Advanced test development to

improve diagnostic engineering.

There are four major objectives of diagnostic engineering and advanced test development has
to play a crucial role in the fulfilment of these objectives. Though data interoperability between
heterogeneous reliability analysis tools & products presents a challenge from and between
subsystem designs, the objectives at the integrated system or fielded product level
(Availability, Cost of Ownership, Mission/Operational Success and Safety) remain unmoved.

1) Increased Availability
2) Reduced Cost of Ownership
3) Mission or Operational Success (Reliability)
4) Improved Safety

These 4 objectives may not be particularly determined in a Design or Sustainment

Requirements note. But moreover, the trading or balancing of these objectives would be
discovered by the end-user or customer. The product manufacturer must keep in mind to what
extent it can evolve a product that can meet or exceed such needs of the customer without
resulting into product development or sustainment costs.

Designing for test, testability, sustainment, etc. should be a manifold disciplinary-inclusive

process without design domain fences. The activity must exist as an effectual and
comprehensive approach that always keeps an eye of the sustainment objectives and thereby
leads to the formation of a by-product knowledge-base.
Since the goal of Design For Testability was meant to be to Develop for the Sustainment
lifecycle during Design Development, any DFT activity would need the gathering, restructuring
and organization of the DFT data for any and all of the designs including the system AND how
each design is interrelated to any other design(s) within a fielded product (Integrated
System).

When sole focus in on any independent design, advanced test development is extremely
necessary and can be immensely valuable. But for an interdependent design, the consciousness
of the entire functional scope of all designs that may have been created by other design teams
or organizations is equally important consideration as design intricacy and envisioned
operational sophistication increases. As independently developed designs are combined into
larger designs, it is generally the case that assemblies, subsystems or the fielded product,
cannot decisively count on the selective DFT activities performed completely for each
independent lower-level designs. Thus, it is too often found that the independently-applied DFT
to any exclusive design piece is no longer equally appropriate for its manufacturing value, when
analysed from the fielded product and supportability aspect. Unless the (functional and
failure) interrelationships for each independent design are established in an integrated systems
diagnostic architecture, the utility of DFT for enhancing the operational availability of the
fielded product is subject to being unintentionally overthrown.