Track 2 Session 4
2:20 to 3:20 p.m. Wednesday March 26, 2008

Successful Reliability Growth Using the FRACAS Process

Customer requirements in the railway industry often include a short delivery time combined with a desired stable performance of the vehicle from day one, because the passenger operation shall start immediately. However, looking in the past, most train projects include an unplanned reliability growth period of a few months up to a few years. Bombardier Transportation uses RAM/LCC (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability/Life Cycle Cost) and FRACAS (Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action System) processes to achieve reliable trains. This presentation includes experiences from using RAM/LCC and FRACAS processes and tools.

The case study, which involves a product that was not fulfilling the reliability requirements after some years in operation, exemplifies how the FRACAS process is used in practice to systematically improve product reliability and finally to comply with reliability targets. Lessons learned include topics such as customer trust and satisfaction, project teamwork, data collection and management, reliability growth forecasts, modification planning and feedback of lessons learned to the next project. The issues discussed had a significant impact on the project, which finally lead to success and customer satisfaction.