or one city in a telecommunications network. This method of concentrating on a
limited activity requiring high standards, will, of course, clarify the nature of the
operational improvements required for potential improvement. It is also expected
that the higher operational standards attained through this method will spill over to
the rest of the organisation and the pace and nature of progress will be faster and
more focused – that consumers really needing better services will obtain them faster.
This approach, however, may be risky, because (1) resources might be withdrawn
from other services, probably diminishing their quality and productivity, or (2) the
spillover effects might never happen, particularly if the supplier suffers from many
exogenous negative factors. These possibilities must be considered in each case,
though the approach looks promising.
An alternative approach is to focus on the entire agency – a port, a telecommunications company, or a railway – as the unit of analysis. Interagency synchronization would be required to improve operations over a whole cycle. This full-cycle
perspective becomes particularly useful when a public or private entity is planning –
to appreciate the full repercussions of an activity and to help recognise any bottlenecks in the cycle.
A similar breakdown can be applied for sectoral policy management – for
infrastructure, industrial, or foreign-trade policies. Such analysis enables individual
suppliers appreciate being part of the cycle, considering constraints or barriers from
other users or suppliers in the cycle. The total costs of unreliability come up more
easily and become quantifiable. More generally, focussing on service reliability
provides a clear and quantifiable goal to be attained by programs trying to increase
the productivity of infrastructure suppliers and their service quality. It is useful if
those programs are made tangible and helpful for the clients who require the better
services.
9.6 Reliability of Systems
9.6.1 Reliability of Systems
Chapter 6 explained how infrastructure components or different infrastructure sectors, somehow end up, with developing and producing a network of systems,
comprising several simpler elements or components. The reliability of the system
certainly depends on the reliability of the individual components present. This
section examines several practical examples of usual systems to show how to
determine the overall system reliability from individual component reliabilities.
9.6 Reliability of Systems
267
limited activity requiring high standards, will, of course, clarify the nature of the
operational improvements required for potential improvement. It is also expected
that the higher operational standards attained through this method will spill over to
the rest of the organisation and the pace and nature of progress will be faster and
more focused – that consumers really needing better services will obtain them faster.
This approach, however, may be risky, because (1) resources might be withdrawn
from other services, probably diminishing their quality and productivity, or (2) the
spillover effects might never happen, particularly if the supplier suffers from many
exogenous negative factors. These possibilities must be considered in each case,
though the approach looks promising.
An alternative approach is to focus on the entire agency – a port, a telecommunications company, or a railway – as the unit of analysis. Interagency synchronization would be required to improve operations over a whole cycle. This full-cycle
perspective becomes particularly useful when a public or private entity is planning –
to appreciate the full repercussions of an activity and to help recognise any bottlenecks in the cycle.
A similar breakdown can be applied for sectoral policy management – for
infrastructure, industrial, or foreign-trade policies. Such analysis enables individual
suppliers appreciate being part of the cycle, considering constraints or barriers from
other users or suppliers in the cycle. The total costs of unreliability come up more
easily and become quantifiable. More generally, focussing on service reliability
provides a clear and quantifiable goal to be attained by programs trying to increase
the productivity of infrastructure suppliers and their service quality. It is useful if
those programs are made tangible and helpful for the clients who require the better
services.
9.6 Reliability of Systems
9.6.1 Reliability of Systems
Chapter 6 explained how infrastructure components or different infrastructure sectors, somehow end up, with developing and producing a network of systems,
comprising several simpler elements or components. The reliability of the system
certainly depends on the reliability of the individual components present. This
section examines several practical examples of usual systems to show how to
determine the overall system reliability from individual component reliabilities.
9.6 Reliability of Systems
267