Case Study: Passenger Information Systems

Corrective Action Procedures with FavoWeb FRACAS Software

The Challenge

The Customer has found FavoWeb FRACAS system suitable for improving an existing FRACAS Process and for supporting efficient and effective corrective action and preventive action processes work flow. The work flows should be based on failure data analysis results for products used in road and rail transport. 
FRACAS system is required to provide a solution for customer return material records, receiving inspection data, related corrective or preventive action activities and for analysis tools. The analysis tools should allow tracking and detecting trends to improve quality and reliability of the products.
Deployment of the FRACAS tool must allow clarity of problems resolution process both for management and for involved personnel.

FRACAS Solution Design

The Customer's FRACAS project goal is to enable the organization to deploy FRACAS tool throughout customer returns and receiving inspection processes, to support best failure monitoring practice and to perform corrective action process.
The application must allow the users to review relevant failure data, to use analysis tools and to effectively initiate and manage corrective action process. The corrective action process covers all types of problems and enables timely management and resolution of problems.

The project should support activities of the following main user audiences at the Customer company:
• RMA Supervisors or Delegated personnel – managing support of returned units or receiving inspections and initiating corrective action process
• Quality Engineers – responsible for analysis and key participants in corrective action process
• Management personnel and reliability engineers

Major processes inputs are gathered into FavoWeb FRACAS software, processed, analyzed and produce the outputs for each audience.

FavoWeb FRACAS Process Model 

Customizing FavoWeb FRACAS for the Customer's Corrective Action Process Model

The FRACAS implementation at the Customer company includes optimized deployment of processes for both aviation and mass transit products. 

The FavoWeb system is customized for supporting records of customer returns and receiving inspection data. The FavoWeb system provides an interface to initiate corrective action activities and provides tools for performing analyses on the gathered data. 

The FRACAS system includes analysis tools such as: Pareto reports, yield reports and process-based alerts. 

FavoWeb FRACAS software contains a strong tool for report generation ("RGN"), which can include raw data and calculated expressions simultaneously, providing the Customer the best flexibility as an analysis tool.
The long-term experience of over 30 years of ALD software experts, joint with the Customer's professional engineers and analysts, defined several analyses and calculation which gives the Custoemer's technical and administrative stakeholders an easy to comprehend state of relevant statistics and data.

FavoWeb FRACAS System Forms for Easy Customization

The FRACAS system at the Custoemr company ensures that corrective action tasks are defined, their deployment and schedule are monitored, and any risk is mitigated properly.
The corrective action process implementation within the FavoWeb FRACAS system enables to: 

• Identify, record and manage any suspected problem to its effective solution   
• Manage and monitor corrective action process steps
• Support the activity of failure review boards (FRB) and material review boards (MRB)
• Receive alerts by email on any exceptions or delays in corrective action deployment

Handling a failure issue is done through a "Problem" framework, that is, giving the wide perspective of a fault which can pinpoint on a common denominator of several failures as a major issue – a problem. In such approach, heaving several corrective and preventive actions taken under one defined "Problem" makes it easier to monitor and manage.
The advantage of FavoWeb FRACAS software is the ability to adopt any set of business rules, deploy customized format and workflows to mitigate the client's processes and logics. Moreover, after being properly trained by FavoWeb FRACAS experts, the local administrator is able to perform additional customizations and enhancements as required, not necessarily need of programming skills.

Continuous Support for FavoWeb FRACAS

FavoWeb FRACAS software services has a legacy and tradition for customer care. FavoWeb FRACAS team conducts sessions and scheduled meetings (both web meetings and on client's site).
In the case of the Customer's project, the challenge of geographical distance between locations was overcome by carefully pre-planned meetings and web meetings as needed. In addition of planned on-site training, both training and technical support are available online over the web and offline, while using the professional support FavoWeb FRACAS Backoffice IT and development teams.
Support is continuously provided with spontaneous (as required) web meetings as with pre-scheduled sessions.

Case Study: Avionics and Controls

FavoWeb Software Deployment for the Large Avionics Manufacturer: A Complete Cycle of FRACAS Process

The Challenge

Using FavoWeb FRACAS software, the Customer intended to build a standard FRACAS process template customized for him, enabling the organization to progressively deploy FRACAS throughout all Customer projects and support best failure monitoring practice.
Once the FRACAS deployment is stabilized, the Customer would be able to create additional processes (such as production failures and quality process) based on the basic FRACAS process and extend progressively FRACAS deployment across the organization.
The implementation of the FRACAS process is a natural choice resulting the Customer commitment to industry standards of proper handling of failures, such as the "8D" model. See the main process concepts described in the drawing below:

Corrective Action 8D Model

Integration of business rules into one scheme

Planning implementation, ALD Software integrated several processes to an integrated scheme, which covers the following business requirements:

• RMA Request Management
• Returned Units Technical Support Management
• Corrective action process base on the Technical Evaluation process.

