Test Equipment and Tools Concept
Definition
The test equipment and tools concept (or support equipment concept) describes the goals for guiding the determination of requirements for equipment and items needed to diagnose system failures and return the system to an operational state. Test equipment and tools consists of equipment (mobile or fixed) required to support the operation and maintenance of a system. This includes all tools, metrology and calibration equipment, and manual and automatic test equipment.
General/Information/Narrative
During the acquisition of systems, program managers are expected to decrease the proliferation of test equipment into the inventory by minimizing the development of new support equipment and giving more attention to the use of existing Government or commercial equipment.
For any test equipment and tools which are required to sustain the acquisition system, support for these test equipment and tools is likewise required. The support package for the acquisition systems must also be maintained. This requires calibration, diagnostics and maintenance procedures, tools, specific skills, manpower, supply support, calibration, maintenance instruction (equipment publications), PHS&T and training. Other test equipment tools, computer software, and even facilities may also be required to keep the test equipment and tools operational. As with the acquisition system, the anticipated operational environment and anticipated force structure should be considered when obtaining the support for the test equipment and tools. And, as with the acquisition system, standard support items should be used when possible.
A level of repair analysis (LORA) is used to address the requirement to minimize additional special tools and test equipment for new systems. The LORA considers availability and requirements for additional tools, support equipment, and skills in intended supporting units. The LORA process should be initiated as early in the life cycle as possible to aid in assessing the supportability of a system.
Policies, Directives, Regulations, Laws
Army Regulation 700-127 Integrated Logistics Support
Army Regulation 750–43 Army Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment
Best Practices, Lessons Learned, Stories, Guides, Handbooks, Templates, Example Tools, Communities of Practice, LEC Tools
GEIA-STD-0007 Interface: E Entities, Support Equipment Requirements. Data Entities identified by an "E" in the first position of the entity name are structured to consolidate the pertinent information related to existing or new support/test equipment or training equipment. Much of this information serves as administrative type data for the Support Equipment Recommendation Data (SERD) data exchange set. This information also serves as identification of hardware and software elements required to conduct off-line tests. The information in the E Entities are used to justify the requirement for new test equipment/tools.
Unit Under Test Requirements (U Entities) Description: Data Entities beginning with "U" in the first position of the entity name are structured to identify the UUT and those hardware and software elements required to test the UUT with off-line support/test equipment. The unique combination of these elements required for a specific UUT and support/test equipment configuration is a Test Program Set (TPS). In addition to defining the TPS elements, this information provides the configuration identification of the UUT (i.e., the UUT and the support/test equipment to be used in the test). This information is established for each UUT that has a requirement to be tested by the support/test equipment documented. Additionally, Calibration and Measurement Requirement Summary information is captured in these entities.
PowerLOG produces the Support Item Utilization Summary (LSA-005), the Support Equipment Requirements report (LSA-007) listing tools needed to perform tasks, the Support Equipment Validation Summary (LSA-008), the Support Equipment Grouping Summary (LSA-013), and the Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE) Requirements Summary (LSA-072) which could be used to document data in this activity. PowerLOG is a logistics data management system developed to support the development, integration, and review of logistic product information throughout the acquisition life cycle. PowerLOG implements the Logistics Support Analysis Record (LSAR) requirements defined in MIL-STD-1388-2B as well as Logistics Product Data (LPD) standards defined by GEIA-STD-0007. PowerLOG also supports legacy data standards such as MIL-STD-1552 (PMR). PowerLOG is available free to all Government agencies and their contractors and can be obtained by visiting: https://www.logsa.army.mil/lec/powerlog/.
The Computerized Optimization Model for Predicting and Analyzing Support Structures (COMPASS) is a system Level of Repair Analysis (LORA) modeling tool. LORA is the analytical methodology used to determine the maintenance repair levels where items should be removed and replaced; and ultimately repaired or discarded. COMPASS estimates the cost to repair or discard items at various maintenance levels, with contractor facilities included as a separate level. COMPASS optimizes both the maintenance and support to achieve your target operational availability (Ao). COMPASS can consider up to four levels of organic maintenance (supports Two-Level Maintenance studies), supply support, and contractor support. You can also use COMPASS output data as a source for developing the MAC and SMR codes. COMPASS is a free tool available to both DoD and contractors at: https://www.logsa.army.mil/lec/compass/.
The Cost Analysis Strategy Assessment (CASA) Life-Cycle Cost Estimating Software uses an engineering cost model to estimate total cost of ownership based on RDT&E, Acquisition/Procurement, O&S, and Disposal activities. CASA can help compare the costs of designing a system to utilize existing support equipment versus developing new support equipment. CASA is distributed freely to all US personnel. Request from foreign nations for CASA and associated training and technical support are handled through a Foreign Military Sales Case (FMS). CASA can be obtained here: https://www.logsa.army.mil/lec/casa/.
Training Resources
Related Articles
Required for:
Responsible Activity:
Definition General Info Policies Guides Communities Training Related