37. Maintenance and Repair cont.

Post Maintenance Action

Consideration should be given to the actions that are necessary at the conclusion of a maintenance session to return the product into proper operational state. Any reconfiguration of the product needs identification as does post maintenance testing and inspection requirements. The need for maintenance records, action documentation and certification should be identified along with defect and problem reporting requirements.

One of the key mechanisms for early detection of problems with a product in the field is to have a problem reporting procedure available and operating during the early stages of market supply and during the early stages of product life. As the maintainer is usually the first to identify a problem, it is best to consider the trapping and reporting of all problems to the product quality control authority at the time and point of maintenance or repair

Repair

Whilst maintenance is concerned with the identification, prevention and correction of faults, the repair process is concerned with the identification and correction of the cause of a fault and return of the product into normal usage. Two general repair options are available, field repair which returns a faulty product into service in the field or base repair that requires withdrawal from use for the period required to effect the repair.

The choice of repair method is dependant upon the modularity of the product, the viability of holding sufficient spares to effect repair in the field, the availability and cost of appropriate repair and test equipment, the availability of technical expertise to effect the repair and the ability to provide technical advice and assistance.

Repair methods may incorporate elements of field and base repair strategies. Thus the field repair may include the replacement of a faulty module whilst the base repair element may include the detailed repair of the individual module. This is a common approach where product availability is a critical issue and product complexity and cost makes module repair technically difficult but economic.