Workscope mix analysis for maintenance procedures

• US 20030167117A1
• Filed: 02/19/2002
• Published: 09/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Luthman, Adam Timothy, Sangeeta, D.
• Granted Patent: US 6,732,040 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/100
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles

Abstract

Maintenance procedures for an article such as a component of a gas turbine engine are analyzed by defining a set of workscopes that may be performed upon the article, gathering maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent trailing workscope that may be performed after a prior leading workscope, for a sample set of maintenance procedures, and determining a measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of trailing workscope probabilities as a function of each leading workscope. A projected workscope mix is projected for a set of maintenance procedures from the measured sample workscope mix. From the projected workscope mix, labor, supplies, and monetary estimates for maintenance procedures may be calculated. Alternative maintenance strategies may be readily compared using this approach.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing maintenance procedures for an article, comprising the steps of:

providing the article;

defining a set of workscopes that may be performed upon the article;

gathering maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent trailing workscope that may be performed after a prior leading workscope, for a sample set of maintenance procedures;

determining a measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of trailing workscope probabilities as a function of each leading workscope, using the maintenance frequency information from the step of gathering; and

projecting a projected workscope mix for a set of maintenance procedures from the measured sample workscope mix.

2. The method of claim 1, including an additional step, after the step of projecting, of

establishing a labor requirement for each workscope, and thereafter

calculating a labor requirement for the projected workscope mix from the labor requirement for each workscope and the projected workscope mix.

3. The method of claim 1, including an additional step, after the step of projecting, of

establishing a supplies requirement for each workscope, and thereafter

calculating a supplies requirement for the projected workscope mix from the supplies requirement for each workscope and the projected workscope mix.

4. The method of claim 1, including an additional step, after the step of projecting, of

establishing a monetary value for each workscope, and thereafter

calculating a monetary value for the projected workscope mix from the monetary value for each workscope and the projected workscope mix.

5. The method of claim 1, including additional steps, after the step of projecting, of

determining a measured workscope mix, and

comparing the measured workscope mix and the projected workscope mix.

6. The method of claim 1, including additional steps, after the step of projecting, of

second defining a second set of second workscopes for the article,

second gathering second maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent second trailing workscope that may be performed after a prior second leading workscope, for a second sample set of maintenance procedures,

second determining a second measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of second trailing workscope probabilities as a function of each second leading workscope, using the second maintenance frequency information from the step of second gathering,

second projecting a second projected workscope mix for a second set of second maintenance procedures from the second measured sample workscope mix, and

comparing the projected workscope mix and the second projected workscope mix.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of comparing includes the step of

establishing a labor requirement for each set of workscopes and each set of second workscopes, and thereafter

calculating labor requirements for the projected workscope mix and the second projected workscope mix from the labor requirements for each respective workscope and each respective projected workscope mix.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of comparing includes the step of

establishing a supplies requirement for each set of workscopes and each set of second workscopes, and thereafter

calculating supplies requirements for the projected workscope mix and the second projected workscope mix from the supplies requirements for each respective workscope and each respective projected workscope mix.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of comparing includes the step of

establishing a monetary value for each set of workscopes and each set of second workscopes, and thereafter

calculating monetary value for the projected workscope mix and the second projected workscope mix from the monetary value for each respective workscope and each respective projected workscope mix.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the article includes the step of

providing a gas turbine engine.

11. The method of claim 1, including an additional step of

providing maintenance status information for a fleet of the articles, and

projecting a projected fleet workscope mix for a set of maintenance procedures from the measured sample workscope mix and the maintenance status information.

12. A method for analyzing maintenance procedures for a component of a gas turbine engine, comprising the steps of:

providing the component of the gas turbine engine;

defining a set of workscopes that may be performed upon the component of the gas turbine engine;

gathering maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent trailing workscope that may be performed after a prior leading workscope, for a sample set of maintenance procedures;

determining a measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of trailing workscope probabilities as a function of each leading workscope, using the maintenance frequency information from the step of gathering; and

projecting a projected workscope mix for a set of maintenance procedures from the measured sample workscope mix.

13. The method of claim 12, including an additional step, after the step of projecting, of

establishing a labor requirement for each workscope, and thereafter

calculating a labor requirement for the projected workscope mix from the labor requirement for each workscope and the projected workscope mix.

14. The method of claim 12, including an additional step, after the step of projecting, of

establishing a supplies requirement for each workscope, and thereafter

calculating a supplies requirement for the projected workscope mix from the supplies requirement for each workscope and the projected workscope mix.

15. The method of claim 12, including an additional step, after the step of projecting, of

establishing a monetary value for each workscope, and thereafter

calculating a monetary value for the projected workscope mix from the monetary value for each workscope and the projected workscope mix.

16. The method of claim 12, including additional steps, after the step of projecting, of

determining a measured workscope mix, and

comparing the measured workscope mix and the projected workscope mix.

17. The method of claim 12, including additional steps, after the step of projecting, of

second defining a second set of second workscopes for the component of the gas turbine engine,

second gathering second maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent second trailing workscope that may be performed after a prior second leading workscope, for a second sample set of maintenance procedures,

second determining a second measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of second trailing workscope probabilities as a function of each second leading workscope, using the second maintenance frequency information from the step of second gathering,

second projecting a second projected workscope mix for a second set of second maintenance procedures from the second measured sample workscope mix, and

comparing the projected workscope mix and the second workscope projection.