Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality, 2nd Edition

Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality, 2nd Edition

by Mark A. Levin, Ted T. Kalal, Jonathan Rodin
Released May 2019
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119179399

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Book description

The authoritative guide to the effective design and production of reliable technology products, revised and updated

While most manufacturers have mastered the process of producing quality products, product reliability, software quality and software security has lagged behind. The revised second edition of Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality offers a comprehensive and detailed guide to implementing a hardware reliability and software quality process for technology products. The authors – noted experts in the field – provide useful tools, forms and spreadsheets for executing an effective product reliability and software quality development process and explore proven software quality and product reliability concepts.

The authors discuss why so many companies fail after attempting to implement or improve their product reliability and software quality program. They outline the critical steps for implementing a successful program. Success hinges on establishing a reliability lab, hiring the right people and implementing a reliability and software quality process that does the right things well and works well together. Designed to be accessible, the book contains a decision matrix for small, medium and large companies. Throughout the book, the authors describe the hardware reliability and software quality process as well as the tools and techniques needed for putting it in place. The concepts, ideas and material presented are appropriate for any organization. This updated second edition: 

  • Contains new chapters on Software tools, Software quality process and software security.
  • Expands the FMEA section to include software fault trees and software FMEAs.
  • Includes two new reliability tools to accelerate design maturity and reduce the risk of premature wearout.
  • Contains new material on preventative maintenance, predictive maintenance and Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) to better manage repair cost and unscheduled downtime.
  • Presents updated information on reliability modeling and hiring reliability and software engineers.
  • Includes a comprehensive review of the reliability process from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint including new material on uprating and counterfeit components.
  • Discusses aspects of competition, key quality and reliability concepts and presents the tools for implementation.

Written for engineers, managers and consultants lacking a background in product reliability and software quality theory and statistics, the updated second edition of Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality explores all phases of the product life cycle. 

