ASTM F2446-04(2018)

4.1 Capturing high quality RAM performance data requires careful and consistent collection of equipment failure and repair data, operating hours, and repair time. A standard hierarchy of equipment boundaries has been needed for machinery data exchange among the stakeholders in shipbuilding, ship classification, and ship operations.

4.2 Industry and government will use a world standard method for setting the hierarchy of indentures and boundaries required for assigning failure and repair events to equipment for the tracking and calculation of equipment RAM performance.

4.3 Agreed boundaries and equipment identifiers make it possible to share equipment data among organizations, benchmark equipment performance, perform modeling and simulation of current and proposed systems, or use performance data to improve operations of commercial and naval vessels.

4.4 RAM analysis is primarily based on the observation of individual components among which identical items contribute to the same data sample. This classification is designed to be used for the identification of individual (unique) components in such a way that identical components can be identified within a given data sample.

1.1 This classification is to serve as an international standard for marine equipment nomenclature, taxonomy, hierarchical data structure, unique identifiers, and boundary definition for the consistent acquisition and exchange of equipment RAM performance data. The standard addresses the classification of mechanical and software products.

1.2 RAM in an acronym for Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability where:

1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.4 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.