Specialty engineering (SpE) mission activities
Performance requirements modelling and analysis use various methods and tools to simulate and monitor system performance, such as load testing, bench marking, profiling, tracing, and logging. The most common model used for reliability is the Reliability Block Diagram (RBD). An RBD consists of blocks that represent individual items. The represented items can be components, sub assemblies, assemblies, subsystems, and so forth.
Reliability is the probability of an item to perform a required function under stated conditions for a specified period of time Reliability is further divided into mission reliability and logistics reliability. Reliability is the ability or capability of the product to perform the specified function in the designated environment for a minimum length of time or a minimum number of cycles or events. (Ireson, Coombs et al. 1995)
Availability is a measure of the degree to which an item is in an operable state and can be committed at the start of a mission when the mission is called for at an unknown (random) point in time.
Maintainability is the ability of an item to be retained in, or restored to, a specified condition when maintenance is performed by personnel having specified skill levels, using prescribed procedures and resources, at each prescribed level of maintenance and repair.
Safety is the state in which risk is acceptable. Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety is freedom from conditions that can cause death, injury, occupational illness, damage to or loss of equipment or property, or damage to the environment. Safety analysis is applying scientific and engineering principles, criteria, and techniques to identify hazards and then to eliminate the hazards or reduce the associated risks when the hazards cannot be eliminated.
Safety Assessment is the monitoring, identification, assessment, and prioritization according to hazard/severity level and probability of occurrence of risks associated with operations in a company. A process dedicated to assuring that risk is identified and managed properly within established limits; a process of identifying, estimating, and prioritizing each risk; assessment of accident and injury, and determining if action should be considered.
Testability Analysis is the comprehensive analysis of individual subsystem design for the use of BIT (Built in Test) as a RAM concept to detect, isolate and report/record detected faults in the operational environment. For example, these outputs are generally provided to: the mission operator (pilot) for system/subsystem operational mission status, the maintenance control organizations to schedule and document subsequent repair actions to restore the affected system to operational status, and the RAM team through proper operational readiness reporting. The testability analysis determines fault detection percentages and the fault isolation effectiveness of designed tests.
Testability is a design characteristic which allows the status (operable, inoperable, degraded) of an item to be determined and the isolation of faults within the item to be performed in a timely manner.
Prognostics is focused on predicting the time at which a system or a component will no longer perform its intended function. This lack of performance is most often a failure beyond which the system can no longer be used to meet desired performance. The predicted time then becomes the remaining useful life (RUL), which is an important concept in decision making for contingency mitigation. Prognostics predicts the future performance of a component by assessing the extent of deviation or degradation of a system from its expected normal operating conditions. The discipline that links studies of failure mechanisms to system lifecycle management is often referred to as prognostics and health management (PHM).
Diagnostics defined as the action of determining the presence, location, and severity of a fault (or faults), can possibly be a binary or multi-class classification task.Diagnostics enables the extraction of fault-related information, such as failure modes, failure mechanisms, quantity of damage, and so forth, from sensor data caused by anomalies in the health of the product. This is a key piece of information that feeds into maintenance planning and logistics.
Health management is the process of decision-making and implementing actions based on the estimate of the state of health (SOH) derived from health monitoring and expected future use of the systems.
Failure Reporting and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) is intended to provide management visibility and control for reliability and maintainability. FRACAS consists of a failure reporting and analysis system (failure incidents) and associated corrective actions.Ideally, the FRACAS must capture all failures associated with the design, test, production and use of the system/product. The FRACAS effort shall be coordinated and integrated with other program efforts such as reliability, quality assurance, maintainability, human engineering, system safety, test, parts, materials, and processes control, configuration management, and integrated logistic support to preclude duplication of effort and to produce integrated cost-effective results.
Data Collection, Analysis, and Corrective Action System (DCACAS): Process by which system data (hardware and software indicated failures and successes) are tracked; analysis conducted to determine root cause of failure; and corrective actions identified and implemented to reduce failure occurrence. DCACAS process is increasing the focus of the process from failures and problems to also include success data, as the success data is as important to the RAM program as the failure information.
Quality assurance is to reduce the risk of defects – and importantly, to address faults as early as possible in the value chain.
Quality control is a key manufacturer response during the production and deployment phase. It provides a framework for maintaining the performance and reliability designed into the product .Quality control techniques provide a tracking function for an existing design or process.
