METHODOLOGY FOR AN ECONOMIC-ASSESSMENT OF A RELIABILITY ASSURANCE WARRANTY PROGRAM (RAWP)

The methodology for an economic assessment of a Reliability Assurance Warranty Program (RAWP) presented in this paper allows maintenance costs to be projected for the life of a program with and without RAWP. The methodology makes use of relationships outlined in MIL-HDBK-189 and combines them with repair cost estimation to present a unique picture of how maintenance costs can change over product life. This specifically allows the value of a RAWP program to be assessed and meaningful decisions made as to its merits. Where the costs associated with a Reliability Assurance Warranty Program (RAWP) are equal to or less than those without a RAWP, a RAWP will be cost effective. This will generally occur where the initial system reliability is much lower than the desired reliability. Conversely, where the initial system reliability is equal to or only slightly lower than the desired reliability, the RAWP will generally not be cost effective.