As described in the integrated process handling scheme:

RMA handling  flow

One of the technological challenges of many projects concerning process integrations, is the fact that it is commonly involve data from various sources. ALD Software created an integration with several data collection interfaces, such as: corporate portal, Syteline ERP and ARAS PLM platform, to gather all data needed to perform corrective action and analysis activities within FavoWeb FRACAS system.

Delivery of the FRACAS solution with FavoWeb software

After the comprehensive and carefully-planned specification of FavoWeb FRACAS solution was approved by Customer's professional referents, ALD Software team implemented and customizes the core business processes using FavoWeb software capabilities and modules:

• Return Material Authorization (RMA), returned units technical support (TTE) and Corrective Action processes – successfully implemented using the FavoWeb customized forms and workflow capability.
• Customer’s connectivity smart reports were defined and implemented using FavoWeb's data export capability.
• Legacy data and configuration data is imported to the system using FavoWeb's Import by Directory module.
• Analysis module successfully implemented, now providing various reports generated by FavoWeb software report generator module (RGN).

The result of this activity gained the Customer total control of the application lifecycle.

Heaving all data available in FavoWeb, FavoWeb FRACAS experts could now use FavoWeb Report Generator module (RGN) to create a set of reports to meet the analysis needs of the process including advanced calculations performed on the data, for example:

Pareto Report Example		MTBF Calculation Example

A usage of FavoWeb RGN module enables to customize and design the report shape and appearance, as well as support of exporting capability to several file formats such as PDF, Excel and MS-Word:

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Shaded List Report		Customized Layout

Continuous Support for FavoWeb FRACAS

FavoWeb FRACAS software services have a legacy and tradition for customer care. FavoWeb FRACAS team keeps an opened communication support channels with the customer after the "Go-Live" step of the project.

After delivery of FavoWeb FRACAS software to the Customer, FavoWeb FRACAS experts conducted on-site training for groups of users, addressing the type of users by process usage and by functionality. By this approach FavoWeb FRACAS team succeeded to promote the level of skill and confidence among the Customer's users in every day's work with the FRACAS system.

Additional guidance and consulting is given by FavoWeb FRACAS experts in the scope of post-go-live maintenance and support agreement with the Customer. Additional routine and on-demand session are held both for training and technical support. FavoWeb FRACAS team members are also available online over the web and offline, regardless of being located on different time zones.

Case Study: Railways Systems

A World Leader in Railways Systems use FavoWeb FRACAS Software for Train and Sidetrack Projects

The Challenge

The Customer selected FavoWeb FRACAS system to enable the organization to effectively deploy FRACAS throughout all Customer's projects worldwide and to support best Reliability, Availability, Maintainability (RAM) monitoring practice. FavoWeb FRACAS system is required to provide solution for a standard Customer's FRACAS processes and to support activities of train borne and trackside projects. The system should provide an adaptation option for each project and multi lingual support.

FavoWeb FRACAS project goal at the Customer company was to collect data form field events and operations,  RAM monitoring and Corrective Action processes. FavoWeb FRACAS system must be designed for supporting the activities of the following main user groups:

• Customer Care, providing support for customers and documenting failure data.
• RAM Engineering, monitoring RAM performance and promoting corrective actions, as required

Solution Design

FavoWeb FRACAS system was designed and customized for supporting several main processes:
• Collecting and documenting failure and repair data.
• RAM engineering review and classification of all relevant failure and repair events.
• Managing corrective action at any point of event handling process.
• Ensuring traceability of serial items data traceability.

The overview of FavoWeb FRACAS system design for Customer's requirements is described in the drawing below:

 FavoWeb FRACAS System Design

Get on track: Customizing FavoWeb FRACAS solution for the Customer

Combining FavoWeb FRACAS application modules with proper customization that conforms to the Customer's requirements, FavoWeb team implemented and deployed the following processes:

• Event management – Event recording process and collecting data, which includes analysis phase. Data can be inserted either manually, using customized forms or by using FavoWeb's data import module.
• Intervention management – This process deployment allows field intervention team to be notified of an event requires intervention and supply the teams with the means of reporting intervention procedures and recording repair or replacement actions.
• Units (LRUs/SRUs) – FavoWeb FRACAS software contains a module which allows to collect data of system breakdown to the level of sub-systems, LRU's, parts etc., and enable to connect this data to the relevant event / intervention and repair records.
• Corrective action process, including modules for:

• FRB (Failure Review Boards) management
• Problem management – FavoWeb FRACAS supports the definition of a group of events of common nature / symptoms as a "problem", enables to conduct a series of analyses and corrective actions towards a common solution
• Action Items (corrective or preventive).

• Serial data Traceability – the Customer required that all LRU's arriving to project site are registered in FavoWeb serial data module, along with all the relevant data. This applies to both installed units and spare units.