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. About the Authors
  3. List of Figures
  4. List of Tables
  5. Series Editor's Foreword
  6. Series Foreword Second Edition
  7. Series Foreword First Edition
  8. Foreword First Edition
  9. Preface Second Edition
  10. Preface First Edition
    1. Quality versus Reliability
    2. Gaining Competitive Advantage
  11. Acknowledgments
  12. Glossary
  13. Part I: Reliability and Software Quality – It's a Matter of Survival
    1. 1 The Need for a New Paradigm for Hardware Reliability and Software Quality
      1. 1.1 Rapidly Shifting Challenges for Hardware Reliability and Software Quality
      2. 1.2 Gaining Competitive Advantage
      3. 1.3 Competing in the Next Decade – Winners Will Compete on Reliability
      4. 1.4 Concurrent Engineering
      5. 1.5 Reducing the Number of Engineering Change Orders at Product Release
      6. 1.6 Time‐to‐Market Advantage
      7. 1.7 Accelerating Product Development
      8. 1.8 Identifying and Managing Risks
      9. 1.9 ICM, a Process to Mitigate Risk
      10. 1.10 Software Quality Overview
      11. References
      12. Further Reading
    2. 2 Barriers to Implementing Hardware Reliability and Software Quality
      1. 2.1 Lack of Understanding
      2. 2.2 Internal Barriers
      3. 2.3 Implementing Change and Change Agents
      4. 2.4 Building Credibility
      5. 2.5 Perceived External Barriers
      6. 2.6 Time to Gain Acceptance
      7. 2.7 External Barrier
      8. 2.8 Barriers to Software Process Improvement
    3. 3 Understanding Why Products Fail
      1. 3.1 Why Things Fail
      2. 3.2 Parts Have Improved, Everyone Can Build Quality Products
      3. 3.3 Hardware Reliability and Software Quality – The New Paradigm
      4. 3.4 Reliability vs. Quality Escapes
      5. 3.5 Why Software Quality Improvement Programs Are Unsuccessful
      6. Further Reading
    4. 4 Alternative Approaches to Implementing Reliability
      1. 4.1 Hiring Consultants for HALT Testing
      2. 4.2 Outsourcing Reliability Testing
      3. 4.3 Using Consultants to Develop and Implement a Reliability Program
      4. 4.4 Hiring Reliability Engineers
  14. Part II: Unraveling the Mystery
    1. 5 The Product Life Cycle
      1. 5.1 Six Phases of the Product Life Cycle
      2. 5.2 Risk Mitigation
      3. 5.3 The ICM Process for a Small Company
      4. 5.4 Design Guidelines
      5. 5.5 Warranty
      6. Further Reading
    2. 6 Reliability Concepts
      1. 6.1 The Bathtub Curve
      2. 6.2 Mean Time between Failure
      3. 6.3 Warranty Costs
      4. 6.4 Availability
      5. 6.5 Reliability Growth
      6. 6.6 Reliability Demonstration Testing
      7. 6.7 Maintenance and Availability
      8. 6.8 Component Derating
      9. 6.9 Component Uprating
      10. Reference
      11. Further Reading
    3. 7 FMEA
      1. 7.1 Benefits of FMEA
      2. 7.2 Components of FMEA
      3. 7.3 Preparing for the FMEA
      4. 7.4 Barriers to the FMEA Process
      5. 7.5 FMEA Ground Rules
      6. 7.6 Using Macros to Improve FMEA Efficiency and Effectiveness
      7. 7.7 Software FMEA
      8. 7.8 Software Fault Tree Analysis (SFTA)
      9. 7.9 Process FMEAs
      10. 7.10 FMMEA
    4. 8 The Reliability Toolbox
      1. 8.1 The HALT Process
      2. 8.2 Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (HASS)
      3. 8.3 HALT and HASS Test Chambers
      4. 8.4 Accelerated Reliability Growth (ARG)
      5. 8.5 Accelerated Early Life Test (ELT)
      6. 8.6 SPC Tool
      7. 8.7 FIFO Tool
      8. References
      9. Further Reading
    5. 9 Software Quality Goals and Metrics
      1. 9.1 Setting Software Quality Goals
      2. 9.2 Software Metrics
      3. 9.3 Lines of Code (LOC)
      4. 9.4 Defect Density
      5. 9.5 Defect Models
      6. 9.6 Defect Run Chart
      7. 9.7 Escaped Defect Rate
      8. 9.8 Code Coverage
      9. References
      10. Further Reading
    6. 10 Software Quality Analysis Techniques
      1. 10.1 Root Cause Analysis
      2. 10.2 The 5 Whys
      3. 10.3 Cause and Effect Diagrams
      4. 10.4 Pareto Charts
      5. 10.5 Defect Prevention, Defect Detection, and Defensive Programming
      6. 10.6 Effort Estimation
      7. Reference
      8. Further Reading
    7. 11 Software Life Cycles
      1. 11.1 Waterfall
      2. 11.2 Agile
      3. 11.3 CMMI
      4. 11.4 How to Choose a Software Life Cycle
      5. Reference
      6. Further Reading
    8. 12 Software Procedures and Techniques
      1. 12.1 Gathering Requirements
      2. 12.2 Documenting Requirements
      3. 12.3 Documentation
      4. 12.4 Code Comments
      5. 12.5 Reviews and Inspections
      6. 12.6 Traceability
      7. 12.7 Defect Tracking
      8. 12.8 Software and Hardware Integration
      9. References
      10. Further Reading
    9. 13 Why Hardware Reliability and Software Quality Improvement Efforts Fail
      1. 13.1 Lack of Commitment to the Reliability Process
      2. 13.2 Inability to Embrace and Mitigate Technologies Risk Issues
      3. 13.3 Choosing the Wrong People for the Job
      4. 13.4 Inadequate Funding
      5. 13.5 Inadequate Resources
      6. 13.6 MIL‐HDBK 217 – Why It Is Obsolete
      7. 13.7 Finding But Not Fixing Problems
      8. 13.8 Nondynamic Testing
      9. 13.9 Vibration Testing Too Difficult to Implement
      10. 13.10 The Impact of Late Hardware or Late Software Delivery
