Advancing the Ground-breaking Relex Studio Platform across the Enterprise

Release Date: September 1, 2006

Relex Software Corporation, a leading provider of reliability and maintainability software analysis tools, today announced the release of Relex Reliability Studio ™ 2006 v2. "Users of the ground-breaking Reliability Studio framework will greatly benefit from the numerous feature enhancements and performance improvements found in this latest Studio offering," said Leland McLaughlin, Director of Global Sales for Relex Software. "The support of LDAP server directory connections and the uploading of attachments to the Relex server reduce administrative setup and maintenance efforts for enterprise installations, which can essentially be serving hundreds of Relex users in a multitude of locations around the globe."

Enterprise Enhancements

In Studio 2006 v2 Enterprise and Corporate Editions, which include administrator functionality, a direct connection to an LDAP-compliant server directory provides for automatically obtaining user and group information. "By automatically loading the groups and users defined on an LDAP server into the Group and User entities of the Relex Administrator module, we have been able to save Relex administrators a great deal of time formerly spent in account setup and maintenance activities," said McLaughlin. "Additionally, by automatically uploading attachments in the Enterprise and Corporate Editions to the Relex server, we prevent data loss that could previously have occurred by the accidental move or deletion of the original source file from the local file system where it formerly resided."

New Module Features

Studio 2006 v2 introduces many new module features that greatly benefit Relex users. According to McLaughlin, all of the most frequently used Relex modules, including Relex Reliability Prediction, RBD, OpSim, FMEA, and Fault Tree, have benefited from the addition of new features and improvements to existing features. For example, Relex Reliability Prediction supports recent updates made to the Chinese standard, GJB/z 299B, Reliability Prediction Module for Electronic Equipment. Additionally, a Reliability Equation Viewer has been added to Relex RBD and OpSim to allow the equation used to analytically calculate a diagram’s reliability to be viewed. Other module additions in Studio 2006 v2 include the support of aggregate user calculations across FMEA levels, the import of user-defined parts into a reliability prediction, and the creation and analysis of multi-phase RBDs for the reliability analysis of phase-based systems.

User Interface Enhancements and Improved Performance

Relex Studio 2006 v2 includes many user interface enhancements and performance improvements in the areas of navigation, calculations, and the importing and exporting of data. A new Wizards toolbar provides for starting the Filter, Report, Graph, Export, or Import Wizard in a single mouse click. Additionally, report designs can now be shared across Relex Projects. "By allowing report designs to be placed in a common data area, Relex users can store the standard and custom reports that they use in multiple Relex Projects in one central location," said McLaughlin. "Another terrific enhancement to the user interface is that the Project Navigator shows not only all files in an open Project but also all files in the common area, which allows you to easily open or use them from this one essential file management tool."

Other enhancements in Studio 2006 v2 include a new AutoMap function in the Import Wizard and the extension of the Global Change Wizard to Prediction Parts Library files. In the Import Wizard, you can click the new AutoMap button to have the fields in your source file automatically mapped with Relex fields. By starting the Global Change Wizard from a Prediction Parts Library file, you can quickly and efficiently make data modifications to a number of data records with a single operation. "The ability to use the Global Change Wizard with Prediction Parts Library files greatly reduces the chance for data entry errors and ensures more consistency in the updating of library part data," said McLaughlin.

Evaluation Projects

You can test drive an Evaluation version of Studio 2006 v2 by downloading and installing this software from the Relex corporate web site (www.relex.com). Additionally, in a regular version of Studio 2006 v2, you can create or open an Evaluation Project to easily test out Relex modules that are not included in your Relex package. When you create or open an Evaluation Project, an EVALUATION designation appears in the Status Bar until this Project is closed. Evaluation projects have imposed restrictions in place to limit their use.

Upgrading to Studio 2006 v2

Relex customers with an active Relex Maintenance Plan can easily download Studio 2006 v2 from the Relex web site by performing the procedure posted in the Online Support area of our web site, which requires your Relex customer ID and password to access. A conversion utility is in place to copy your Studio 2006 files into new files having the Studio 2006 v2 format. Your Relex 2006 files remain completely intact. Studio 2006 and Studio 2006 v2 can be operated on the same machine.

If you are interested in upgrading to Studio 2006 v2, please visit our web site for additional information. You can also sign up for upcoming seminars or webinars on Studio 2006 v2. While the major benefits of this new release are highlighted here, many more features and functions await your discovery. Please visit www.relex.com/products/index.asp or contact an Application Consultant today at 724.836.8800.