What Does Reliability Mean in 2016?

Inspectioneering Journal, March/April 2016 Issue 

Everybody is familiar with the term “reliability.” People often use “reliable” to describe that long-time friend that is always there when you need them, that old truck that just refuses to quit running, or that 100 year old rifle your grandpa gave you that still shoots as straight as it did the day it was made. The fact is, all people appreciate reliability; we just don’t always understand or recognize the effort that goes into being reliable.

Reliability can generally be defined as the probability of someone or something performing what is expected of them at the time and for the duration that is expected. For a business, the reliability of its people, products and assets is of vital importance to the success of the business enterprise. If its people do not perform their required functions, the business will fail to operate, grow and survive. If its products break or fail to function properly, customers will at the very least, take their business elsewhere. If its assets break or do not operate as expected, the company has to invest resources to either repair or replace them, which could be extremely costly and detrimental to the business. The point is, Reliability is important, and how companies manage and maintain an acceptable level of reliability could mean the difference between success and failure.