Life Cycle Cost Analysis for a Reliability Engineer

The investment in creating a reliable product pays dividends during the operation of the equipment or system.

The ability to estimate future savings or costs based on reliability engineering is key. Minimizing lifecycle cost occurs with reliability.

The concept of a product or system life cycle is not new.

We, as reliability engineers, encourage the investment early in the lifecycle for the eventual payoff (benefit) later during the lifecycle.

We employ design for reliability, robustness, and process control techniques, and many others, to ensure the system operates as reliably as possible. Yet, there is a cost to operate any complex system.

Maintenance, spares, and downtime to name a few. Early in the lifecycle just how do we estimate the benefits the suggested reliability improvement may create?

Let’s explore estimating the total lifecycle costs for a complex system from the point of view of a reliability engineer. Join me in a discussion on what to consider and how to estimate future costs while working early in the program.

You need to know this even if your system is not complex or repairable.

This Accendo Reliability webinar originally broadcast on 19 April 2016.