ITEM ToolKit

Key features:

• 6 different Derating standards for prediction
• 4 different failure rate Allocation models for prediction
• Defense Microelectronic Activity (DMEA) support in MIL-217
• User defined connection types for MIL-217
• Cross-module Linking and Transfer
• Global failure model library between Fault Tree, RBD, and Event Tree modules
• Time phasing function in Fault Tree
• 3 different Event Importance measures
• Critical Path discovery and cut set ranking by multiple parameters
• 15 different, universally accepted failure model distributions for Fault Tree, RBD, and Event Tree
• Implicit and explicit Common Cause Failure modeling
• Dynamic modeling with Markov model linking to Fault Tree and RBD diagrams
• Multiple FMEA standards supported: MIL-1629A, ISO 9000, IEC 61508
• Top-down and bottom-up Design, Process, functional, or system FMEA's supported
• and many more... some specific to a module, others global within ToolKit

Flexible, Easy-to-Use Interface for Viewing and Editing

An easy-to-use User Interface makes it faster and easier to maneuver throughout your project or system. You can view your Project or System information in a tabular grid, dialog box, hierarchy tree, chart or graph. You can also control the size and position of any window with standard Windows® functions.

New project or system data can be added via the hierarchy tree, dialog box or in tabular grid. Editing is as simple as a click on any of the standard options such as cut, copy, paste, and drag and drop.

Advanced Grid / Tabular View

You can add, edit and display the system information and structure in a grid, or “spreadsheet”, view. Using filters and adding additional columns, you can customize this view to represent your system as you wish. Use this table as a report by simply dragging the table to Microsoft® Excel, to share your analysis information with others.

Powerful Chart and Graph Wizard

ITEM ToolKit offers a wide variety of charts and graphs for viewing systems and project data in a graph / chart format. You can choose to generate the charts automatically within ITEM ToolKit, or by using the Chart Wizard and Edit Graph functions, generating custom style charts. You can also save chart displays as image files for use in reports and presentations.

User Defined Custom Libraries

Analyze your system once and create multiple custom libraries containing components and block information, failure modes, cause and effects, events and fault trees. ITEM ToolKit allows you to create and use multiple libraries at the same time. This time saving feature will shorten the time for constructing new systems. The analyzed components, events or blocks can simply be added to a new system by using the drag and drop or copy and paste feature. Data can also be imported into ITEM ToolKit projects as well as libraries.

Import/Export Facilities

With ITEM ToolKit’s user-defined import and export facility, you can easily transfer any, or all, project information to your analysis. Data can move seamlessly to and from Bill of Materials (BOM), Excel, Access, text and comma delimited file formats. You can also create and save import and export templates for repeated use, as well as interact with external databases. The result is an incomparable time saving over manual data entry.

Hierarchy Diagrams

Users can interactively construct hierarchy diagrams that represent the structure of a system at various levels. As new components are added to the system, each module automatically calculates and updates all dependent and overall system results.

Customizable Reports

Choose from a variety of preformatted standard reports or design your own with text, diagrams or graphs that you can preview or print directly.

Advance Transfer and Link Facility: A Great Time Saver

Eliminate errors and save time from re-entering data by transferring data from one analysis to another. Analyze your system with one type of analysis then transfer and link it to another type of analysis. This saves time from recreating the same system under another analysis, and it also eliminates errors in re-entering the data. For example; create and analyze a system under the MIL-217 module and transfer the same system to a FMECA or Fault Tree analysis. The system hierarchy is created effortlessly and all relevant information is transferred and updated every time you change or update your MIL-217 analysis.

Advanced Hybrid Linking and Modeling

ITEM ToolKit’s hybrid linking and modeling features allow the result of any analysis to be automatically fed into an event in a Fault Tree or a block in a Reliability Block Diagram.

This feature is most useful where a simple model cannot determine the event or the failure of a block, and a more complex analysis has to be performed.

Information Display Management / Sort Option

Specify exactly what type of information is to be displayed in the project, system, library and diagram windows. View and display as much, or as little, of the detailed information such as part numbers, description, failure rate, MTBF or unavailability, or simply your analysis results. Sort the information in numerous ways: by name, by part number, by failure rate, by contribution, by category etc. A great tool for determining and listing items with high failure rates or low MTBF, or listing items by part number etc.

The Most Flexible and Scalable Reliability and Risk Software available

ITEM ToolKit offers the scalability that every user and organization has in mind. Total integration of ITEM Toolkit allows you to take advantage of one or multiple analyses at the same time. Keeping track of your product life cycle and project management are among the many benefi ts to such a capable application suite as ITEM ToolKit.

Special Topics

Managing a Product Life Cycle

As children, building go-carts was a favorite pastime. During its lifetime, failures may have occurred which caused us to make changes. The axle would fall off so we would use bigger nails. If we went over a ramp our mothers would yell at us so we eliminate the ramp (or use it when she's not home). The same applies to our products or processes we are engaged in. A component may fail so we add a backup. A process may be too risky so we update a procedure.

In some industries this revision process is regulated and documented, while in others it may not. Old designs are compared to new designs to predict improvements in reliability and reduced risk. It is a wise business practice to capture and monitor changes not only for regulatory requirements but also to have a historical mural of our products and processes as they matured.