Reliability modeling and analysis of multi-station manufacturing processes considering the quality and reliability interaction

The relationship between product quality and manufacturing system component reliability is very complex in a multi-station manufacturing process (MMP). In this paper, a general system reliability model is presented to integrate the product quality and manufacturing system component reliability information. Considering the unique complex characteristics of MMPs, a new QR-Chain model is proposed to study the propagation of the interaction between manufacturing system component reliability and product quality throughout all stations. An analytical solution for the system reliability of a general MMP can be obtained based on the proposed QR-Chain model. The upper bound of the system reliability is derived, which is much easier to obtain than the exact solution