Logistics Support Analysis and Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety, Testability Analysis
Logistics Support Analysis (LSA) are all engineering and scientific analysis which analyzes the effect of ILS activities that need to be done throughout the life cycle on the design of the system / product to evaluate and improve the performance and effectiveness of the System/Product.
1. Reliability: Reliability refers to the ability of a system or product to perform its intended function for a certain period of time and under certain conditions without failure. Reliability includes analyzing and improving the probability of failure-free operation, the mean time between failures (MTBF), and other reliability metrics. In this context, analyzes such as Reliability Allocation, Reliability Prediction, Failure Modes, Effects Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) are performed.
2. Availability: It represents the percentage of a system or product being functional and ready for use when needed. It takes into account factors such as preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance/repair, and other delay times. Increasing the Availability value ensures that the system or product is available when needed. In order to measure different ILS metrics, there are different types such as Inherent, Achieved or Operational Availability.
3. Maintainability: Maintainability focuses on the ease and effectiveness of maintenance and repair activities of a system or product. It is very critical to analyze the feasibility of maintenance activities that need to be done during the operation phase/field, especially during the design phase. In cases where it is not done, very high design changes or tooling may have to be made after prototype or serial production. A system or product with good maintainability value has a relatively short repair time and high customer satisfaction.
4. Safety: It covers the process of making analyzes and taking measures to reduce risks and ensure the safety of personnel (users, maintainers, etc.). It uses analysis techniques such as Fault Tree Analysis.
5. Testability: Testability focuses on the ability of a system or product to be easily tested to ensure its functionality, performance, and compliance with requirements. It includes features that make testing easier, such as diagnostic capabilities, self-testing, and accessible test points.
The quality and supportability of the systems or products can be increased by considering RAMST factors at all life cycle stages, especially during the design period. This improves system performance, reduces product downtime, increases user satisfaction, and ensures compliance with relevant regulations and standards.