Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality, 2nd Edition
by Mark A. Levin, Ted T. Kalal, Jonathan Rodin
6Reliability Concepts
The information in this book is intended primarily for people in the design community, managers, CEOs, company presidents, associate reliability engineers − just about everyone except the reliability engineer. The reliability engineer understands the mathematics behind these reliability concepts that is of little importance to everyone else. Fortunately, the mathematics behind the reliability concepts is beyond the scope of this book. We, instead, will focus on the reliability concepts to provide understanding of what they are, how they get applied, and how to interpret the results. You do not need to be a reliability engineer to understand and discuss these concepts. By understanding the concepts and tools, you will have a heightened awareness about product reliability and how it is achieved.
One of the more difficult challenges for someone wanting to implement a reliability program is developing an understanding of all the terms, definitions, and concepts used to describe product reliability. Many of these concepts are mathematically based and can be highly theoretical when pursued to minute detail. This has prevented all but a statistician or a reliability engineer from fully grasping these concepts. Obtaining this great depth of understanding is outside the focus of the book. However, it is vital to have a working understanding of the reliability terms, definitions, and concepts. One reason for developing such an understanding is that it will enable ...