Relex

Relex represents the complete packet of analytical methods including means of forecasting of reliability, modeling of systems, the analysis of character and effects of failures, assessment and prevention of risks, the analysis of cost of lifecycle and means of statistical data processing. Besides, Relex promotes elimination of errors, improvement of decision making processes and increase in effective management of costs. The software package supports Russian and also the Microsoft Windows interface, environments of the Microsoft SQL Express, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle databases.

In 2009 the RTS company purchased Relex, having made quality management processes a part of the PLM system as the question of product quality mentions practically all stages of lifecycle and the key people involved. And now a management system for lifecycle of quality (Quality Lifecycle Management, QLM) which is built on the basis of Relex software, is natural continuation of PLM. The management system for lifecycle of quality (QLM) represents the formalized and systematic solution for management of all aspects of quality, reliability and security of a product based on the methods which are completely integrated into product lifecycle and providing all the participants working on product quality with sufficient information.^[1]

Ensuring quality of products is a multilateral task for the enterprise of discrete production. The software solution Relex will be useful for producers of the different industries: mechanical engineering, aircraft, instrument making and so forth. In the company departments of product development, departments of tests and testing, aftersales service and service, warranty departments will become interested in similar solutions.

Often quality management is necessary in such regulated industries as the medical equipment and also in the companies which use such initiatives of quality as Six Sigma, APQP, CMMI, and ISO9000/9001.

Relex is necessary for those companies which apply difficult technologies in the products and also that who is obliged to ensure safety of the products. For example, the new model of the Boeing-787 airplane consists more than of 132 thousand parts made at 540 plants worldwide. Such complexity does reliability analysis very necessary, especially if failure to follow such analysis at any enterprise can threaten human life. What will be if the pacemaker suddenly refuses? And if on the highway car brakes refuse? If chassis of the passenger liner do not reveal? As in such products difficult technologies (electrical equipment, electronics, communication) are applied, reliability analysis is an obligatory process step of ensuring success of a product.

Reliability analysis of products is important in many cases. Among them – problem solving of the growing complexity a product. At the same time development and accomplishment of the projects saturated with information technologies, as a rule, is performed by separation of functions of the device into ten or more components or nodes, each of which is projected by separate group of designers and managers. Also reliability analysis needs to be carried out for security of products, compliance to customer requirements and maintenance of competitive differences.

Relex helps to solve such problems as production of the highest quality, achievement of the maximum employment duration of a product due to compliance to requirements of the quality standards, observance of warranty obligations concerning operability of products. Also this solution will help when passing internal and international certifications, in need of observance of regulatory requirements to documentation. Besides, with its help it is possible to eliminate errors, to improve decision making processes and to increase effective management of costs.

The software solution Relex gives an opportunity to producers to solve problems of reliability and quality at early stages of product lifecycle, the packet of Relex increases competitiveness and degree of customer satisfaction and also promotes observance of the state and industry standards, strengthening both a brand, and reputation of the company.

Relex represents the most complete packet of analytical methods including means of forecasting of reliability, modeling of systems, the analysis of character and effects of failures, assessment and prevention of risks, the analysis of cost of lifecycle and means of statistical data processing. Relex includes ten separate analytical modules.

• The module Reliability Prediction (the forecast of reliability) is used to reliability assessment of products at early design stages, to identification of pacing factors of failures, impact assessment of the environment and load of a system and also to quick search of compromise design solutions.
• The module OpSim (optimization and modeling) helps to carry out reliability analysis, availability, performances and the cost of service life of complex systems.
• The module FMEA (the analysis of character and effects of failures) allows analysts to reveal and classify failures and also to develop and implement plans for their elimination.
• The module Fault Tree (tree of faults) makes quantitative assessment of risk factors and reliability of a system, allowing to make decisions on construction, maintenance and management for the purpose of decrease in probability of failures.
• The module FRACAS (recording system of failures, the analysis and corrective actions) implements a reverse flow of data from the place of operation of a product to design engineers, promoting improvement of future products.
• The module Weibull (Veybull's distribution) reveals trends of failures and predicts their character.
• The module Maintainability Prediction (forecasting of maintainability) allows to carry out the analysis of indicators of maintenance and repair of any systems and to predict terms, labor costs of service staff and a set of other parameters of service.
• The module Markov (the analysis of a Markov process) carries out calculations of key indicators of work and reliability of complex systems.
• The module Life Cycle Cost (cost analysis during product lifecycle) predicts the cost of ownership of a product during all service life.
• The module Human Factors Risk Analysis (risk analysis, caused by a human factor) simplifies the analysis of any processes connected with errors which are caused by a human factor and helps to estimate and prevent the corresponding risks.

Relex represents tool kit where each module is focused on accomplishment of certain tasks. For this reason the software solution has a possibility of individual preference and meets the unique requirements of each client that allows the customer to construct the analysis system of reliability. Under the needs.

At the same time modules of reliability assurance Relex work in a complex and allow to solve a set of problems of risks assessment, quality improvement and ensuring high reliability of products. All analysis results of reliability are stored in the centralized storage, the data received using one method can be used in the subsequent analysis using other methods that increases the value of data, at the same time saving their integrity.

Each module has advantages and unique tools, and thanks to the single database all key metrics and indicators are available to any analytical method which you will shave the customer from Relex packet: top-10 failures and errors, the loudspeaker of faults, a risk matrix, temporary difference between detection of failure and corrective actions, the cost of warranty service of each goods, etc.

All key modules have tools of the forecast of reliability, using standard methodology of assessment of deniability of systems. RTS of Relex has tools risk analysis and process managements in the module FMEA. Or possibilities of development and the analysis of an advanced system of design taking into account spare parts, service and costs using OpSim (Optimization and Modelling) where difficult charts of blocks of reliability (RBDs) enter. Or one of the modules Relex FRACAS which are most demanded today which allows to eliminate errors in products and systems and also to analyze faults, registering data on malfunctions and simplifying implementation of the closed process of corrective actions, such as 7Step, 8D, APQP. Further these main modules can be complemented with opportunities forecasting of maintainability, Veybull's distribution, Markov's analysis, cost analysis during product lifecycle, etc.

As the question of product quality mentions practically all stages of lifecycle and the key people involved, quality management is natural continuation of PLM. So, the software package Relex should be implemented in information space of the enterprise – in a product data management system (PDM), and ideally in a management system for vital quality. Fortunately Relex are seamlessly integrated with the solution of RTS Windchill PLM, providing to the companies a uniform source of reliable information on a product that integrates information on product development with crucial information on quality at each stage of lifecycle. Moreover, Relex will be included as the module QualityLink into the new version of PLM from RTS - Windchill 10 which will leave already on April 4, 2011.

In principle Relex allows to solve pressing problems of almost all verticals of the industry – aircraft, military industrial complex, shipbuilding, etc. The large Russian companies expand the business, setting up cooperation at the international level. And it means, they should turn out products conforming to international standards, to build quality management processes of products. Similar standards, such as - HBK-217, Telcordia, FIDES, etc. are already put in Relex, here we can be especially useful to our Russian clients. Now we add to the software product the Russian standards, in particular GOST, an exit of updates is planned for the near future. For Russian-speaking users we already completely localized the interface.