This handbook provides "how to" guidance to industry and government for the reliability Activities and Methods contained in ANSI/GEIA-STD-0009 for developing reliable products and systems, successfully demonstrating them during test and evaluation, and sustaining them throughout the system/product life cycle.

ANSI/GEIA-STD-0009 requires the developers and customer/users working as a team to plan and implement a reliability program that provides systems/products that satisfy the user's requirements and expectations using a systems engineering approach. The four Objectives of ANSI/GEIA-STD-0009 are listed below:

Objective 1

: Understand Customer/User Requirements and constraints. The team (developer, customer, and user), includes the Activities necessary to ensure that the user's requirements and product needs are fully understood and defined, so that a comprehensive design specification and Reliability Program Plan are generated.

Objective 2

: Design and redesign for reliability. The developer implements a set of engineering Activities so that the resulting system/product satisfies the customer's documented requirements and needs.

Objective 3

: Produce reliable systems/products. The developer performs the Activities that assure the customer that the reliability requirements and product needs have been satisfied.

Objective 4:

Monitor and assess user reliability. The team establishes a closed-loop feedback method for continuous monitoring of reliability trends and incorporation of recommended improvements (corrective actions).

ANSI/GEIA-STD-0009 and this Handbook define a systematic approach to engineering a system/product, incorporating best practices that have evolved considerably in recent years.

Figure 1.1-1

shows the four objectives, defined in Section 1.4.2 of ANSI/GEIA-STD-0009, and is a defense industry example of the interaction of the Objectives, supporting Activities and Methods, and strategies for reliable system design in the acquisition cycle.

The four Objectives in ANSI/GEIA-STD-0009 have Activities associated with them. These Activities are further developed in this Handbook as shown in

Figure 1.1-2 . The four objectives of the standard are shown on the left and the derived activities in the handbook are on the right.