In this work, we present a new class of continuous distributions called the exponentiated reduced-Kies-G family. The basic mathematical properties of the new family are addressed. A special sub-model of the proposed family, called the exponentiated reduced-Kies exponential (ERKiEx), is studied in detail concerning the aspect of estimation and inference, we described eight estimation methods. A comprehensive set of simulation studies are performed to compare and rank the proposed methods based on partial and overall ranks. Two real-life reliability engineering data applications are employed to explore the applicability and flexibility of the new ERKiEx distribution as compared to well-known other exponential extensions such as the Marshall-Olkin exponential, Kumaraswamy exponential and exponentiated exponential distributions. |