Conventional statistical reliability techniques are a necessary condition of reliability. They are, however, insufficient and inadequate. Other reliability techniques are needed to turn a feasibly designed system into a completely successful one. The implementation of these techniques is lagging. They have not as yet been unified on an industry-wide basis. They must be implemented and unified, however, to attain the reliability goals desired. The majority of specific reliabilityfunded efforts since World War II have had as their goal the design and fabrication of parts. To this end, large sums of money have been spent and progress has been made. It is not suggested, of course, that the effort to improve parts be abandoned. The method of investigating, improving and using these parts should be the prime technique, and should be implemented. The state of the equipment art has been considered a limiting factor in implementing ever higher goals of reliability. The limitations are, in reality, reliability semantics, and our inability to properly utilize the techniques that exist in the field of reliability. Another large portion of the reliability dollar has been spent in improving by corrective action, resulting in after-the-fact know-how. Reliability personnel must engineer before-thefact, explore new physical, chemical, and manufacturing concepts, and communicate these before-the-fact findings to the personnel concerned. We do not require better definition of consistency in reliability requirements. We do need reliability personnel who are concerned not only with the strict quantitative interpretation-- but who live in the technical climate of today's business world. Most importantly, perhaps, these people must be capable of communicating with the customer and the designer/producer to the mutual satisfaction of both. Reliability techniques which embody engineering principle s are presented which are not necessarily new to personnel in small companies, to users of equipment of uncomplex design, or to reliability groups who have been actively doing instead of agreeing to do. However, these methods should be reviewed by the newcomers in reliability organizations and the newcomers not in reliability organizations but who tend to think that reliability groups are intended to be statistics oriented.
Read full abstract