description of a component. In some limited cases, this may be all that is possible, if the part is gone. However, the value of the failure analysis is limited in those cases. Also note that a failure problem is defined in a broader context going from top to bottom of Table 2. This is particularly important for failure analysis within a manufacturing organization. Today, many companies manufacture components or assemblies for other companies. The individuals at the contract manufacturing companies may not have any way of learning the importance of specified or unspecified requirements of the components that they are manufacturing until they have the opportunity to learn as a result of a failure investigation. Progressive companies have been taking advantage of their human resources for years by providing more training and education, because they know that it generally has a positive effect on the profitability of the company Table 2 Complexity of investigation Depth and Example Allowed effects of findings Part is found to be of the wrong Part gets rehardened. Maybe inspection cause(s)or hardness frequency is increased Individual Heat treat department employee does Heat treatment department employees are sent people causes not understand importance of to a basic metallurgy and testing class. hardness and does not check part Latent causes or Nobody tells furnace operator about Design and supervisory personnel are given factors the importance of hardness testing. It custom training by a competent materials does not matter that she fabricated engineer on the subject of how to specify test results, until the pyrometer fails, hardness test protocol. Maybe an investigation causing incorrect temperature into the heat treat furnace uniformity is exposure during austenitization. undertaken Culture-based Hardness runs on low end of Marketing people are given additional training root cause(s) specified range for years but never so that they do not give unreasonable causes a problem until someone, expectations of product performance.(It is due to economic downturn, decides recognized that an optimistic outlook is part of to use item for much longer than sales and marketing. The question is, where does the original expected service life one draw the line as to what is reasonable and unreasonable. Marketing people are given adequate resources to follow up with customers It is also important to keep in mind when root cause(s) could have been introduced. Table 3 lists some examples. It is often difficult to assign a failure to a single phase of problem creation. Many times, there are complex interactions. Only an integrated design approach will create robust processes and thus robust parts The designer must communicate with personnel from the sales department, as well as customers, maintenance personnel, manufacturing personnel, and material suppliers. Input from failure analysts who evaluate broken, worn,corroded, or deformed parts from durability testing is an important source of information that is often neglected by designers Table 3 Physical causes and time of occurrence Physical Example Likely effects of findings Alternative effect(s)of findings causes Raw material Excessive microsegregation Material supplier is Additional investigation is manufacturing causes inability to achieve blamed performed on how to improve post heat treat mechanical heat treat line to make process more robust. Design phase Designer does not know Heat treater is blamed for Designer reviews accuracy of hardness test poor process control specifications, and broadens and specifies a that is specification if that is too narrow to achieve acceptable based ondescription of a component. In some limited cases, this may be all that is possible, if the part is gone. However, the value of the failure analysis is limited in those cases. Also note that a failure problem is defined in a broader context going from top to bottom of Table 2. This is particularly important for failure analysis within a manufacturing organization. Today, many companies manufacture components or assemblies for other companies. The individuals at the contract manufacturing companies may not have any way of learning the importance of specified or unspecified requirements of the components that they are manufacturing until they have the opportunity to learn as a result of a failure investigation. Progressive companies have been taking advantage of their human resources for years by providing more training and education, because they know that it generally has a positive effect on the profitability of the company. Table 2 Complexity of investigation Depth and complexity of investigation Example Allowed effects of findings Physical cause(s) or factor(s) Part is found to be of the wrong hardness. Part gets rehardened. Maybe inspection frequency is increased. Individual people causes Heat treat department employee does not understand importance of hardness and does not check part. Heat treatment department employees are sent to a basic metallurgy and testing class. Latent causes or factors Nobody tells furnace operator about the importance of hardness testing. It does not matter that she fabricated test results, until the pyrometer fails, causing incorrect temperature exposure during austenitization. Design and supervisory personnel are given custom training by a competent materials engineer on the subject of how to specify hardness test protocol. Maybe an investigation into the heat treat furnace uniformity is undertaken. Culture-based root cause(s) Hardness runs on low end of specified range for years but never causes a problem until someone, due to economic downturn, decides to use item for much longer than the original expected service life. Marketing people are given additional training so that they do not give unreasonable expectations of product performance. (It is recognized that an optimistic outlook is part of sales and marketing. The question is, where does one draw the line as to what is reasonable and unreasonable.) Marketing people are given adequate resources to follow up with customers. It is also important to keep in mind when root cause(s) could have been introduced. Table 3 lists some examples. It is often difficult to assign a failure to a single phase of problem creation. Many times, there are complex interactions. Only an integrated design approach will create robust processes and thus robust parts. The designer must communicate with personnel from the sales department, as well as customers, maintenance personnel, manufacturing personnel, and material suppliers. Input from failure analysts who evaluate broken, worn, corroded, or deformed parts from durability testing is an important source of information that is often neglected by designers. Table 3 Physical causes and time of occurrence Physical causes Example Likely effects of findings Alternative effect(s) of findings Raw material manufacturing Excessive microsegregation causes inability to achieve post heat treat mechanical properties. Material supplier is blamed. Additional investigation is performed on how to improve heat treat line, to make process more robust. Design phase Designer does not know accuracy of hardness test and specifies a range that is too narrow to achieve. Heat treater is blamed for poor process control. Designer reviews specifications, and broadens specification if that is acceptable, based on