Synthesis: Integration to Empower the Reliability Organization
With the release of Version 8, RCM++ has been integrated into the ground-breaking new Synthesis Platform, which offers reliability practitioners the best of both worlds: analysis tools that are optimized to fully meet the individual user's needs for a particular set of analysis methods, plus integration into a centralized repository that is shared by users throughout the organization and facilitates integration between analysis tools.
Connecting the Synthesis Elements
Your interaction with each Synthesis application will be similar to your experience with previous versions -- each application continues to be a full-featured tool that has been expertly designed to meet your needs for all aspects of the analysis methodology. But now it is easier than ever to share relevant information between applications and analyses.
Specifically for RCM++, the Synthesis Platform gives you the ability to:
- Use resources that were created in Weibull++, ALTA or BlockSim to define the reliability/maintenance characteristics in your RCM++ analysis.
- Synchronize the system configuration and failure mode data from your RCM++ analysis with reliability block diagrams or fault trees in BlockSim. This allows you to obtain a more realistic system model and perform more complex analyses to explore system reliability, maintainability, throughput, life cycle costs, etc.
Centralized Data Storage and Flexible Permissions
RCM++ continues to offer centralized data storage that allows multiple users to work cooperatively on analysis projects. A special "enterprise" license/installation is no longer necessary — in Version 8, all users can choose which type of database will provide the back-end data storage for any given repository:
A
Standard Repository is easy to create and maintain without any
special IT infrastructure or support. This built-in relational database file
format (*.rsrp) -- which requires nothing extra to
buy or install -- can be placed on your own computer
for a single-user implementation or in a network location that's accessible
to multiple users.
An Enterprise Repository requires implementation of Microsoft SQL
Server® or Oracle®, but it is a more robust platform that can store much
more analysis information in the same database and supports access by many
more simultaneous users. (Licensing, support and maintenance for SQL
Server®/Oracle® are not included with Synthesis. Express versions
of these database platforms are also supported. )
Single-user, multi-user or enterprise... you decide! [Learn more...]
Personalized Portal for Messages and Action Tracking
Synthesis makes coordinating projects easier by giving users a common interface for posting messages and tracking completion of assigned actions.
The Synthesis repository can be configured to enable e-mail notifications that serve to alert members of the team when relevant messages or actions are created or updated. You also have the option to send actions to your calendar in Microsoft Outlook®.
Enhanced, Easy-to-Use Interface with Internet Connectivity
All Synthesis applications offer a completely updated user interface with an "Office 2010" look and feel, and many usability enhancements. Some of the most useful include the ability to check-in/check-out portions of the analysis, "baselines" that allow you to restore or roll back to a previous stage in the analysis, and more flexible tools to organize and manage analysis projects.
Whenever possible, the new interface takes advantage of an active Internet connection to deliver the most up-to-date announcements, documentation and theoretical resources. For example:
- The new ReliaSoft Online panel provides up-to-date tips and announcements each time you start the application, and on demand when you need them.
- The context-sensitive Reliability Web Notes panel automatically delivers theoretical background information for the feature you’re currently working with, including links to related examples, articles and other resources.
- The new Help Center provides quick access to a variety of support tools, including the ability to automatically download software updates and generate an e-mail with the details needed for technical support.