      11. 13.11 Supplier Reliability
      12. Reference
      13. Further Reading
    10. 14 Supplier Management
      1. 14.1 Purchasing Interface
      2. 14.2 Identifying Your Critical Suppliers
      3. 14.3 Develop a Thorough Supplier Audit Process
      4. 14.4 Develop Rapid Nonconformance Feedback
      5. 14.5 Develop a Materials Review Board (MRB)
      6. 14.6 Counterfeit Parts and Materials
  15. Part III: Steps to Successful Implementation
    1. 15 Establishing a Reliability Lab
      1. 15.1 Staffing for Reliability
      2. 15.2 The Reliability Lab
      3. 15.3 Facility Requirements
      4. 15.4 Liquid Nitrogen Requirements
      5. 15.5 Air Compressor Requirements
      6. 15.6 Selecting a Reliability Lab Location
      7. 15.7 Selecting a Halt Test Chamber
      8. Reference
    2. 16 Hiring and Staffing the Right People
      1. 16.1 Staffing for Reliability
      2. 16.2 Staffing for Software Engineers
      3. 16.3 Choosing the Wrong People for the Job
    3. 17 Implementing the Reliability Process
      1. 17.1 Reliability Is Everyone's Job
      2. 17.2 Formalizing the Reliability Process
      3. 17.3 Implementing the Reliability Process
      4. 17.4 Rolling Out the Reliability Process
      5. 17.5 Developing a Reliability Culture
      6. 17.6 Setting Reliability Goals
      7. 17.7 Training
      8. 17.8 Product Life Cycle Defined
      9. 17.9 Proactive and Reactive Reliability Activities
      10. Further Reading
  16. Part IV: Reliability and Quality Process for Product Development
    1. 18 Product Concept Phase
      1. 18.1 Reliability Activities in the Product Concept Phase
      2. 18.2 Establish the Reliability Organization
      3. 18.3 Define the Reliability Process
      4. 18.4 Define the Product Reliability Requirements
      5. 18.5 Capture and Apply Lessons Learned
      6. 18.6 Mitigate Risk
    2. 19 Design Concept Phase
      1. 19.1 Reliability Activities in the Design Concept Phase
      2. 19.2 Set Reliability Requirements and Budgets
      3. 19.3 Define Reliability Design Guidelines
      4. 19.4 Revise Risk Mitigation
      5. 19.5 Schedule Reliability Activities and Capital Budgets
      6. 19.6 Decide Risk Mitigation Sign‐off Day
      7. 19.7 Reflect on What Worked Well
    3. 20 Product Design Phase
      1. 20.1 Product Design Phase
      2. 20.2 Reliability Estimates
      3. 20.3 Implementing Risk Mitigation Plans
      4. 20.4 Design for Reliability Guidelines (DFR)
      5. 20.5 Design FMEA
      6. 20.6 Installing a Failure Reporting Analysis and Corrective Action System
      7. 20.7 HALT Planning
      8. 20.8 HALT Test Development
      9. 20.9 Risk Mitigation Meeting
      10. Further Reading
    4. 21 Design Validation Phase
      1. 21.1 Design Validation
      2. 21.2 Using HALT to Precipitate Failures
      3. 21.3 Proof of Screen (POS)
      4. 21.4 Highly Accelerated Stress Screen (HASS)
      5. 21.5 Operate FRACAS
      6. 21.6 Design FMEA
      7. 21.7 Closure of Risk Issues
      8. Further Reading
    5. 22 Software Testing and Debugging
      1. 22.1 Unit Tests
      2. 22.2 Integration Tests
      3. 22.3 System Tests
      4. 22.4 Regression Tests
      5. 22.5 Security Tests
      6. 22.6 Guidelines for Creating Test Cases
      7. 22.7 Test Plans
      8. 22.8 Defect Isolation Techniques
      9. 22.9 Instrumentation and Logging
      10. Further Reading
    6. 23 Applying Software Quality Procedures
      1. 23.1 Using Defect Model to Create Defect Run Chart
      2. 23.2 Using Defect Run Chart to Know When You Have Achieved the Quality Target
      3. 23.3 Using Root Cause Analysis on Defects to Improve Organizational Quality Delivery
      4. 23.4 Continuous Integration and Test
      5. Further Reading
    7. 24 Production Phase
      1. 24.1 Accelerating Design Maturity
      2. 24.2 Reliability Growth
      3. 24.3 Design and Process FMEA
      4. Further Reading
    8. 25 End‐of‐Life Phase
      1. 25.1 Managing Obsolescence
      2. 25.2 Product Termination
      3. 25.3 Project Assessment
      4. Further Reading
    9. 26 Field Service
      1. 26.1 Design for Ease of Access
      2. 26.2 Identify High Replacement Assemblies (FRUs)
      3. 26.3 Wearout Replacement
      4. 26.4 Preemptive Servicing
      5. 26.5 Servicing Tools
      6. 26.6 Service Loops
      7. 26.7 Availability or Repair Time Turnaround
      8. 26.8 Avoid System Failure Through Redundancy
      9. 26.9 Random versus Wearout Failures
      10. Further Reading
  17. Appendix A:
    1. A.1 Reliability Consultants
    2. A.2 Graduate Reliability Engineering Programs and Reliability Certification Programs
    3. A.3 Reliability Professional Organizations and Societies
    4. A.4 Reliability Training Classes
    5. A.5 Environmental Testing Services
    6. A.6 HALT Test Chambers
    7. A.7 Reliability Websites
    8. A.8 Reliability Software
    9. A.9 Reliability Seminars and Conferences
    10. A.10 Reliability Journals
  18. Appendix B:
    1. MTBF, FIT, and PPM Conversions
    2. Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
    3. Estimating Field Failures
  19. Index
  20. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Mark A. Levin, Ted T. Kalal, Jonathan Rodin
  • Release date: May 2019
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119179399