Question

Why are good systems operational requirements and a maintenance & support concept important?

Answer 1

Operational requirements are those statements that "identify the essential capabilities, associated requirements, performance measures, and the process or series of actions to be taken in effecting the results that are desired in order to address mission area deficiencies, evolving applications or threats, emerging technologies, or system cost improvements."

• The operational requirements assessment starts with the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and goes to a greater level of detail in identifying mission performance assumptions and constraints and current deficiencies of or enhancements needed for operations and mission success.
• Operational requirements are the basis for system requirements.

• A key process in the concept development phase is analysis to define the operational requirements of the system.

• Operational requirements are typically prepared by a team of users, user representatives, developers, integrators, and are based on the identified user need or capability gaps.

• Establishing operational requirements forms the basis for subsequent system requirements and system design in the system design and development phase.

• The operational requirements focus on how the users will operate the system, including interfaces and interoperability with other systems.
• The requirements establish how well and under what conditions the system must perform. The operational requirements should answer these questions:

• Who is asking for this requirement? Who needs the requirements? Who will be operating the system?
• What functions/capabilities must the system perform? What decisions will be made with the system? Whatdata/information is needed by the system? What are the performance needs that must be met? What are the constraints?
• Where will the system be used?
• When will the system be required to perform its intended function and for how long?
• How will the system accomplish its objective? How will the requirements be verified?
• Project success is rooted in understanding operational requirements. This requires the user and acquisition communities and other stakeholders to invest the time and effort both early in the concept development process and throughout the development cycle.
• Skillfully done, this should result in a greater likelihood of fielding a capable initial system and subsequent evolutions that meet user needs within schedule and cost.

Maintenance Concept-

• The maintenance concept is a brief description of the maintenance considerations, constraints, and plans for operational support of the system/equipment under development.
• It’s derived from the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and is a major driver in system design and support.
• Maintenance concept requirements are translated into system design and support requirements.
• As the system design activities are performed; the maintenance concept continues to shape system design decisions and detailed maintenance and product support requirements.
• Maintenance is the combination of all technical and associated administrative actions intended to retain an item in, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform its required function.
• Many companies are seeking to gain competitive advantage with respect to cost, quality, service and on-time deliveries.
• The effect of maintenance on these variables has prompted increased attention to the maintenance area as an integral part of productivity improvement.
• Maintenance is rapidly evolving into a major contributor to the performance and profitability of manufacturing systems. In fact, some see maintenance as the "last frontier" for manufacturing.
• Preventive maintenance—the prevention of equipment breakdowns before they happen. This includes inspections, adjustments, regular service and planned shutdowns.
• Repair work—repairing equipment and troubleshooting malfunctions in an effort to return the equipment to its previous condition. These repairs may be reactive or preventive.
• Improvement work—searching for better materials and improved design changes to facilitate equipment reliability. Repair work is often a part of improvement work.
• Reactive maintenance (also known as corrective maintenance) involves all unscheduled actions performed as a result of system or product failure.
• Scheduled maintenance utilizes a previously developed maintenance schedule for each machine tool. This is much like an oil change on an automobile that takes place every three months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first.
• Predictive maintenance involves performing maintenance on a machine in advance of the time a failure would occur if the maintenance were not performed.
• By seeking the correct level of maintenance required, unplanned downtime is minimized.

• The purpose of preventive maintenance is to ensure that production quality is maintained and that delivery schedules are met. In addition, a machine that is well cared for will last longer and cause fewer problems.

• Current trends in management philosophy such as just-in-time (JIT) and total quality management (TQM) incorporate preventive maintenance as key factors in their success.
• JIT requires high machine availability, which in turn requires preventive maintenance.
• Also, TQM requires equipment that is well maintained in order to meet required process capability.
• Preventive maintenance is also seen as a measure of management excellence.

• The resulting benefits of preventive maintenance are many. Some of them are listed below:

• Safety. Machinery that is not well-maintained can become a safety hazard. Preventive maintenance increases the margin of safety by keeping equipment in top running condition.

• Lower cost. A modern and cost-effective approach to preventive maintenance shows that there is no maintenance cost optimum. However, maintenance costs will decrease as the costs for production losses decreases. Obviously, no preventive maintenance action is performed unless it is less costly that the resulting failure.

• Reduction in failures and breakdowns. Preventive maintenance aims at reducing or eliminating unplanned downtime, thereby increasing machine efficiency. Downtime is also reduced when the preventive maintenance process gives maintenance personnel sufficient warning so repairs can be scheduled during normal outages.

• Extension of equipment life. Obviously, equipment that is cared for will last longer than equipment that is abused and neglected.

• Improved trade-in/resale value of equipment. If the equipment is to be sold or traded in, a preventive maintenance program will help keep the machine in the best possible condition, thereby maximizing its used value.
• Increased equipment reliability. By performing preventive maintenance on equipment, a firm begins to build reliability into the equipment by removing routine and avoidable breakdowns.
• Increased plant productivity. Productivity is enhanced by the decrease in unexpected machine breakdown. Also, forecast shutdown time can allow the firm to utilize alternate routings and scheduling alternatives that will minimize the negative effect of downtime.
• Fewer surprises. Preventive maintenance enables users to avoid the unexpected. Preventive maintenance does not guarantee elimination of all unexpected downtime, but empirically it has proven to eliminate most of it caused by mechanical failure.
• Reduced cycle time. If process equipment is incapable of running the product, then the time it takes to move the product through the factory will suffer.
• Increased service level for the customer and reduction in the number of defective parts. These have a positive direct effect on stock-outs, backlog, and delivery time to the customer.
• Reduced overall maintenance. By not allowing machinery to fall into a state of disrepair, overall maintenance requirements are greatly decreased.