5 Things You Can Do Today to Avoid Using MTBF

14597503837_2511f1d075_oTake Action Today to Improve How Your Organization Talks About Reliability

You know the perils of MTBF use. The widespread misunderstanding and mis-use. You know about how MTBF treats your data poorly.

You also know everyone around you uses MTBF. Your industry uses MTBF. And, now one likes change, least of all about metrics concerning reliability.

As I said to a friend this morning, “The madness has to stop.”

And, you feel that say way. So, what are you going to do about it? Here are five things you can do today.

  1. Use the data to calculate reliability (probability of success) over a duration of interest along with calculating MTBF, then share the results.

  2. Encourage five of your colleagues to check out and subscribe to this site, www.nomtbf.com.

  3. Ask a vendor how they determined the MTBF value they are presenting on the data sheet? What evidence supports that claim and what assumptions are included (often unstated)?

  4. The next time you hear someone mention MTBF, ask them what do they mean? And, than ask what percentage of items should survive a year? If they are not consistent  — you found a learning opportunity.

  5. Write a blog post for the www.nomtbf.com site. What have you done to encourage better understanding of reliability concepts in your world? Share you hints, tips, stories, and advice here.

Pick one for today and do as many as you can. What would you add to this list? What kind responses are you receiving when you speak out about the perils of MTBF.

Keep up the effort. Together we are making progress. Thanks for the support.

About Fred Schenkelberg

I am an experienced reliability engineering and management consultant with my firm FMS Reliability. My passion is working with teams to create cost-effective reliability programs that solve problems, create durable and reliable products, increase customer satisfaction, and reduce warranty costs.

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