Standards and Specifications - Logistics Support Analysis (LSA)

Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) or Integrated Product Support (IPS) is built on the fundamentals of several elements. Depending on who you speak with some will speak about the 10 Elements of ILS where others will speak about the 12 elements of IPS. The fundamental differences between ILS and IPS are focussed on a greater emphasis on the through life aspects of Product Support Management, Sustaining Engineering and Maintenance Management.

The elements of ILS and IPS are defined as:

• Design Interface (IPS)

• Sustaining Engineering (ILS / IPS)

• Supply Support (ILS / IPS)

• Maintenance Planning and Management (ILS / IPS)

• Technical Data (ILS / IPS)

• Support Equipment (ILS / IPS)

• Training and Training Support (ILS / IPS)

• Manpower and Personnel (ILS / IPS)

• Facilities and Infrastructure (ILS / IPS)

• Computer Resources (ILS / IPS)

• Product Support Management (IPS)

To achieve a cost-effective support solution which delivers the required level of availability will require support decisions to be taken. To facilitate these decisions, information and knowledge will need to be generated through Product Support Analysis. Historically, this analysis has been carried out using a logistic analysis toolset producing Logistics Support Analysis Records (LSAR) within a Logistics Support Analysis (LSA) database solution. Within the Product Support Analysis solution, engineers will develop the technical breakdown of the asset which will then become the item definition.

Integrated product support aims to integrate the twelve product support elements to provide a timely, coherent, and cost-effective support solution. The IPS management and technical processes are performed across different disciplines using specialised analytical software packages. Often these tools are sourced from different vendors and require extensive time and cost to interface and harmonise.

Pennant offers a comprehensive package of IPS products that includes technical authoring and publication, logistics support analysis, and model-based product support. The package can be augmented to include the distribution of IPS content to supportability end users and maintainers. While there are equivalent products in the market, it is rare for them to be combined into a single appealing package that uses a common backend, single source of truth database, to ensure traceability and integrity of data.