Improving Reliability At Different Hierarchical Levels

Reliability is the probability that a system/equipment/maintainable item will perform a specific function over a specific period of time under specific support conditions.

Reliability is said to be inherent in design. If maintenance is functioning exceptionally and excluding maintenance reliability, then there are only two ways to improve reliability: top-down and bottom-up.

From the top-down at the system level, you would look at introducing standby or redundancies. This is usually in the realm of end-users.

From the bottom-up at the component level, you would look at removing stress risers, derating (i.e. testing things at extreme conditions that they will be actually operating in) and using high quality materials in design. This is usually in the realm of OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

When you understand these two fundamentals of improving reliability at the 'system' level and at the 'maintainable item' level, it will change the way you look for improvements in your processes, especially physical asset intensive production processes.

Postscript

There are four ways of doing strategy: design, ideas, experience and discourse. The key to strategy by discourse is narrative but you must go to that narrative with a framework. A framework is a model or picture, either physical or mental, around which you will build or stake your talk around. The picture above is my framework for improving reliability that I talk/write about on reliability improvements.