Which of the following statement is TRUE about maintainability?

Question

Options

• AIt should be initiated during the logistics review.
• BIt should be initiated during the design stage.
• CIt is primarily a field service issue.
• DIt is primarily a contractual requirements.

• A
  17% (5)
• B
  70% (21)
• C
  10% (3)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Maintainability must be designed in from the start - it cannot be retrofitted cost-effectively after a product is built. Option B is correct because maintainability considerations (access panels, modular components, diagnostic interfaces, mean time to repair targets) are established during the design stage, where they can directly shape the architecture of a system.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (logistics review): Logistics reviews occur later in the lifecycle to assess support infrastructure; by then, the fundamental design decisions affecting maintainability have already been locked in.
• C (field service issue): Field service personnel deal with the consequences of maintainability decisions, but they don't create them - poor maintainability is a design failure, not a field failure.
• D (contractual requirements): While contracts may specify maintainability metrics, meeting them depends entirely on design execution - the contract describes what, design determines how.

Memory tip: Think of the phrase "Design it to be fixed." Maintainability is a design discipline, just like reliability or safety - you bake it in early or pay for it forever in repair time and cost.

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