Recent Headlines:

Defense:

Feature: High Reliability Organizations – An Overview – Health

Last May the Secretary of Defense directed a 90-day review of the MHS for non-combat health care services, focused on access to care, patient safety, and the quality of care. The review and subsequent report showed that while the MHS was doing well in many areas, there was a high degree of variation in performance, and areas where the system can improve.

Lockheed F-35’s Reliability Found Wanting in Shipboard Testing – Bloomberg

The Marine Corps’ version of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 fighter demonstrated poor reliability in a 12-day exercise at sea, according to the U.S. military’s top testing officer.

Sustainment and Logistics in Better Buying Power – DTIC

This article finds that sustainment permeates the entire set of BBP initiatives and offers substantial contributions to its overall theme of “Achieving Dominant Capabilities through Technical Excellence and Innovation.”

Federal Auditors Rate Reliability Of F-35 Engine ‘Very Poor’ – Military

A federal report has slammed the reliability of Pratt and Whitney’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine.

Official: Minehunting System Shows No Improvement – Defense News

Despite years of development, constant effort and numerous official pronouncements of progress, the minehunting system at the heart of a new family of US Navy mine countermeasures gear shows no signs of improvement and poses a significant risk to the planned deployment of the system aboard littoral combat ships (LCS), according to the Pentagon’s top test and evaluation officer.

USAF verifies reliability of Minuteman ICBM system – UPI

The accuracy and reliability of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system has been verified through a U.S. Air Force test launch.

F-35 Engines From United Technologies Called Unreliable – Bloomberg

F-35 engines from United Technologies Corp. are proving so unreliable that U.S. plans to increase production of the fighter jet may be slowed, according to congressional auditors.

High Reliability Organization course helps Army Medicine leaders – JBSA

During the first High Reliability Organization Quality and Safety Short Course taught at the Fort Sam Houston Community Center July 19-23, Jones noted that Army Medicine influences the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world, often in austere, extreme conditions.

New Army Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability Policy  – Army

The US Army issued important new policy on April 28th when it published Army Regulation 702-19 entitled Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability. In a nutshell, “this regulation prescribes Department of the Army policies and responsibilities for the reliability, availability and maintainability of its materiel.

Energy:

FERC Proposes Geomagnetic Disturbance Reliability Standard  – Breaking Energy

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposed approving a new reliability standard for the grid to address its vulnerability to these hazards.

Transmission Reliability Program 2015 Reliability & Markets Peer Review Materials Available  – Energy

The Reliability and Markets activity of the Transmission Reliability Program researches, develops, and implements infrastructure to ensure electric reliability while improving the efficiency and economics of market operations. Materials including the agenda and presentations are now available for download.

Smart Meters can Jeopardize Grid Reliability  – PV-Magazine

Electricity consumers who respond to fluctuating price signals by means of smart meters can in turn cause mass blackouts. The researchers at the University of Bremen warn of the possibility of a “collective avalanche mechanism”.

Mass Transit:

Evaluation of Bus Transit Reliability in the District of Columbia  – Transweb.sjsu

Several performance metrics can be used to assess the reliability of a transit system. These include on-time arrivals, travel-time adherence, run-time adherence, and customer satisfaction, among others. On-time arrival at bus stops is one of the performance metrics of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA).

MTA MARC Train Upgrades to Improve Safety, Reliability  – Baltometro

Recently, the MTA sent requests to the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB) for the approval and inclusion of three MARC projects in the 2014-2017 TIP. Since that time, MTA has needed to slightly adjust the funding levels for two of those projects.

Space/Aviation:

FAA orders new 787 electrical fix to prevent power failure  – Flight Global

All Boeing 787 operators will be required to periodically deactivate the electrical system to avoid a problem with a newly-discovered software bug that could cause the aircraft to lose alternating current (AC) power, the US Federal Aviation Administration says in a new airworthiness directive.

Computer glitch halts United Airlines flights for two hours  – Reuters

All United Airlines flights were grounded for almost two hours early Wednesday due to a computer hardware problem, creating travel headaches for tens of thousands of passengers that stretched into the afternoon.

Electric Aircraft Reliability: Not So Simple – AV Web

With few moving parts compared to an aircraft piston engine, electric motors are thought to be far more reliable. But when the systems that control them are factored in, the reliability picture is far less rosy, according to Mike Ricci, who says electric propulsion in general has some distance to cover before it will be reliable enough to impress regulators approving electrics for commercial service.

Medical/Health:

AFMS follows aviation lead to high reliability  – Air Force

Over many years the Air Force aviation community’s concept of high reliability has evolved from one of expected losses, to today’s culture of safety where fatal losses rarely occur.

Apple scrapped advanced Apple Watch health monitoring features due to reliability issues  – Apple Insider

In designing its first wearable device in the Apple Watch, Apple looked to incorporate a variety of highly advanced health functions with an eye on creating a holistic monitoring device, but ultimately scrapped those plans due to technological and regulatory hurdles.

A Capacity for Miniaturizing Medical Electronics – MDT Mag

The development of miniaturized tantalum capacitors capable of meeting the high reliability and stringent performance standards of medical grade applications has enabled the delivery of many of the same capacitance and voltage combinations found in standard molded tantalum capacitors, but they typically allow for a 40% reduction in component footprint.

Industrial:

Pumping Guide Tackles Pump Reliability, Monitoring – Process-Cooling

The “Reliability of Pumping Equipment” guide from the Hydraulic Institute, Parsippany, N.J., provides information on topics such as expected reliability levels, monitoring approaches and methods of improvement.

Streamline Plant Production by Integrating Reliability and Process Safety Programs  – IPR Newswire

Streamline Plant Production by Integrating Reliability and Process Safety Programs Interview With Jim Hudson, Maintenance Manager, Honeywell – Geismar