<div class="htmlview paragraph">Before-the-fact analytical tools are often helpful in designing for reliability. The methodology is not new; however, there is a need to improve the visibility and value of the tools, and the determination of when and to what level of detail to apply them.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">A systematic procedure is delineated from the design logic through failure modes, loss statements, hazard classification and criticality numbers which leads directly and smoothly to product improvement, reliability and maintainability predictions, and further safety determinations.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The net result is a quantitative ranking of the critical areas of a product ( or part thereof) which identifies which components will cause the most problems and where additional work may be required.</div>