METHOD, SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR A MAINTENANCE OPTIMIZATION MODEL

• US 20100017241A1
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus France
• Inventors: LIENHARDT, Benedicte
• Granted Patent: US 8,560,376 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

A method of developing maintenance optimization model includes finding relevant criteria to drive the design towards operational performances at minimal cost for the end user, selecting inputs necessary to assess criteria selected, defining mathematical models to jointly drive the equipment/sub-system/system design and its support towards better supportability, and presenting the maintenance optimization model results to enable the exploration of the cause and effect relationships between design decisions and their operational and support impacts. The selected inputs may cover all the potential factors influencing the criteria values. The mathematical modeling can facilitate leveraging the intuitive “cause and effect” relationship between design and support, and affordability. The maintenance optimization model method, system, and computer program product provides a solid basis for the supportability evaluation of equipment/system/sub-system choices, particularly when integrated in a systematic way into the design process and used from the beginning of the development cycle.

Claims

1. A method of developing a maintenance optimization model for a system, comprising:

determining a plurality of relevant outputs;

determining a plurality of inputs related to the system;

examining a plurality of relationships between the plurality of inputs to produce values for each of the plurality of relevant outputs;

selecting at least one output from the plurality of relevant outputs based on expectations of a user of the system; and

designing the maintenance optimization model based on the selected at least one output.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the system is an aircraft system and the user is an airline.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of inputs includes

data related to a mission profile,

financial data,

constant parameters,

scheduled maintenance data, and

information on system characteristics.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of outputs includes

operational interruptions,

direct maintenance costs,

down time due to maintenance,

initial provisioning costs, and

ground support equipment costs.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the examining a plurality of relationships includes examining

a number of findings in scheduled maintenance,

a number of maintenance actions,

down time due to maintenance,

direct maintenance costs,

initial provisioning costs,

ground support equipment costs, and

operational interruption costs.

6. A method of influencing aircraft building, comprising:

running the maintenance optimization model developed according to the method of claim 2; and

influencing the aircraft building based on the running of the maintenance optimization model.

7. A method of influencing system supplier selection, comprising:

running the maintenance optimization model developed according to the method of claim 1; and

influencing system supplier selection based on the running of the maintenance optimization model.

8. A method of analyzing a supportability impact of system utilization, comprising:

running the maintenance optimization model developed according to the method of claim 1; and

analyzing the supportability impact of system utilization based on the running of the maintenance optimization model.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

entering a test input into the maintenance optimization model;

examining changes in the at least one output; and

making an engineering decision based on the examined changes.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

running the maintenance optimization model; and

displaying results from the running of the maintenance optimization model.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the examining the plurality of relationships comprises:

determining whether an occurrence of a functional failure is evident to an operating crew during performance of normal duties;

determining whether the functional failure or secondary damage resulting from the functional failure has a direct adverse effect on operating safety;

determining whether the functional failure has a direct adverse effect on operating capability;

determining whether a combination of a hidden functional failure and one additional failure of a system related function or back-up function has an adverse effect on the operating safety;

analyzing the system checked during a same scheduled maintenance task; and

analyzing dependent and independent failure modes.

12. A computer readable medium including computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

determining a plurality of relevant outputs;

determining a plurality of inputs related to an aircraft system;

examining a plurality of relationships between the plurality of inputs to produce values for each of the plurality of relevant outputs;

selecting at least one output from the plurality of relevant outputs based on airline expectations; and

designing the maintenance optimization model based on the selected at least one output.

13. The computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of inputs includes

data related to a mission profile,

financial data,

constant parameters,

scheduled maintenance data, and

information on aircraft system characteristics.

14. The computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of outputs includes

operational interruptions,

direct maintenance costs,

aircraft down time due to maintenance,

initial provisioning costs, and

ground support equipment costs.

15. The computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the examining the plurality of relationships includes examining

a number of findings in scheduled maintenance,

a number of maintenance actions,

aircraft down time due to maintenance,

direct maintenance costs,

initial provisioning costs,

ground support equipment costs, and

operational interruption costs.

16. A computer readable medium including computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

running the maintenance optimization model developed according to the method performed by the computer readable medium of claim 12; and

analyzing a supportability impact of system utilization based on the running of the maintenance optimization model.

17. The computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

entering a test input into the maintenance optimization model;

examining changes in the at least one output; and

making an engineering decision based on the examined changes.

18. The computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

running the maintenance optimization model; and

displaying results from the running of the maintenance optimization model.

19. The computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the examining the plurality of relationships comprises:

determining whether an occurrence of a functional failure is evident to an operating crew during performance of normal duties;

determining whether the functional failure or secondary damage resulting from the functional failure has a direct adverse effect on operating safety;

determining whether the functional failure has a direct adverse effect on operating capability;

determining whether a combination of a hidden functional failure and one additional failure of an aircraft system related function or back-up function has an adverse effect on the operating safety;

analyzing the aircraft system checked during the same scheduled maintenance task; and

analyzing dependent and independent failure modes.

20. A system for developing a maintenance optimization model for an aircraft system, comprising:

means for determining a plurality of relevant outputs;

means for determining a plurality of inputs related to the aircraft system;

means for examining a plurality of relationships between the plurality of inputs to produce values for each of the plurality of relevant outputs;

means for selecting at least one output from the plurality of outputs based on the aircraft system; and

means for designing the maintenance optimization model for the airline expectations based on the selected at least one output.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the plurality of inputs includes

data related to a mission profile,

financial data,

constant parameters,

scheduled maintenance data, and

information on aircraft system characteristics.

22. The system according to claim 20, wherein the plurality of outputs includes

operational interruptions,

direct maintenance costs,

aircraft down time due to maintenance,

initial provisioning costs, and

ground support equipment costs.

23. The system according to claim 20, wherein the means for examining a plurality of relationships includes means for examining

a number of findings in scheduled maintenance,

a number of maintenance actions,

aircraft down time due to maintenance,

direct maintenance costs,

initial provisioning costs,

ground support equipment costs, and

operational interruption costs.

24. The system according to claim 20, further comprising:

means for entering a test input into the maintenance optimization model;

means for examining changes in the at least one output; and

means for making an engineering decision based on the examined changes.

25. The system according to claim 20, further comprising:

means for running the maintenance optimization model; and

means for displaying a result of running the maintenance optimization model.

26. The system according to claim 20, wherein the means for examining a plurality of relationships comprises:

means for determining whether an occurrence of a functional failure is evident to an operating crew during performance of normal duties;

means for determining whether the functional failure or secondary damage resulting from the functional failure has a direct adverse effect on operating safety;

means for determining whether the functional failure has a direct adverse effect on operating capability;

means for determining whether a combination of a hidden functional failure and one additional failure of an aircraft system related function or back-up function has an adverse effect on the operating safety;

means for analyzing the aircraft system checked during a same scheduled maintenance task; and

means for analyzing dependent and independent failure modes.