Reliability engineering practice in the light duty dodge ram truck chassis program

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate how we set up and executed an integrated reliability engineering process with the engineering team in the Light Duty (LD) Dodge Ram (DR) Truck chassis program. Organizationally, the LD DR chassis team consists of core engineering groups and supporting representatives from other related disciplines. The reliability engineer is a member of the team and he is the reliability advocate and leader. The integrated reliability engineering process was customized and implemented in the LD DR chassis program. Many of the tools developed by the company corporate quality office, such as design failure modes and effect analysis (DFMEA), design verification plan and reporting (DVP&R), and finite element analysis (FEA), were used in supporting the reliability engineering process. An array of technical enablers such as Test Matrix and ReliUp were also developed for supporting the implementation of the reliability engineering process. In the execution, the reliability engineer led the engineering team to set up reliability targets, develop reliability work plans, facilitate up-front design analysis, review and integrate reliability test planning. The reliability engineer also set up the failure reporting, analysis and corrective action system (FRACAS) and managed reliability growth with the team. From the implementation, we have learned several things: (I) an integrated engineering team is crucial in order to develop a product better, quicker and cheaper; (2) a good team leader is the key to product reliability; (3) a capable reliability engineer is the catalyst to a reliability engineering process; (4) the best culture in which to achieve reliability is the delicate balance between 'inside-out' and 'outside-in'; and (5) achieving reliability is far more important than measuring reliability. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.