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is the ability of electrical equipment and systems to function acceptably in their electromagnetic environment, by limiting the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy which may cause unwanted effects such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) or even physical damage to operational equipment. The goal of EMC is the correct operation of different equipment in a common electromagnetic environment. It is the ability of systems, equipment, and devices that utilize the electromagnetic spectrum to operate in their intended operational environments without suffering unacceptable degradation or causing unintentional degradation because of electromagnetic radiation or response.
Human factors analysis helps achieve one of the most basic maintainability requirements as it ensures that the system be easily maintained by human personnel. The human factors analysis is performed to identify problems related to the interaction between maintenance personnel and the design model in performing each maintenance task. The terms Human Engineering and Human Factors Engineering are considered synonymous. Human factors engineering should be a part of the design of system from the beginning of the acquisition process. Human factors engineering includes a wide range of major design considerations including but not limited to: Ergonomics, Anatomy, Demographics, Psychology, organizational dynamics, the effects of physical environments on the operator, human reliability and human information processing, the human as a sensor, training, workplace design, work organization design and the allocation of tasks between humans and other parts of systems (computers).
Sustainment incorporates "the execution of a support program that meets operational support performance requirements and sustainment of systems in the most cost-effective manner for the life cycle of the system. Sustainment is more concerned with the end user’s ability to operate and maintain a system once it is in inventory and deployed.
Sustainability differs from “sustainment” in that it relates to the use of resources, and the associated impacts and costs over the system’s life cycle. A sustainability analysis compares alternative designs or sustainment activities regarding their use of energy, water, chemicals, and land. Outputs include impacts on resource availability, human health and the environment and the TOC of the alternatives that meet the minimum performance requirements.
Whole life cost/Total Ownership Cost (TOC)/Life Cycle Cost (LCC)
Whole Life Costing (WLC) consists of all elements that are part of TOC plus indirect, fixed, non-linked costs. These latter may include items such as family housing, medical services, ceremonial units, basic training, headquarters and staff, academies, recruiters.
Total Ownership Cost (TOC) is the summation of the cost of acquiring and owning or converting an item of material, piece of equipment, or service and post-ownership cost. Total Ownership Costs (TOC) consists of all elements that are part of LCC plus the indirect, fixed, linked costs. These latter may include items such as common support equipment, common facilities, personnel required for unit command, administration, supervision, operations planning and control, fuel and munitions handling.
Life Cycle Cost (LCC) consists of all direct costs plus indirect-variable costs associated with the procurement, O&S and disposal of the system. Indirect costs may include linked costs such as additional common support equipment, additional administrative personnel and non-linked costs such as new recruiters to recruit additional personnel. All indirect costs related to activities or resources that are not affected by the introduction of the system are not part of LCC.
Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) /Integrated Product Support (IPS)
Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Elements as they had generally been applied, accepted, and understood as: Design Interface, Supply Support, Maintenance Planning, Packaging, Handling, Storage and Transportation(PHS&T), Technical Data, Support Equipment, Training & Training Support, Manpower & Personnel, Facilities and Computer Resources Support.
Integrated Product Support (IPS) Elements on the other hand, include: Product Support Management, Design Interface, Sustaining Engineering, Supply Support, Maintenance Planning and Management, Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation (PHS&T),Technical Data, Support Equipment, Training & Training Support, Manpower & Personnel, Facilities and Infrastructure, Computer Resources.
The two lists appear to be quite similar, but in reality, both the elements themselves, what they include, and even how they are defined, are quite different -- hence the sunsetting of the ILS terminology in favor of a broader product support-focused IPS term. So what is different? First off, the two new elements are “Product Support Management” and “Sustaining Engineering.” Both include an extensive life cycle management focus, and both include activities and aspects that extend across the life cycle and often beyond the traditional logistics domain.
ILS Elements are no longer acknowledged in DoD-level product support policy or guidance (including Army Regulation 700-127) – and it is necessary to align with the recently issued MIL-HDBK 502A Product Support Analysis terminology, DoD and other Services’ guidance, and associated DoD Logistics Assessment (LA) evaluation criteria.
System security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data or the unlawful use, disclosure, disruption, deletion, corruption, modification, inspection, recording, or devaluation of information. It also involves actions intended to reduce the adverse impacts of such incidents.
Interoperability: Almost all DoD systems operate in a system of systems (SoS) context relying upon other systems to provide desired user capabilities, making it vital that interoperability needs and external dependencies are identified early and incorporated into system requirements. Interoperability is the requirement that the program’s system interact with other systems through transport of information, energy, or matter.
Interoperability in system development refers to the ability of different systems, applications, or components to communicate, exchange data, and work together seamlessly, regardless of differences in hardware, software, or organizational boundaries.
Collected and edited from Multiple sources
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