Internet based supplier process reliability system

• US 6,675,129 B1
• Filed: 12/28/2000
• Issued: 01/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Cambon, Alexander Carswell, Wunderlin, William Joseph, Kemp, Douglas Charles, Heydt, Todd Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): ASSOUAD, PATRICK J
• Application Number:
  US09/749,506
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• Field of Search: 700/99, 700/101, 700/106, 700/108, 700/109, 702/81, 702/82, 702/83, 702/84, 702/182, 705/1, 705/7
• US Class Current: 702/182
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

The present invention provides a system by which the host can receive an ongoing reliability audit of a component supplier'"'"'s production test results over the Internet. This invention analyses and graphs the test results to determine component reliability and to detect changes in reliability over time. One parameter used to detect these changes is mean time between failure (MTBF). This invention uses statistical analysis to determine the reliability status and to detect changes in reliability.

Claims

1. A goods reliability evaluation process comprising the following steps:

at least one host generating information establishing a manufacturer reference site number and at least one supplier reference number for at least one good to be received by said host;

at least one supplier, after conducting reliability tests on at least one good in an least one test period, logs on to a supplier process quality (SPQ) web site and inputs test and failure data;

reliability calculations are then completed to determine the quality of at least one good, wherein said test results automatically generate at least one alarm when predetermined test parameters have been breached.

2. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 1, wherein the reliability calculations utilize failure rate prediction equations and statistical decision rules to determine if a shift in the mean time between failures (MTBF), has occurred in at least one good.

3. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 2, wherein at least one alarm is generated when a shift in a predetermined reliability parameter has occurred greater than a predetermined value.

4. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 3, wherein a report may be generated charting said reliability parameter estimates over at least one test period.

5. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 2, wherein the reliability calculations utilize failure rate prediction equations and statistical decision rules to determine if a change in reliability level has occurred from a predicted reliability level.

6. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 5, wherein at least one alarm is generated when an reliability level change has occurred greater than a predetermined value.

7. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 5, wherein a report may be generated charting the reliability level over at least one test period.

8. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 3, wherein said predetermined alarms are established by calculating a median alarm value and an alarm step size, from which four alarm levels are determined on either side of the median alarm value.

9. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 8, wherein said five alarm levels are utilized to calculate the probability of false alarm (A_k) for each alarm level.

10. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 9, wherein said five alarm limits are utilized to calculate the probability (B_k) of not detecting a life reduction in the first period after a reduction in reliability occurs for each alarm level.

11. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 10, where a predetermined alarm limit is selected based on said A_k, said B_k and said five alarm levels by the host.

12. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 3, wherein a report may be generated listing the reliability status, comprising at least one reliability status flag indicative of the reliability status.

13. The goods reliability evaluation process as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of calculating the shift in reliability level based on an equation selected from the group comprising the exponential failure rate prediction equation, Weibull failure rate prediction equation, and the lognormal failure rate prediction equation.

14. A control system having a communications link, said control system comprising:

at least one server computing unit comprising a supplier process quality (SPQ) program and being coupled to the communications link, wherein said SPQ program comprises a main menu, wherein said main menu is further adapted to enable a user to select at least one of the submenus selected from the group including a characteristic setup menu, a parts setup menu, a process data entry menu, and a report menu; and

at least one supplier computing unit being coupled to the communications link for communicating with said at least one server computing unit;

wherein the SPQ program is adapted to calculate a shift in reliability and the reliability level based on test data provided to the SPQ.

15. The control system as recited in claim 14, wherein said characteristic menu further comprises a plurality of data input variables including at least one variable selected from the group including:

component name, length of test, days to communicate data to host, number of test units, historical MTBF, units of measure in one test period, one year reliability goal, confidence level, units of measure equal to one year, failure modes, and alarm limits.

16. The control system as recited in claim 14, wherein said process data menu further comprises a plurality of data input variables including at least one variable selected from the group including:

characteristic ID, part number, units of measure, number of new failures, failure mode, corrective action, and certify test.

17. The control system as recited in claim 14, wherein said report menu may further comprises a plurality of reports selected from the group including:

a chart of reliability parameter(s) plotted over time (such as MTBF), a bivariate confidence region for the estimates of two parameters, a bivariate scatter plot of the estimates of the two parameters, a parts status chart and a raw data listing.

18. The control system as recited in claim 14, wherein said communications link comprises the Internet.

19. The control system as recited in claim 14, wherein said communications link comprises a local area network.

20. An internet based computer program embodied on a computer readable storage medium, said program comprising a code segment that:

controls at least one server computing unit, said server computing unit having data acquisition means;

acquires, stores, and displays reliability data from at least one supplier computing unit and at least one host computing unit; and

determines a shift in reliability and generates an alarm when said reliability data is outside a specified range.

21. The computer program as recited in claim 20, further comprising a code segment that determines the component reliability status of at least one good to be supplied by the respective supplier.

22. The computer program as recited in claim 21, further comprising a code segment that generates an alarm communications signal when said shift in reliability is outside a specified limit.

23. The computer program as recited in claim 21, further comprising a code segment that generates an alarm communications signal when said reliability level is outside a specified limit.