On the organization of the dependability service in a machine-building company

Abstract

Historically, dependability services originated within design units of companies. A design engineer had his/her own ideas about the quality control of released products. As the initial application field of the dependability theory was the aerospace industry, he/she understood that the presence of errors and omissions within a product could cause catastrophic consequences [1]. Along with the dependability unit the quality and technical supervision service was developing, and that was primarily tasked with organizing and conducting acceptance testing, receiving inspection and prevention of a product’s non-compliance with technical documentation. At one point, a conflict arouse between the two branches, which lead to a general misunderstanding of responsibilities and disorganization of the product dependability control. As a result, in some companies the dependability service is integrated with the quality service, in others it is subordinated to the design bureau. Additionally, operational dependability evaluation requires an uninterruptible source of reliable information on the reliability and maintainability of the equipment. The quality of this information depends on the interaction between the dependability service and the maintenance service. The latter is to compare the repair reports that specify the recovery time and operation time of the product and promptly submit that data for dependability calculation. Thus, the following questions arise: which activities are to be performed by the dependability service, who is to be subordinated to whom, who is the owner of the processes associated with the estimation of dependability parameters? It is important to understand the purpose of establishing a dependability unit in a company, what authority its employees possess, what results the management expects to obtain. The formalization of the research findings presents a problem. As of today, there is no single approach to formalized calculations, preparation of dependability analysis reports. The research findings are to be sent to all the involved business units, therefore a convenient form of information representation must be developed. A special attention must be given to personnel training in terms of technical system dependability. Industrial products become more and more complex, new technologies are developed, and old approaches to dependability calculation and analysis do not always ensure acceptable results. That is not surprising, as the significance of the use of reliable and substantiated methods of dependability estimation is very understated. That is due to the fact, that many believe that the dependability theory is based on the research of the physical, design-specific causes of failure, physicochemical processes, etc., meaning that a dependability engineer is first and foremost a design or process engineer. However, it should not be forgotten that the general dependability theory is subdivided into the mathematical (mathematical methods of the probability theory), statistical (method of mathematical statistics) and physical (research of materials properties variations). Subsequently, a dependability service is to conduct analysis based on competent application of mathematics alongside activities associated with products design research. Proposals regarding future developments in this area, including the education system, will be welcome.Aim. To propose an approach to the organization of the dependability service in a modern machine-building company taking into account advanced methods and concepts of dependability analysis at all lifecycle stages of a product.Conclusions. The paper suggests an organizational structure of a dependability unit for a transport machine building company. The interactions between the dependability service and other business units is examined. A number of factors affecting the efficient operation of the dependability service are identified.