemented and are now being optimized through a process of continuous improvement. Specific actions include improving MTBF for mechanical seals, improving bearing life, better lubrication of equipment and employing better condition monitoring techniques.

Opportunity:
I would like to know if anyone could supply me with benchmarks of maintenance excellence eg. equipment availability, maintenance cost as % capital replacement cost, compliance with schedules, % unscheduled maintenance effort, etc. I would also like to network with people who are working on similar projects.

Contact: Hein Pienaar
Reliability Specialist

Company Name and Address:
Sasol Synthetic Fuels
Secunda
South Africa
E-mail: hein.pienaar@sasol.com

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (December 10, 1999):
I would like to know generic hardware failure rates (or MTBF) for Intel pentium processor (PII or PIII ) based Personal computers. Similarly for win 95 OS. Any pointers will be appreciated.

Contact: A. John Arul
E-mail: arul@igcar.ernet.in

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (November 19, 1999):
I have been tasked with locating an outside resource to perform DVT/Environmental testing on PCB's. I am located in Northern California, Santa Clara Valley. Can anyone recommend a directory or some facilities?

Contact: Glenn Davis
Phone: 408-468-3759
E-mail: gdavis@adaclabs.com

Company Name and Address:
ADAC Laboratories
540 Alder Drive
Milpitas, CA. 95035

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (November 19, 1999):
I am interested in pursuing post graduate studies in the field of Reliability Engineering. I would like to get a list of graduate institutions where this program is available.

Contact: Nikita Byer
Phone: 868-652-6318
E-mail: nikibyer@yahoo.com

Institution and Address:
The University of the West Indies
St. Augustine
Trinidad, West Indies

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(December 30, 1999): At least two sources of Reliability Engineering graduate courses are the University of Arizona and the University of Maryland. Both universities offer video taped courses for distance learning, and both offer graduate degrees in Reliability Engineering.

For information on the University of Arizona courses and programs send an email to Marsha Ham: mham@u.arizona.edu

For information on the University of Maryland courses and programs, see the web site at www.enre.umd.edu.

Regards,

Contact Name: Mike Main
Reliability Engineering
Phone: 814-875-5104
Email: michael.main@trans.ge.com

Company Name and Address:
GE Transportation Systems

Problem/Question (October 28, 1999):
Can anyone recommend a good source of independent information regarding the reliability/MTBF figures that are available for Power Generating thermal plant assets?

Contact: Michel Aubuchon
Phone: 780-960-7671
E-mail: michel_aubuchon@transalta.com

Company Name and Address:
TransAlta Utilities
Site 4 Box 1 RR 1
Duffield, Alberta
T0E 0N0 Canada

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (October 18, 1999):
I am trying to collect data on Overall Equipment Effectiveness and Waterfall Effectiveness Value for the food processing industry. I would like to get benchmarking data for both the processing and packing area.

Contact: Carol Beaudin
Phone: 514-340-2311
E-mail: cbeaudin@kraft.com

Company Name and Address:
Kraft Canada Inc.
8600 Devonshire Road
Montreal, PQ
H3C 3J3 Canada

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (September 29, 1999):
I have been given the task of calculating the reliability of a set of pipes, valves, pressure transmitters, and temperature transmitters. Does a reference database exist of reliability (MTBF) for various types of components?

Contact: Tom Nathan
Phone: 651-220-1141
Fax: 651-227-0519
E-mail: tnathan@aerosysengr.com

Company Name and Address:
Aero Systems Engineering
358 Fillmore Ave E
St Paul, MN 55107-1289

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (September 29, 1999):
I am looking for examples of how to develop maintenance planning for and the best practice maintenance techniques applied to health care organization environment. Basically I am interested in bio-medical equipment such as CT Scan, Cath Lab equipment.

Other question, is it worth it to apply the reliability centered maintenance approach in a health care organization environment.

Any advice/info is very thankful.

Contact: Enda D. Layuk Allo
Phone: 6221-5460901, ext 129
E-mail: cit@ph.edu or irmec@usa.net

Company Name and Address:
Pelita Harapan University, Faculty of Industrial Technology
Menara UPH, Karawaci, Tangerang
Jawa Barat, Indonesia

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(July 13, 2000): A good source of generic failure rates for mechanical equipment is NPRD-95 from the Reliability Analysis Center. Hope this helps.

