Achieving quality through supportability: Part II ‐ mathematical modelling

In the current drive to improve product quality through its reliability, maintainability and supportability characteristics, supportability has emerged as the key area in which customers can have an impact, the other two aspects being increasingly integrated into the product design phase. Previous work on supportability has indicated that product or system owners can be most influential in the areas of spares estimation and shared capital investment equipment provision. The effect of spares provisioning has previously been considered at some length. Presents the development of a mathematical model for estimating the impact of the level of shared capital investment equipment provided on the supportability. Such a model would then allow engineering practitioners to assess the implications of their decisions regarding resource allocation, in terms of the overall system availability.