IPS-03 / 12 · Integrated Product Support

Sustaining Engineering

Keeping the fielded system safe, reliable and supportable after delivery — investigating failures and managing technical baseline changes.

What it is

Sustaining Engineering covers the technical effort needed after fielding: investigating in-service failures, performing root cause analysis, resolving safety and reliability issues, and maintaining the technical baseline as the system ages and its environment changes.

Why your contract asks for it

In-service support (ISS) contracts live here. If your company signs up to support equipment in service, the customer expects a defined process for handling defect reports, engineering queries and configuration changes — not ad-hoc heroics.

Typical activities and deliverables

• In-service data collection and failure trend analysis (links to S5000F)
• Root cause analysis and corrective action management
• Engineering disposition of defect reports and technical queries
• Managing engineering changes to the fielded baseline

Related standards

References indicate alignment with publicly available standards and common contractual practice. This is independent guidance, not an official publication of any standards body.