SURFACE JA1010

ISSUED
OCT2000
VEHICLE
400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001
STANDARD Issued 2000-10

Submitted for recognition as an American National Standard

Maintainability Program Standard

Foreword—In March 1997, the SAE G-11 Reliability, Maintainability, Supportability, and Logistics (RMSL) Division
standards section chartered a subcommittee to create a maintainability program standard. The subcommittee was
formed from a representative cross-section of commercial industries and military (DOD and Government). In
response to that charter, this standard has been developed.

The subcommittee has endeavored to develop a standard that would reflect current commercial and military
practices and meet the objectives of the United States Department of Defense Acquisition reform initiative. This
performance-based standard was developed in recognition of today’s intense and competitive market demands for
world class maintainability, low cost, and speed to market.

This standard relies heavily upon the supplier-customer dialogue, and it intentionally allows suppliers great
freedom to uniquely tailor maintainability programs. However, it was recognized that, in addition to the
requirements of this standard, guidance for developing maintainability programs is frequently required.
Consequently, the subcommittee has also been chartered to produce a Maintainability Program Standard
Implementation Guide, which sets forth current, world class proven maintainability best practices and provides
activities and processes that may be used to satisfy the requirements of this standard. In addition, the Standard
and Implementation Guide are intended to become part of a set of comprehensive RMSL program and task
standards planned by the G-11 Division to replace selected Military Standards and Specifications.

The professionals in the subcommittee gratefully acknowledge the support from their companies and from the
many individuals and organizations, who made contributions and provided recommendations to the subcommittee.

1. Scope

1.1 Purpose—This SAE Standard establishes the requirement for suppliers to plan a maintainability program that
satisfies the following three requirements:

The supplier and customer shall reach agreement on program requirements.

The supplier shall meet customer requirements.
The supplier shall assure that customer requirements have been met.

1.2 Applicability—This document applies to activities related to the specification, design, development, and
assurance of any system (hardware and/or software) product or processes.

SAE Technical Standards Board Rules provide that: “This report is published by SAE to advance the state of technical and engineering sciences. The use of this report is entirely
voluntary, and its applicability and suitability for any particular use, including any patent infringement arising therefrom, is the sole responsibility of the user.”

SAE reviews each technical report at least every five years at which time it may be reaffirmed, revised, or cancelled. SAE invites your written comments and suggestions.

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Copyright 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
 SAE JA1010 Issued OCT2000

1.3 Tailoring—This document does not specify the activities, tasks or methods to be included in the program.
Rather, the content of each program must be tailored to satisfy customer requirements using the most
appropriate means.

2. References

2.1 Related Publications—The following publications are provided for information purposes only and are not a
required part of this document.

2.1.1 SAE PUBLICATIONS—Available from SAE, 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001.

SAE JA1010-1 (Draft)—Maintainability Program Standard Implementation Guide

SAE JA1004—Software Supportability Program Standard

2.1.2 MILITARY PUBLICATIONS—Available from DODSSP, Subscripton Services Desk, Building 4D, 700 Robins
Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094.

MIL-HDBK-470A Designing and Developing Maintainability Products and Systems (Volumes I and II)

3. Definitions

3.1 Activity—A defined action that uses one or more methods to satisfy a maintainability program requirement.

3.2 Customer—The recipient of a product (e.g., the customer may be the purchaser, beneficiary, ultimate
consumer or user.)

3.3 Life Cycle—A series of stages a product or process passes through during its lifetime, from concept through
decommission.

3.4 Process—A series of activities leading to a desired result.

3.5 Product—The output of a process.

3.6 Qualification—Activities that constitute formal evidence the product or process specifications have met
customer requirements, including quantitative and qualitative measures.

3.7 Maintainability—Maintainability is a characteristic of design, installation, and operation, usually expressed as

the probability that an item can be retained in, or restored to, a specific operating condition within a specified
interval of time, when maintenance is performed in accordance with prescribed procedures and resources.

NOTE—In some industries, such as automotive, maintainability is referred to as serviceability.

3.8 Requirement

a. Customer Requirements—The expressed or inferred needs and wants that a customer desires from a
product.
b. Product Requirements—Acceptable levels of specific performance parameters for a given set of
conditions.
c. Program Requirements—The three requirements identified in 1.1.

3.9 Resources—The means available to an organization for developing a product or process including, but not
limited to, materials, facilities, personnel, capital, time, equipment, hardware, and software.

3.10 Supplier—An organization, either internal or external, that provides a product or service to a customer.

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3.11 Task—An assigned piece of work to be accomplished within a specified time.

