SURVEY OF SUPPORT SOFTWARE.docVIP

SURVEY OF SUPPORT SOFTWARE FOR RELIABILITY ENGINEERING By Reid Willis Washington Chapter, Society of Reliability Engineers April 1, 2006 This report is a survey of reliability support software tools that are distributed in the U.S. by vendors who offer a variety of reliability programs that can share common target system data. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the author, who requests comments by readers. Contact him by e-mail at reidwillis@. SURVEY OF SUPPORT SOFTWARE FOR RELIABILITY ENGINEERING April 1, 2006 Normally we think of computer support as a great labor and time saver. RM software tools can guide data acquisition, respond quickly to system changes, provide mathematical support, and help prepare presentation of the results. But nothing is ever that easy. When selecting computer tools for the support of reliability analyses, the user should carefully consider several important factors including the RM standards employed, data sharing, special capabilities and features, user friendliness, vendor support, and cost. Adherence to a given standard is one of the most popular features of support software–––and one of the most annoying. The user is on safe ground if the software strictly enforces conformance to the chosen procedure. However, if the user wants to incorporate a variation that is not in the rules, the tool’s program may not allow it. Commonality of user project data is a strong argument in favor of choosing a suite of tools from the same vendor. This means that the user can establish a project data base for the target system that supports and coordinates all ongoing reliability analyses for that project. Computer tools from different vendors that support a particular task may offer a wide variety of special features. The features deserve a close look, because they strongly affect the most significant cost of a reliability analysis task: the professional hours involved. The vendor directory and program summaries below a