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Mean swaps between failures (MSBF) is a specific term used by automated equipment manufacturers that refers to the durability of manufactured systems or products. It is similar to other metrics, including mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR) and mean time between breakdowns (MTBB). All refer to the projected length of time of a tested product before failure or breakdown.
Techopedia Explains Mean Swaps Between Failures
In the common mean time between failures (MTBF) metric, product durability assessments are based on the elapsed period of operation prior to failure. With MSBF, the word "swaps" refers to a unit of assessment, rather than "time." In other words, swap refers to a periodic process, meaning that a given number of swaps will occur before a system failure.
One of the best examples is a robot that is programmed to swap magnetic tapes at set intervals. The durability of a system may be shown by providing a number of "mean swaps between failures."
Metrics like MSBF are key to assessing components of mission-critical systems in various fields. However, companies and other parties may use a variety of methods to achieve one of these numbers, including running a single unit for many hours or running many units for a shorter period of time.