4. Program Requirements

4.1 The Supplier Shall Ascertain Customer Requirements—The maintainability program shall contain
documented activities to ensure that customer requirements are fully understood and defined. Customer
requirements shall include, but are not limited to, conditions of use, operating environment, maintenance
concept, service requirements, and product specifications.

4.1.1 ESTABLISH SUPPLIER-CUSTOMER DIALOGUE—A documented supplier-customer dialogue shall be initiated, no

later than conceptual design and prior to development of the maintainability program, to establish mutually
understood requirements. Where requirements are not known, assumptions of requirements shall be made
by the supplier, verified by the customer, and mutually agreed upon.

4.1.2 IDENTIFY CONDITIONS OF USE—The supplier, with input from the customer, shall identify all relevant product
usage information for all stages of its life cycle, operational profile, environment conditions, resources
required, and any maintenance and service policies, which are used in determining maintainability
requirements.

4.1.3 DEFINE MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE—The supplier and customer shall mutually agree upon any maintenance
and service requirements.

4.1.4 ESTABLISH METRICS—Metrics, which assesses the ability of the product to meet customer requirements, shall
be identified by the supplier and agreed upon by the customer. These metrics shall be tracked throughout
the program.

4.1.5 DEVELOP PRODUCT SPECIFICATION—The supplier and customer shall mutually agree upon a product or
process specification, which adequately reflects the intended performance and use of the product.

4.1.6 OPERATING ENVIRONMENT—The supplier, with input from the customer, shall identify all available product,
mission, and life cycle environment conditions necessary for product/processes maintainability.

4.2 The Supplier Shall Meet Customer Requirements—The maintainability program shall contain activities to
ensure customer requirements are met.

4.2.1 CHARACTERIZE RESOURCES—The supplier shall identify the resources, including their capabilities, used in
developing the product. The supplier and customer shall mutually agree upon the level of detail required to
document resources.

4.2.2 ASSESS AND MANAGE RISK—On an on-going basis, the supplier shall evaluate program risks to identify
program risks to the customer. The supplier shall restructure the maintainability program, with customer
concurrence to reduce risks to an acceptable level.

4.2.3 DESIGN TO ACHIEVE MAINTAINABILITY—The supplier shall determine appropriate maintainability design and
development methods for the maintainability program. When selecting methods, product performance, cost,
and schedule shall be considered.

4.3 The Supplier Shall Assure That Customer Requirements Have Been Met—The maintainability program
shall contain activities to assure that customer requirements have been met.

4.3.1 QUALIFY THE PRODUCT AND PROCESS—The supplier shall select appropriate methods for product and
process qualification.

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4.3.2 ESTABLISH PROCESS CONTROL—Process monitor and controls shall be established to ensure continuous
conformance to requirements.

4.3.3 PURSUE CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT—Process improvement activities shall be established to

continuously reduce variation.

4.3.4 ESTABLISH DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING—The supplier and customer shall agree upon methodology to
continuously assess product maintainability and cost effectiveness.

5. Program Elements—The supplier shall prepare and implement a maintainability program to satisfy the three
requirements identified in 1.1. The Maintainability Program shall be mutually agreed upon by the customer
and supplier, and should include the following elements:

a. Organization and Management

1. Organization and management of maintainability program including the interactions/interfaces with
other appropriate organizations/disciplines.
2. Schedule/duration of the activities/tasks.
3. Indication of critical activities.
4. Resource allocation (including planned customer supplied resources such as, but not limited to,
proving grounds and test facilities, maintenance and/or service facilities, support equipment, etc.)
5. Method of reconciling issues when requirements are not met or cost effective.

b. Program Description

1. Program milestones (including interfaces with program management).

2. Description of the activities/tasks.
3. Quantitative maintainability models pertinent to the program.
4. Maintainability methodology used, either quantitative or qualitative used to influence the design.

c. Program Documentation

1. Evidence that requirements have been met.

2. Documentation of the rationale for program changes.

PREPARED BY THE SAE G-11 MAINTAINABILITY PROGRAM STANDARD SUBCOMMITTEE

OF THE SAE G-11 MAINTAINABILITY COMMITTEE

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Rationale—Not applicable.

Relationship of SAE Standard to ISO Standard—Not applicable.

Application—This document applies to activities related to the specification, design, development, and
assurance of any system (hardware and/or software) product or processes.

Reference Section

SAE JA1010-1 (Draft)—Maintainability Program Standard Implementation Guide

SAE JA1004—Software Supportability Program Standard

MIL-HDBK-470A—Designing and Developing Maintainability Products and Systems (Volumes I and II)

Developed by the SAE G-11 Maintainability Program Standard Subcommittee

Sponsored by the SAE G-11 Maintainability Committee