World-class supply chain reliability in general aviation

Abstract

The overall objective of design for reliability is to ensure that the final product will be economically reliable. This means that the product's observed reliability has been established with consideration of life cycle costs. These costs include the acquisition cost, scheduled maintenance cost, unscheduled maintenance cost and the cost of failures. Cessna Aircraft Company has developed a model that is used to track the performance of each component, not only based on historical field history, but based on what matters most to the customers, the life cycle cost. This very simple model enables the design and procurement teams to evaluate options, prioritize resources and provides feedback very quickly to the design team during the design process as to which issues need to be addressed first.