Contact Name: Ian Carmichael
Reliability Engineer

Company Name and Address:
Kymata Ltd
Starlaw Park
Livingstone
EH54 8SF
Phone: +44 01506 426000
Fax: +44 01506 460066
Email: ian.carmichael@kymata.com

Problem/Question (September 28, 1999):
I am looking for examples of best practice maintenance techniques applied to a railway infrastructure environment. Basically I am interested in track, civils, signalling and communication systems associated with railways. I have been searching some of the reliability base web sites, but have not uncovered any information. I wonder if you could point me in the right direction.

Contact: Paul Agar
Reliability Manager
Phone: (02) 9978 8186
Fax: (02) 9955 0471
Mobile: 0410 655500
E-mail: agarp@transfield.com.au

Company Name and Address:
Transfield Maintenance - NSW
30 Alfred Street
Milsons Point, NSW, 2061
Australia

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (September 27, 1999):
I am looking for software to perform Bayesian Reliability Analysis.

The task was originally performed at another location using BARP software. That software crashed and is not recoverable. BARP is no longer marketed.

Attempts to search the web for "reliability software" or "bayesian reliability software" lead to sites for software reliability.

Contact: Ken Johnson
Phone: 610-354-2169
Fax: 610-354-5225
E-mail: kenneth.p.johnson@lmco.com

Company Name and Address:
Lockheed Martin
230 Mall Blvd, Main 4610
King of Prussia, PA 19406

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(March 5, 2000): Ken, You can obtain a Bayesian programme called BART from ERIN Engineering & Research, Inc. Suggest you contact David A. Bidwell at dabidwell@erineng.com. Phone: (760) 929-0870.

The price is only $US5000.00 and you get a lot of assistance. Please let him know that I sent you. Other pricing structures are available, but let David explain. Hope that this will help you, and good luck.

Contact Name: Peter Ball
Member, Chapter at Large

Machine Reliability Services Pty. Ltd.,
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Machine Wear & Reliability Consultants.
Phone: 61 (7) 4630 7135
Fax: 61 (7) 4630 7675
Email: pgball@primus.com.au

Problem/Question (September 16, 1999):
I am looking for a Microcircuit Parameter Library for use in Reliability Predictions. My present copy is several years out of date and was obtained through my affiliation with the IEEE Rel Soc Boston Chapter. I've posted an inquiry there, as well.

This guide was extremely useful for doing MH217 predictions on commercial products, and I was wondering if anyone is doing similar work or has heard of some group compiling these data.

Although MH217 has many detractors, it is still the only component cookbook approach to R-predictions that I know of.

Contact: Rob Poltz
Phone: 888-406-3729
Fax: 888-406-3729
E-mail: whatifguy@designanalytx.com

Company Name and Address:
Design Analytx International
343 Soquel Ave., # 511
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(September 20, 1999): I would recommend using Bellcore for commercial predictions rather than 217. RELEX (Innovative Software) and other companies have component libraries as part of their software packages.

Contact Name: Dave Ellis
Electronics Reliability Engineer
Phone: 303-530-8346
Email: davee@micromotion.com

Problem/Question (September 3, 1999):
In the mid 80's I participated as a speaker in a reliability conference in Baltimore, MD ("X'th Annual Conference on Reliability ..."). Now, I am looking for the procedings but I seem to have lost them. Does anyone remember the exact year and title of the conference? That would be of great help for me when trying to find the proceedings through our library. Thanks for any help.

Contact: Bengt Hallgren
Västgötagatan 3
S-681 40 Kristinehamn
Sweden
Phone: +46 550 80314
E-mail: bengt.hallgren@telia.com

Company Name and Address:
None Given

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (August 19, 1999):
I am looking for a good site for information regarding Reliability Centered Maintenance; theory, application, that sort of thing. Any good web sites or sources of information would be appreciated.

Contact: Sean J. Costello
Phone: 310-376-6932
Fax: 310-379-3495
Pager: 310-723-3792
E-mail: SJCostel@ix.netcom.com

Company Name and Address:
Costello Consulting
2117 Harriman Lane, Suite 1
Redondo Beach, CA 90278

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(September 22, 1999): I found these references on the web

I have seen references to MIL-STD-1843 RCM MSG-3, the latest from Air Transport Association UAL document by Mike somebody and another guy. Sorry, I just gave away the paper last night that cites the original (to me) RCM document.

