Integrated materials management for commercial aircraft fleets including access to real-time on-board systems information
First Claim
1. A method of managing a supply chain of materials used to service fleet aircraft for customers, comprising the steps of:
- (A) organizing a network of material suppliers;
(B) maintaining an inventory of the materials at customer designated sites;
(C) using a network integrator to manage the suppliers, and the inventories at each of the designated; and
, (D) providing the customers with electronic access to real-time data relating to the status of systems on-board the aircraft, the real-time data being useful in performing maintenance requiring the materials maintained in the inventory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Turnkey maintenance of a customer'"'"'s aircraft fleet is managed by a single management service provider (MSP) controlling integrated maintenance and materials services from a central operations site. The MSP converts data received directly from on-board aircraft systems into information it uses to manage maintenance service providers and parts suppliers. The MSP contracts with and manages maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations (MROs) who perform the maintenance on the customers'"'"' aircraft at line and base stations. The MSP either remotely manages part inventories at the customer'"'"'s site, or manages suppliers who deliver the parts to the MROs. Maintenance planning, scheduling and execution information is exchanged between the MSP, MROs, part suppliers and the customers through a shared data communication network controlled by the MSP. The MSP charges the customer for the maintenance services based on a flat rate per unit of aircraft flying time.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of managing a supply chain of materials used to service fleet aircraft for customers, comprising the steps of:
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(A) organizing a network of material suppliers;
(B) maintaining an inventory of the materials at customer designated sites;
(C) using a network integrator to manage the suppliers, and the inventories at each of the designated; and
,(D) providing the customers with electronic access to real-time data relating to the status of systems on-board the aircraft, the real-time data being useful in performing maintenance requiring the materials maintained in the inventory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of managing parts used to service multiple fleets of aircraft for customers, comprising the steps of:
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(A) establishing an integrated network of part suppliers under the control of a part network integrator;
(B) maintaining an inventory of the parts from the supplier at customer designated sites;
(C) collecting and storing data from aircraft in each of the fleets revealing possible problems with the aircraft requiring maintenance involving parts;
(D) providing the customer with access to the data collected and stored in step (C); and
,(E) using the network integrator to control the part inventories at the customer designated sites. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An integrated supply chain management system for materials used in servicing vehicle fleets for customers, comprising:
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a network of material suppliers for supplying materials used in servicing the vehicles;
an inventory of the materials located at each of the customer designated sites;
a supply chain manager for managing the network of suppliers, and the material inventories;
a system for collecting vehicle on-board data revealing possible problems on the vehicle requiring maintenance involving use of the materials;
a storage device for storing the collected data;
a navigation tool for allowing the customer to access and navigate through the data in order to determine the need for materials required to service the vehicle; and
,a shared data communication network connecting the customers with the supply chain manager and the navigation tool. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification