Design for Reliability

Chapter 18

Organizational Reliability Capability Assessment

Louis J. Gullo

Introduction

Systems integrators (SIs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), product designers (PDs), and product manufacturers (PMs) tightly manage their supply chains across the various manufacturing sectors for devices, materials, and equipment, to ensure that they satisfy their customers' requirements and needs. Those SIs, OEMs, PDs, and PMs who want to ensure continuous successful delivery of highly reliable systems and products to their customers will determine the capability of their suppliers within their supply chain. The organizational reliability capability of the supplier base must be assessed and understood by SIs, OEMs, PDs, and PMs if they wish to achieve success and maintain a competitive advantage through the design, manufacture, and sustainment of reliable systems and products.

In this chapter we provide guidance on how to assess an organization's or supplier's core competencies related to the organization's reliability capability. We focus on the purpose and objectives of the new IEEE standard for assessing organizational reliability capability, IEEE 1624–2008, which was published in February 2009. IEEE 1624–2008 is used to describe how the reliability capability of an organizational entity is determined by assessing eight key reliability practices and associated metrics. We explain the benefits of IEEE 1624–2008 in assessing the capability of an organization to deliver a reliable ...