A Method for Evaluating Diagnostic Aid Systems in Army Land Vehicle Maintenance

Discusses Army land vehicle maintenance data and data collection efforts, and describes the development of a general method for evaluating diagnostic aid systems. Differences among data sources are illustrated by a comparison of maintenance data for the 1/4 ton truck. The evaluation method is based on two assumptions: (1) that current vehicle operating and maintenance practices embody a number of problems that cause maintenance costs to be higher than necessary, and (2) that diagnostic aid systems perform functions that can reduce or eliminate these problems. Two models were designed to implement this methodology. One employs a cost factor approach, while the other uses a reliability/maintainability approach. Several analyses illustrate the abilities of both models to identify the most important maintenance problems, examine the effects of changes in problem magnitudes or diagnostic effects, and estimate the potential savings resulting from the use of a particular diagnostic aid system.