You might look for Anthony Smith's web site. He's regarded as an RCM guru.

Despite all the paper and BS about RCM, it basically boils down to:

1. set life limits on parts so that system reliability is acceptably high under normal conditions; i.e. P[System life > limit] >= probability
2. monitor conditions to detect whether things become abnormal. This founders on the problem of finding part reliability P[Part life >t]. FAA and airlines track ~75 parts per aircraft, but it's possible to estimate parts reliability for all service parts, from data required by the IRS and gaap. If you would like more information about field reliability, please let me know.

Contact Name: Larry George
PhD CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer)
1573 Roselli Drive
Livermore, CA 94550-5852 USA
Phone: 925-447-4969 (voice and fax - Please call first to fax. Thanks)
Email: pstlarry@home.com

Problem/Question (July 9, 1999):
Does anyone have information on the expected lifetime or mean time to failure of electrical equipement such as transformers, automatic transfer switches etc? ASHRAE has similar information for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, but I can't find this information for electrical equipment. Thanks for any help.

Contact: Tracy Pandell
Phone: None Given
E-mail: Tracy.Pandell@joneslanglasalle.com

Company Name and Address:
Jones Lang LaSalle
No Address Given

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (May 26, 1999):
Does anyone have experience working with software reliability engineering as applied to simulation? I have worked in the reliability field for many years specifically for military systems (hardware/software) and hardware-only. But I am having difficulty finding references to reliability test design and data analysis for software systems, specifically simulation. I have found plenty of information from the telecommunications industry. Any information that would set me on the correct path would be appreciated. If desired, I will post the results of my research to the SRE web page.

Contact: Doug Parsons
Phone: 407 -384-3821
E-mail: doug_parsons@stricom.army.mil

Company Name and Address:
US Army Simulation, Training & Instrumentation Command
Orlando, FL

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (February 23, 1999):
Do you have information about ARRENIU's equation, I need it because I'm taking a course which involves reliability. I'm studying for my Master's degree in electronics in Tecnologico de Chihuahua at Chihuahua, Mexico. The topics for this information requires to relate about reliability in semiconductors, capacitors and relays, basically.

I'm going to be very glad if you can help me with some file where I can get this information or any other way.

Thanks,

Contact: Felix Reyes
Phone: 01-14-10-40-14.
E-mail: freyes@platon.itch.edu.mx
E-mail: freyes@nurse.cimav.edu.mx

Company Name and Address:
CIMAV, Advanced Materials Research Center.
Miguel de Cervantes No. 120.
Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

April 7, 1998): Just a note regarding the Arhenius equation. The temperatures used in the equation must be in degrees Kelvin (K).

Contact Name: Glenn Pelkey
Email: glenn.pelkey@maxtek.com

(March 14, 1998): I think you need Arrhinius Equation for computing accleration factors and here it is. Arrehenius Temperature Dependance Model is as follows:

Hope this meets your needs! Please feel free to contact.

Contact Name: Dattatraya Vishnu Petkar
India
Email: dvpetkar@bom4.vsnl.net.in

Problem/Question (February 17, 1999):
Do you know anyone doing work on reliability of contacts switching inductive loads (motors, etc)?

Thanks,

Contact: Mike Finch
Phone: 502-452-4679
E-mail: mike.finch@appl.ge.com

Company Name and Address:
GE Appliances
Appliance Park
Louisville, KY 40225-1336

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

Problem/Question (February 15, 1999):
I am student that is taking my first introductory course in Reliability Engineering and I am looking for a good introductory book(s) to help me learn the basics of reliability. I am a little rusty of probability statistics and my current classroom text assumes that you already have a basic knowledge on reliability. Any books that you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your help,

Contact: Richard Black
Phone: 210-321-5105
E-mail: Richard_Black@wpi.org

Company Name and Address:
Waste Policy Institute-San Antonio Operations Office
100 NE Loop 410, Suite 1200
San Antonio, TX 78216-4742

Solution/Answer: Can you help?

The discussion thus far:

(December 14, 1999): You would like to take a look at this title: Introduction to Reliability Engineering, by Elmer E. Lewis, John Wiley & Sons, published in 1987. It is a very good book that deals with a large variety of topics in this field.

Contact Name: Michel Demers, P. Eng. M.Sc.
Reliability Engineer
Email: mdemers@iquebec.com