OVERVIEW

The level of maintenance ( LOM) assigned to restore or condemn a system or component is based upon many physical characteristics. Typically, an economic Repair Level Analysis (RLA) model (for example, ORLA, NRLA, LORA, JAM, and so on) is used after an exhaustive technical screening process to provide a repair decision based only on economic factors. Non-economic factors to be considered first are:

• Mission success criticality and effectiveness

• Constraints on existing support structure

• Special transportation factors

• Technical feasibility of repair

• Deployment mobility

• Human factors

• Security

• Safety

• Policy

Many of the commonly used Life Cycle Cost (LCC) inputs are employed to determine the costs associated with repair at the Intermediate and Depot levels of maintenance, along with a Discard-at-Failure option. These repair costs are then compared with the item's current replacement cost to determine either the most economic repair level or whether to discard the item at failure. RLA models are typically deterministic type computer models.

The RLA model is useful throughout an acquisition program. However, the most economic benefits are derived early in the design phase in order to force the design of an item toward a specific maintenance concept. Additional RLAs are performed periodically to ensure that prices and data do not change the recommended concepts. RLA decisions are not "set in stone" but are just another tool analysts use to recommend and justify various repair concepts before committing large sums of money to design and maintenance efforts.

In a typical RLA model, various customer supplied...