Reliability, Maintainability, Safety, and Sustainability

This chapter presents modeling and analysis of the reliability, maintainability, safety, and resilience of manufacturing and automation systems and its elements. It serves as a guide during the design and operation of highly “reliable” automation systems. It discusses reliability metrics for both non-repairable and repairable systems. The maintainability of the system and methods for its improvements are presented. The reliability and safety of the systems are intertwined and approaches for the minimization of the effect of system failures on its production output and safety are also discussed. The reliability metrics are then extended to include the impact of the system’s failure due to external hazards on its performance by introducing resilience measures. The ability of the system to “absorb” the impact of the hazards and the ability to quickly recover to its normal performance level are captured in the quantification of its resilience.