The success of an R&M program depends
critically on the quality of the
failure data that is used to improve
design, processes and operations.
Without accurate and complete data it
is difficult to assess where
improvements can make a difference and
where your organization may be running
into problems. The problem is
two-fold:
-
Collecting good, accurate, failure
and maintenance data
-
Properly analyzing the failure and
maintenance data to close the loop
and improve the product
Together these form the backbone of a
successful Failure Reporting, Analysis
and Corrective Action System (FRACAS).
SoHaR has spent decades performing
these tasks: assisting organizations
in developing the right tools and
methods to collect the best possible
R&M data, and performing the analyses
required to generate improvements and
remove problems. Our methods and
analyses have been applied to
aerospace data (NASA, FAA and prime
contractors), the defense industry (DoD
and prime contractors), Nuclear power
plants (NRC) as well as
telecommunication and electronics
industry (Motorola, AT&T, Juniper,
Cisco and many more).
At SoHaR we offer our customers both
specialized, specifically-tailored,
tools for R&M data collection &
analysis, as well as a
third-generation FRACAS tool,
FavoWeb.
Failure data collection and analysis
Trend Analysis
Corrective Action
Field Reliability Analysis
FRACAS Software Customization
Legacy Data Analysis
Failure data collection and analysis
Failure data collection and analysis are
tied closely to all reliability
activities.
Failure data collecting should begin
in the early stages of system design
and go on through the entire product
life cycle. Detailed tracking and
analysis of equipment malfunctions and
failures should be performed in all
stages and by all players: vendors,
users, operators, testers and
maintainers.
SoHaR R&M and FRACAS specialists
establish failure data collection
procedures (including the critical
data types for each lifecycle phase)
as well as the required follow-on and
processing activities that lead to
corrective actions and preventive
maintenance measures. These, in-turn,
ensure that failures do not recur and
support the simplification and
reduction of maintenance tasks.
A Failure
Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective
Action System (FRACAS)
is a closed-loop feedback path in
which users and suppliers work
together to collect, record, and
analyze failures of both hardware and
software data sets. Both user and
supplier capture predetermined types
of data about all problems with a
specialized (software) tool and submit
the data to the supplier FRACAS. A
Failure Review Board (FRB) at the
supplier end analyzes the failures,
considering such factors as time,
money, and engineering personnel. The
resulting analysis identifies
corrective actions that should be
implemented and verified to prevent
failures from recurring.
Trend Analysis
Accurate trend analysis is an
extremely valuable outcome of a timely
and well-defined FRACAS. We perform
trend analysis based on any data
available: current and historical.
Reliability performance: MTBF, MTTR,
availability, preventive maintenance,
etc. are studied for trends and
progress/regression. The analysis of
patterns either of deficiencies
leading to failure or maintenance
events allow us to identify trends.
The trends teach us much more than
individual incidents and offer many
more opportunities for effective
Corrective Actions. This type of
analysis requires deep understanding
of failure mechanisms and a lot of
experience reviewing and analyzing R&M
data. SoHaR’s experts have experience
and knowledge accumulated over dozens
of projects and are able to leverage
this expertise to offer your
organization effective information
within a reasonable timeframe.
Corrective
Action
Determination of an appropriate
corrective action sequence is one of
the main goals of the process of
collecting failure data. Our FRACAS
experts will assist you in defining
corrective actions based
on the engineering data collected and
historical data, as well as the ISO
9000 requirements for corrective
action . The benefits of early
implementation of corrective actions
become apparent as failure occurrence
decreases both at the manufacturing
line and in the field.
Field
Reliability Analysis
The collection of field
performance data is a crucial element
in monitoring reliability, and field
data collection is a vital part of a
FRACAS process.
Field data collection should include:
Collecting field data as part of a
FRACAS process enhances product
reliability, safety, and quality, and
allows calculation and prediction of
the following:
-
Field MTBF ("real" failure rate) vs.
Calculated MTBF (predicted failure
rate)
-
ILS Optimization - Establish correct
spares levels
-
Enhanced maintenance policy (RCM
- reliability centered maintenance)
FRACAS Software Customization
When adopting a FRACAS program it is
crucial to maintain a flexible and
adaptive environment. The FRACAS
program must be able to keep up with
the natural changes and growth that
take place as a program matures and a
product/system go from lab, through
testing and production, to the field.
Without this flexibility it is very
difficult to maintain the high level
of data required for the evolving
information and engineering needs of
the R&M program. It is also very
clear that every organization may
require a different FRACAS data
structure and different FRACAS process
flow. Forcing a global structure and
process flow are not possible and will
necessarily constrain the data
collected and limit the success of the
program.
SoHaR offers its customers a user
configurable
system which easily adapts to
organizational needs:
Customizable workflow, data
collection
forms, user configurable output
reports and much more.
The FRACAS application we offer allows
organizations to retain independent
management of the FRACAS program while
allowing significant changes: the tool
is developed to offer easy management
for a FRACAS administrator who does
not necessarily have a background in
database management and data analysis.
For customers who prefer our
continuous support we offer this
option as well.
For more information, please see
details of our FRACAS application
FavoWeb.
Legacy Data Analysis
SoHaR has extensive experience
reviewing, processing, and analyzing
legacy failure data of varying quality
and size. Whether your organization is
installing a new process or FRACAS
program, or attempting to weed through
overwhelming quantities of legacy
data, SoHaR has the experience to
query legacy databases, sift for the
usable entries and provide informative
analysis. Some of our work is detailed
in these specific
case studies.
See also:
Reporting, Analysis and Corrective
Action System (FRACAS) Software
Download FRACAS Web Demo
Our customers
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