scope:

This Standard outlines guidelines for the selection and implementation of reliability and maintainability activities, appropriate to each of the defined phases of the life of industrial and commercial products in all technologies.

This Standard provides management guidelines for establishing reliability and maintainability programmes applicable in varying degrees to the complete life cycle of industrial.and commercial products, where products may include both hardware and software.

It is intended to serve as a general standard on technical aspects of reliability and maintainability. Procedures for accomplishing the maintenance support activities of reliability and maintainability programmes are contained in publications published by sources referenced in the Introduction to RAM. If any inconsistency exists between the contract requirements and this document, the contract requirements shall prevail.

These guidelines are applicable to large organizations as well as to small companies. They also apply to manufacturers and users ranging from major systems to components. At the same time, it is the objective of this Standard to allow companies to select and implement basic minimum action for products where the customer does not state a specific reliability or maintainability requirement in quantitative terms, but nevertheless expects a reliable and maintainable product at a minimum life cycle cost to him.