The Design Support Interface

On one hand there is:

Systems Engineering with functional design
Reliability
Maintainability
Human factors
System safety
Software
Other disciplines

and on the other side there is:

Maintenance plans
Supply support
Support and test equipment
Manpower and personnel
Training and training devices
Computer resources support
Technical data
Packaging, handling, storage and transportation
And facilities

in the middle is logistic support analysis or supportability analysis

Unfortunately the results of the LSA/SA is not seen by the procuring organisation it is the end user who sees the;

The Unreliable equipment
The incomplete maintenance planning
The inadequate Support and test equipment
The shortfalls in the training and training equipment
The unavailability of repair parts
The incomplete or inaccurate publications and technical manuals
The inadequate packaging, handling, storage and transportation
or the incomplete or inadequate Facilities.

It is important to remember that

LSA is only part of the design programme but one that should be started at the earliest possible time – the opportunities to really influence the design, and to make major cost avoidances occur early and rapidly diminish as the design advances. The LSA/SA analysis should include requirements development to ensure that system requirements actually drive supportability and maintainability into the design rather than applying a maintainability requirement.

The data produced by LSA/SA can be used to

To Identify the impact of specified design features on logistics support
To Show how the logistic support system affects system downtime and turnaround time
To Influence product design where performance or supportability issues can be improved
To report the results of trade off analysis, life cycle cost studies and logistic support modelling.
To Distribute required data among the various functional organisation and
Provide source data for the preparation of logistic products.