In recent years the subject of reliability in its truest sense (numerical evaluation) has been under considerable criticism by some Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) commentators. This is considered to be due in part to poor application by many practitioners and a lack of understanding of the benefits of many of the reliability engineering techniques available. This is particularly true of the understanding of the value of R&M modelling by managers and decision makers within the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The author considers that it is important that the R&M community re-establish the reasons for and benefits of R&M modelling and "the numbers game" as it is sometimes called by its detractors. This paper is particularly focused on the recent successful application of a rigorous mechanism to assist contractual agreement of R&M (or availability) performance by combination of an availability Model with an effective Data Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action System (DRACAS).
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