R&M software tools: their importance to concurrent engineering

Reliability, maintainability and testability (R/M/T) requirements have a significant influence on systems acquisition. Further, early design decisions are a major determinant of systems cost and performance. More than 80% of the life-cycle cost of a system will have been determined by the end of the design phase. Recognition of these two facts has highlighted the need for better R/M/T design capabilities. Increasing cooperation among the various computer-aided R/M/T processes will aid in decreasing life-cycle costs and improving the quality of design. Recognizing this, Rome Air Development Center (RADC) has pursued the development of several computer-aided R/M/T procedures. Several critical issues remain before the full benefit of these tools to concurrent engineering can be realized. These issues include: access to current design information by reliability and maintainability (R&M) engineers, communication of R&M data among the several design participants, and the need for timely and relevant data. The software tools described in this paper can have a positive impact on the evolution of the design process, but only if fully integrated into a concurrent engineering environment