What's New in the Synthesis Version?

With the release of the Synthesis version, RCM++ offers a completely updated user interface that has many new and enhanced features. Some of the major additions and enhancements include:

New Synthesis Platform and Seamless Integration with Other Analysis Tools

With the release of the Synthesis version, the centralized databases that store your RCM and FMEA analysis projects are now accessible with any of ReliaSoft’s other Synthesis-enabled applications: Weibull++ for life data analysis, ALTA for accelerated life testing data analysis or BlockSim for system analysis using reliability block diagrams (RBDs) or fault trees. To give just a couple examples of the many integration opportunities, you can now:

Seamlessly use Weibull++, ALTA or BlockSim analyses to set the reliability/maintenance characteristics of the items you’re analyzing in RCM++. When the underlying data analyses change, the analysts can choose to automatically update the related records.
Work with the same failure modes and reliability analysis (FMRA) in both RCM++ and BlockSim. This allows you to take advantage of the more advanced system modeling capabilities in BlockSim without having to update and maintain two separate analyses.

Process Flow Diagram (PFD) Worksheet

The Synthesis version provides a new PFD Worksheet that allows you to record more details about the steps in the process, while also starting to identify the key product and process characteristics that will need to be kept under control during manufacturing. This analysis can be integrated with both the process FMEA (PFMEA) and the control plan.

Design for Reliability (DFR) Planner

The Synthesis version provides a new tool that helps you to track and manage the stages in the DFR plan for a particular system, assembly or component. The new configurable planning tool allows you to define the major and subsidiary "gates" within the process, and it also allows you to assign actions and track them in the same way that you can for "recommended actions" identified during the FMEA.

Failure Modes and Reliability Analysis (FMRA)

The new failure modes and reliability analysis (FMRA) displays all of the RCM/FMEA records that could have an impact on system reliability in a single hierarchical tree. Two of the major new capabilities facilitated by this view include:

The option to use the occurrence ratings defined in the FMEA to generate a preliminary baseline reliability estimate for the system. The software also enables you to improve the estimate later when sufficient failure data becomes available.
Direct integration with reliability block diagrams (RBDs) and fault trees in BlockSim.

Three Choices for the FMEA Structure

The software now offers a choice of three structures for the FMEA hierarchy. You can continue to use the same structure from previous versions (where the analyst chooses which effect severity rating to use for calculating each cause RPN). But now you can also choose to display causes before effects (an approach sometimes used for RCM analysis) or to display both causes and effects as direct dependents of the failure mode (where the software automatically selects the highest effect severity rating for RPN calculation).

Redesigned Properties Windows

We have completely redesigned the record properties windows in the Synthesis version to display only the fields you have chosen to enable for the project. The new interface also make it easier to build the analysis without having to open a different window for each record type.

Easier to Modify Configurable Settings

The software continues to offer extensive capabilities to configure the workspace to fit particular analysis and reporting needs and the new Synthesis version interface makes it much easier for authorized users to manage the project’s configurable properties (i.e., which fields are displayed, the options in drop-down lists, available rating scales, etc.).

Option to Undo Last Delete

The software now offers the ability to undo (cancel) the last delete action that you have performed in an analysis project. It will still ask if you want to proceed with the deletion, but now you have another opportunity to restore data that may have been deleted by mistake!

Synchronize with XFRACAS

The software now offers increased integration with XFRACAS, ReliaSoft's incident (failure) reporting, analysis and corrective action system. For any database that either contains XFRACAS tables or has a connection to external XFRACAS tables, you can import XFRACAS parts into the current project as system hierarchy items and, if desired, import the parts’ FMEA data (e.g., the quantity of reported incidents that have been attributed to each failure cause). When working with an enterprise database, you can automatically maintain an association with the items within XFRACAS.

Take Advantage of Internet Connectivity

One of the many new enhancements in the Synthesis Platform is the ability to take advantage of an active Internet connection to obtain the most up-to-date announcements, documentation and examples. Once you have registered and activated the application on your computer, Internet access is not required — you can still perform all of your analysis activities while working offline — but an Internet connection allows you to take advantage of several useful new features, including: ReliaSoft Online (up-to-date tips and announcements), Reliability Web Notes (context-sensitive access to theoretical background information for the feature you’re currently working with), Help Center (a variety of support tools – including the ability to download software updates and generate an e-mail with the details needed for technical support) and Online Help File (we will always install a static version for the times when you’re working offline, but the Internet version contains all of the latest updates to provide the information users have been looking for).