1st Edition

Reliability and Warranties Methods for Product Development and Quality Improvement

By Marlin U. Thomas Copyright 2006
    216 Pages 39 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    212 Pages 39 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Our modern view of quality is a multifaceted conglomeration of probability, planning, and perception. Although warranties are important first as an estimate and then as a measurement of reliability, most books on reliability and quality relegate the topic of warranties to a single chapter. Today’s engineering student needs an integrated view that considers all aspects that contribute to overall quality along with methods to analyze, predict, measure, and improve each component.

    Reliability and Warranties: Methods for Product Development and Quality Improvement provides this unified treatment along with illustrative examples, end-of-chapter problems, and background material. Based on the author’s distinguished experience as a practicing engineer and educator, this text supplies students with a modern education in quality engineering and the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the real world. It begins with preliminary results for dealing with failures followed by the modern definition and view of quality, various types and models for warranties, quality improvement, and perspective for achieving reliability and quality goals. It also includes a unique framework for measuring and tracking overall quality performance.

    Ideal for senior undergraduate and first-year graduate students taking courses on quality, reliability, or industrial engineering, Reliability and Warranties presents a practical, thoroughly integrated path to meeting both engineering and customer quality goals.

    Product Quality and Warranty
    Introduction
    Background and Scope
    References
    Preliminary Results for Analyzing Product Failures
    Failure Time Distributions
    Fitting Distributions
    Counting the Number of Failures
    Exercises
    References
    Quality and Reliability
    Quality Concepts
    Product Reliability
    Load and Capacity Models
    Exercises
    References
    Product Warranties and Quality
    Definitions and Types of Warranties
    Warranty Cost Models
    Determining Optimum Warranty Periods
    Estimating Warranty Reserve
    Exercises
    References
    Product Monitoring and Feedback
    Quality System Monitoring and Control
    Multiattribute Quality Assessment
    Warranty Information Feedback Models
    MOP/MIS Charts
    Exercises
    References
    The Quality Improvement Process
    Introduction
    Identifying Quality Problems
    Developing Quality Improvement Goals
    Decision Analysis Framework
    Exercises
    References
    Toward an Integrated Product Quality System
    Introduction
    The Quality Movement
    A QRW (Quality, Reliability, Warranty) Paradigm
    Some Concluding Remarks
    References
    Appendix A: Notations and Acronyms
    Appendix B: Selected Tables
    Appendix C: Counting Distributions
    Binomial Counting Distribution
    Poisson Counting Distribution
    Renewal Function for Erlang (λ,2) Distributed Times
    Index

    Biography

    Marlin U. Thomas, Ph.D., is dean, Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Prior to joining AFIT he was professor and head of the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University where he had also served as director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies. He received his B.S.E. (1967) from the University of Michigan Dearborn, and M.S.E. (1968) and Ph.D. (1971) in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan. He has been a registered professional engineer since 1970, with engineering R&D and product development experience with Owens-Illinois, Inc., and as a manager of vehicle reliability planning and analysis with Chrysler Corporation, where he first became interested in developing quantitative methods for analyzing warranties. He also has served as a program director for the National Science Foundation working in operations research and production systems., Dr. Thomas' teaching and research areas include stochastic modeling, reliability, and logistics systems, with emphasis on contingency operations. He has received several awards for his professional accomplishments, including the Frank Groseclose Medallion Award (for his notable impact on the industrial engineering profession) and the Albert G. Holzman Distinguished Educator Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers. He has authored or co-authored over 60 articles and technical papers that have appeared in publications such as IIE Transactions, Operations Research, Management Science, IEEE Transactions on Reliability , and he has delivered over 100 presentations and lectures at major conferences and universities., Dr. Thomas has held the position of president of the Institute of Industrial Engineers; department editor, IIE Transactions; area editor, Operations Research; and was a member of the Army Science Board. He is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and American Indian Science and Engineering Society; as well as a Fellow of the American Society for Quality, the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences. He is also a Captain, Civil Engineer Corps, U.S. Navy Reserve (retired).