Festina Lente and Failure Analysis
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EDITORIAL
Festina Lente and Failure Analysis George A. Pantazopoulos
Submitted: 18 January 2017 / Published online: 21 February 2017 © ASM International 2017
Hasten slowly (or run slowly) is a direct translation of the latin “Festina Lente” and the original Greek “Σπεῡδε Βραδέως.” This proverb brings to the discussion an oxymoron, where two conflicting terms are connected in a single argument: “run/hasten” (to go fast) and “slowly.” The meaning of this notorious sentence adopted by philosophers, scholars and academics such as the Renaissance publisher of Aristotle’s treatises Aldus Manutius [1], who has created an emblematic print mark consisting of a dolphin and an anchor, condensates the diachronic idea of the progress flow in every aspect of human and social life. This is eventually related to progress in society, economy and science by following a structured and reliable path. In failure analysis projects, festina lente (FL) is a proverb which outlines a research approach with significant
G. A. Pantazopoulos (&) ELKEME Hellenic Research Centre for Metals S.A., 56th km Athens – Lamia National Road, 32011 Oinofyta Viotias, Greece e-mail: [email protected]
and powerful value. Sometimes, this phrase is received with misunderstanding and skeptical thinking, due to the fact that the word “lente” (slowly) is taken with a negative meaning. However, a deeper consideration of the phrase FL demands a thorough understanding of the actions that have to be taken, their temporal distribution and consequences, establishing a more diligent and knowledgeable approach in cause-and-effect relationship. According to a general approach, the application of FL in failure analysis can be represented schematically by the following flow (Fig. 1). More specifically, many projects dealing with failure analysis are received as urgent jobs, where timeline is short and the customer is eager for work completion. Nevertheless, as failure analysts, we have to be quick and effective with respect to the final target and keeping focus to the customer demands. Analyzing in higher detail these six steps appeared in Fig. 1, a structured and compact breakdown covering the majority of the failure analysis services could be analyzed further below: •
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Problem/failure understanding This step mainly includes gathering of information, e.g., production data, interviews, literature and service history aiding understanding, which can highlight the optimum and easiest/fastest path to allocate the failure/problem source. However, this step needs time and resources in order to proceed forward. Target setting The goal(s) of the investigation has or have to be determined, early enough in order to optimize efforts and resources toward the achievement of the objectives of the failure analysis investigation. Management responsibility and commitment assures
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J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2017) 17:167–168
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Fig. 1 Simplified schematic showing the general sequence of the steps involved in failure analysis
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the resources’ availability toward
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