View source for Reparability

There is no Wikipedia article entitled either Reparability or Repairability (alternative spellings). The small Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repairable Repairable] says only:

:Repairable is a term used by the United States Armed Forces for certain types of material. Generally these items are expensive hardware components for military equipment. They are called repairable because when they break or wear out, the servicemember will turn this item in for repair at a maintenance facility where it will be fixed or reconditioned to be issued again. The service unit receives funding credit for turning in these items.

Reparability is however mentioned in the Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_design Sustainable Design], under "Standardization and modularity," which are among the listed "Principles of Sustainable Design":

:Standardization and modularity: standard, modular parts allow products to be repaired rather than replaced and promote interoperability so that systems can be upgraded incrementally rather than wholly scrapped and replaced.

An indirect reference to reparability is likewise found in the Japanese policy document entitled [http://www.meti.go.jp/english/information/data/cReHAppr02e.html Public Notice No. 1 Concerning the Collection, Transport, and Recycling of Designated Household Appliance Waste Products], by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ministry of International Trade and Industry, as follows: 

:Consumers and businesses, when purchasing and using designated household appliances, should restrict unnecessary replacement purchases, select appliances with superior durability that are easily repaired, strictly observe appropriate usage methods, always carry out repairs when the appliances break down, re-utilize used products, and otherwise use designated household appliances for the longest possible period of time, and thus strive to restrict the volume of target-appliance waste products that are discarded.

In these example, the specific feature of Reparability is found mixed together with diverse related concepts, such as product durability and waste reuse, rather than being considered on its own.

An interesting exchange concerning appliance reparability is posted on the environmental website [[Treehugger]], under an article entitled [http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/what_can_you_sa.php What Can You Say About a Three Year Old Coffee Grinder that Died?]. The author of the article describes the impossibility of repairing a three year old seventy-five dollar Cuisinart coffee grinder that suddenly stopped working. The article received numerous comments expressing an interest in more reparable appliances.

==Repair Friendly==

Somewhat better results can be obtained by searching for the key words Repair Friendly (a term constructed on the model of User Friendly). A search for Repair Friendly leads for example to the website of the [http://www.ecodesign.at/team/index.en.html EcoDesign Team] of the Institute for Engineering Design at the Vienna University of Technology. This website includes a page about a [http://www.ecodesign.at/forschung/fdz/reparatursiegel/index.en.html sustainability label] for repair-friendly products, specifically mentioning "repair-friendly electronic appliances". The site also provides a checklist for [http://www.ecodesign.at/pilot/ONLINE/ENGLISH/PDS/DETAILS/716A.HTM improving reparability].

Repair Friendly also leads to a website vaunting the characteristics of the [http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2040427.014/country/gcf/opel/new-opel-astra-consistently-tuned-for-low-cost-of-ownership Opel Astra] under the sub-heading "Repair-friendly design for low servicing costs and short downtimes."

==Maintainability==

The word "maintainability" yields even more results, but this term appears to apply to the maintenance of industrial plants, rather than to the repair of personal equipment such as household appliances. Also, the orientation seems to be towards reducing the amount of necessary maintenance, as much as towards making the maintenance easier to perform.

The sites dealing with "maintainability" are all highly specialised. There does exist a Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintainability Maintainability], but it gives little more than the following highly technical definition:

:In telecommunication and several other engineering fields, the term maintainability has the following meanings:
::1) the probability that an item will be retained in a specified condition within a given period of time, when the maintenance is performed in accordance with prescribed procedures and resources
::2) the ease with which maintenance of a functional unit can be performed in accordance with prescribed requirements

A glance through the thousands of sites that Google finds for Maintainability suggests that this is an important topic for maintenance professionals.

The [http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_articles_maintainability.shtml Plant Maintenance Resource Center] presents a series of articles on "Design for Maintainability". The site sums up design for maintainability as follows: "Human factors engineering can be applied to systems design to minimize the time and effort required to perform periodic preventive maintenance as well as unscheduled maintenance."

Another specialised website is devoted to [http://www.mttr.net Mean Time To Repair] (MTTR), which is the most common measure of maintainability. This website provides information about how the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) relates to Reliability and Maintainability (RAM) software and analyses.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repairable
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_design
*Japanese waste policy: http://www.meti.go.jp/english/information/data/cReHAppr02e.html
*Treehugger article: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/what_can_you_sa.php
*Ecodesign Team: http://www.ecodesign.at/team/index.en.html
*Ecodesign sustainability label: http://www.ecodesign.at/forschung/fdz/reparatursiegel/index.en.html 
*Ecodesign checklist for improving reparability: http://www.ecodesign.at/pilot/ONLINE/ENGLISH/PDS/DETAILS/716A.HTM 
*Opel Astra: http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2040427.014/country/gcf/opel/new-opel-astra-consistently-tuned-for-low-cost-of-ownership 
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintainability Maintainability
*Plant Maintenance Resource Center: http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_articles_maintainability.shtml
*Mean Time To Repair: http://www.mttr.net 

[[Category:Convivial Design]]
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