Risk Analysis in Maintainable Designs

In the past few years, there has been an increasing utilization of risk analyses of reliability and safety considerations in the design and management decision processes. Management decisions, however, are contingent on matters other than the strictly technical.

A primary business objective is to gain the customers' acceptance by satisfying the criteria of product availability. This can be attained by providing highly reliable and/or easily maintainable products. These can be two different design philosophical approaches. In the design philosophy where a highly maintainable design is the best alternative, risk analysis becomes an important tool in assessing the risk of “down time” as well as the risk associated with maintenance actions.

This paper will discuss the twin aspects of availability and maintainability and their impact on management decisions. A practical example is given.