Improving reliability and maintainability programs with configuration management-the next revolution

The role of configuration management to define and communicate the desired result and to control and incorporate changes to the definition throughout the product's life cycle is discussed. Configuration management provides a degree of control throughout a product's development that ensures the predictability of achieving reliability and maintainability goals as well as cost, quality, and schedule objectives. Management is often unable to visualize how elements at the beginning of product development can later require a multitude of costly changes. Aggressive reliability and maintainability targets cannot be reached in a piecemeal manner. Rather, success requires an integrated and comprehensive approach.<>