Product Tree ("As build")	Item Serial Data ("As maintained")

FavoWeb FRACAS contains a serial data repository where serial items data is stored. Serial data repository includes serial history module which allows recording, reviewing and analyzing location of each item at any time. A serial item installed will automatically receive installation information data from the unit that was involved in intervention.

Global Challenge: A Multi-Lingual Software

Another aspect of FavoWeb FRACAS software success is the fact that FavoWeb has a built-in multi-lingual support.  This also valid for parts in the software that were specially customized for the customer. 

In this case, having several projects around the world that are implemented in the FRACAS system, Multi-lingual support in FavoWeb FRACAS for the end user is done easily with one mouse click.
Additional languages can be added as required by the customer.

FavoWeb Continues Support

FavoWeb FRACAS software services has a legacy and tradition for customer care. FavoWeb FRACAS team conducts sessions and scheduled meetings (both web meetings and on client's site).
In the case of this Customer project, it is a greater challenge to support a worldwide enterprise with sub-projects activities in several continents. FavoWeb FRACAS team's success is due to carefully planning activities and professional experience. Both training and technical support are also available online over the web and offline, while using the professional support FavoWeb FRACAS Backoffice IT and development teams.
Support is continuously provided with spontaneous (as required) web meetings as with pre-scheduled sessions.

Case Study: Unmanned Aircraft Systems

FavoWeb Software Deployment for the Significant Customer in Defense Sector

The Challenge: Integration of multi–source data

FavoWeb FRACAS software, the Failure Reporting Analysis and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) by ALD Software Ltd., is intended to obtain raw source data from various sources within the Customer's company. Data is due to be processed and analyzed as failure and safety events occurrences at stake. So will be done for service process data during design, supply, production, operation and maintenance phases.

Data Integration & Processing Model

The raw data is gathered from various sources which have different data formats. It first needs to be processed with a "cleansing procedure" to conform it with a unified format. The initial data then be calculated and improved for further calculation and other analysis purposes.

FavoWeb FRACAS Process

During the implementation process, ALD Software Ltd. created several processes flows to gather data such as:
• Sortie Data supplied by Customer's contractors and operators.
• Maintenance Data.
• Safety Issues.
• Repair Actions.

The business flow gives an ability to analyze the data systematically using the customizable process mechanism of the FRACAS system.

The FavoWeb FRACAS Architecture

FavoWeb FRACAS Reports

A set of reports was implemented, using FavoWeb FRACAS report generator module (RGN).
RGN can include raw data and calculated expressions simultaneously. It provides the best flexibility as an analysis tool, enables to customize and design a report shape and appearance, as well as support for exporting to several file formats such as PDF, Excel and MS-Word.

Here are few examples made to meet the analysis needs of the process:

Distribution Reports	Rate Comparizons Report

List Reports 

Results

• Data Collection Flows successfully created.
• Calculations and cleansing process on the initial data successfully implemented.
• Analysis module successfully implemented.
• Set of customized reports created upon customer’s requirements and specification.
• Legacy data and Configuration data imported to the system.
• Gained total control of the application lifecycle by the customer.

After implementing the data processes ALD Software Ltd. created a Problem Management (Corrective Action), which assists on establishment of the identifying, tracking and complete investigation of the problem.

The process flow was defined and implemented using FavoWeb FRACAS modules according to Customer's methodology and requirements, starting with definition of a problem (identification of several failures which have common characteristics), through risk assessment and corrective action establishment, ending with effectiveness and verification:

Corrective Action Process

Assimilating Special Feature: Risk Assessment Procedure

FavoWeb FRACAS system has the advantage of customization flexibility, enabling a variety of business processes to be implemented in the system. 

One example of this advantage is the implementation of the risk assessment logic for Customer's corrective action process.

FavoWeb FRACAS team build the classic methodology of risk matrix in the system, allowing to classify a problem criticality according to the level of severity and the frequency parameters for each case.

Once parameters are set, FavoWeb FRACAS system set the risk level assessment automatically – according to the pre-defined business rules, in this case – calculating the level of severity and the frequency according to the matrix.

Continuous Support for FavoWeb FRACAS

FavoWeb FRACAS software services have a legacy and tradition for customer care. FavoWeb FRACAS team keeps an opened communication support channels with the customer after the "Go-Live" step of the project.

After delivery of FavoWeb FRACAS software to the Customer, FavoWeb FRACAS experts conducted on-site training for groups of users, addressing the type of users by process usage and by functionality. By this this approach FavoWeb FRACAS team succeeded to promote the level of skill and confidence among the users in every day's work with the FRACAS system.

Additional routine and on-demand session are held both for training and technical support. FavoWeb FRACAS team members are also available online over the web and offline, regardless of being located on different time zones.