Includes Major Performance Improvements, Increased Capabilities, and Enriched Modules

Release Date: December 3, 2003

Relex Software Corporation, a leading provider of reliability and maintainability software analysis tools, today announced the general availability of the Relex FRACAS Management System^TM version 2.1. This closed-loop Failure Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) provides for gathering and tracking failure data in a centralized database so that the underlying failure causes for a product or system can be quickly identified and corrected. By supporting three different platforms (Enterprise, Corporate, and Team), Relex FRACAS supplies organizations of all sizes with the capabilities needed to deliver an effective and efficient corrective action system.

In Relex FRACAS 2.1, major performance improvements have been made to the loading, filtering, scrolling, and calculating of records in large datasets. "Users will be impressed with the speed at which Relex FRACAS manipulates data," said Todd Schick, Vice President of Operations. "Even the very large and complex datasets found in an Enterprise environment can be rapidly manipulated by the hundreds of users participating in the FRACAS process. Our MTB (Mean Time Between) calculations for computing reliability performance metrics of large datasets are now up to 90 percent faster than previous versions, which is another exciting aspect of this release!"

Also enriched in Relex FRACAS 2.1 is Relex FRACAS Standard^TM. This module provides secure access to FRACAS data over the Internet using a web browser. Available in both the Relex FRACAS Enterprise and Corporate Editions, Relex FRACAS Standard allows field support personnel, business partners, and key component vendors to easily participate in the FRACAS process by providing secure Internet access to FRACAS data. Capabilities in Relex FRACAS Standard have been extended from simply viewing and entering FRACAS data to also include incident searching, filtering, and deletion.

Other essential improvements in Relex FRACAS 2.1 include the support of dependent choice lists, scheduled import and export operations, and web-based license activation. Dependent choice lists allow you to change the choices available in a drop-down list based on the selection made in another drop-down list. Schedule import and export operations allow you to schedule time-consuming imports or exports when system usage is low. Web-based license activation allows you to automatically activate and deactivate your Relex FRACAS license over the World Wide Web. License activation by e-mail or telephone is also still supported for cases where Internet access is not available. Several additional secondary enhancements have also been implemented in Relex FRACAS 2.1 to make it even easier to use and to customize!

Because the scope of the FRACAS effort can vary substantially from one organization to another, Relex Software offers three different Relex FRACAS Editions-Enterprise, Corporate, and Team.

Relex FRACAS Enterprise Edition

The Relex FRACAS Enterprise Edition is intended for the most demanding environments, where hundreds or even thousands of users in a multitude of locations must enter FRACAS data into a centralized database. The Enterprise Edition stores FRACAS data in either an Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database to make a collaborative process for managing quality and reliability possible. System administration and security functions—including the definition of users, groups, and permissions—are supported by Relex FRACAS Administrator^TM. The workhorse of all Relex FRACAS Editions is Relex FRACAS Professional^TM. This powerful, feature-rich application manages system design and generates sophisticated reports, graphs, and calculation results. The standard and custom reliability and quality measures that these outputs provide help to accelerate the identification of root causes and the assignment of corrective actions.

In addition to supporting Relex FRACAS Standard for access to FRACAS data over the Internet, the Enterprise Edition supports the use of the Relex FRACAS Alert Module^TM, Relex FRACAS Audit Trail Module^TM, and Relex FRACAS Dashboard^TM. When the Relex FRACAS Alert Module is enabled, FRACAS projects are continually monitored and alerts sent via e-mail or AOL instant messages when user-defined criteria are met, ensuring responsiveness to critical reliability measures. When the Relex FRACAS Audit Trail Module^TM is enabled, modifications made to system designs, deployments, incidents, maintenance logs, and time logs are tracked and used with supplied Audit Trail reports to provide full-audit support. When Relex FRACAS Dashboard^TM is licensed and configured, project managers can view time-critical, management-level information across multiple projects and products to ensure compliance, determine the effectiveness of selected projects, and even evaluate external components of reliability.

Relex FRACAS Corporate Edition

The Relex FRACAS Corporate Edition is intended for organizations who need the requirements of an Enterprise system—such as a highly secure solution, data entry over the Internet, real-time alerts, extensive audit trails, and the continual monitoring of management-level reports and graphs—but for a smaller user base. The Corporate Edition includes Relex FRACAS Administrator and Relex FRACAS Professional. The Relex FRACAS Corporate Edition also supports the optional Relex FRACAS Standard, Alert, Audit Trail, and Dashboard modules. The recommended maximum number of users for a Corporate Edition is 10; however, it provides a seamless migration path to the Enterprise Edition if needed over time.

Relex FRACAS Team Edition

The Relex FRACAS Team Edition is the ideal solution for a single user or up to five team users tasked with implementing a corrective action system. Intended to support reliability professionals with their failure analysis efforts, the Team Edition provides all FRACAS functions necessary to implement a closed-loop process. Using Relex FRACAS Professional, Team Edition users can view, capture, filter, and otherwise manage system design, deployment, incident, maintenance log, and time log data. In addition to supporting the custom configuration of data entry tables and forms, Relex FRACAS Professional offers powerful analytical capabilities that accelerate the identification of root causes and the assignment of corrective actions. While the Relex FRACAS Team Edition provides all of the requirements for implementing a complete closed-loop system, it does not include the Enterprise features needed for large-scale deployments, such as user-based roles, database monitoring, and web access.

For more information and a full list of Relex FRACAS 2.1 features and benefits, visit www.relex.com/products/fracas.asp.

About Relex Software Corporation

Relex Software Corporation is a world leader in reliability analysis software. Its products are used by thousands of engineers in a variety of businesses around the globe. In business since 1986, Relex Software Corporation asserts that its mission is to produce a superior line of high-quality software tools for reliability analysis. Long-recognized for their user-friendly, state-of-the-art features, the modular tools in the Relex Reliability Software Suite include an intuitive graphical user interface, support for scientific graphical charts, an enhanced CAD interface, visual system modeling with redundancy support, completely customizable output reports, extensive parts libraries, and a comprehensive online help system. For more information on Relex Software Corporation, call 724.836.8800 or visit www.relex.com.