Managing maintenance for an item of equipment
First Claim
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1. A method of managing maintenance activities for at least one item of equipment, the method comprising:
- determining a configuration maintenance requirements for maintaining a target configuration of an item of equipment;
including establishing the target configuration of the item of equipment based on a design objective of the item of equipment, wherein the design objective includes safety, reliability, and performance, or a combination thereof;
evaluating an actual configuration of the item of equipment;
determining if the actual configuration complies with the target configuration;
determining a predictive maintenance requirements for the item of equipment based on a longevity estimate, a probability of failure, a financial analysis, or a combination thereof;
planning for the availability of at least one of resources and a component for performing maintenance consistent with the configuration maintenance requirements and the predictive maintenance requirement;
including planning an upgrade requirement for upgrading the actual configuration to the target configuration if the actual configuration is noncompliant; and
coordinating the upgrade requirement and the predictive maintenance requirement into a combined maintenance schedule for both the upgrade requirement and the predictive maintenance requirement.
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Abstract
A method and system for maintaining an item of equipment supports the provision of predictive maintenance in a manner which eliminates or reduces downtime of the equipment. The method includes tracking performance data on the equipment or a particular component of the equipment. At least one required maintenance activity is predicted based upon the performance data with respect to a defined performance standard. Performance of the required maintenance activity is scheduled at a defined respective time based upon the prediction.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method of managing maintenance activities for at least one item of equipment, the method comprising:
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determining a configuration maintenance requirements for maintaining a target configuration of an item of equipment; including establishing the target configuration of the item of equipment based on a design objective of the item of equipment, wherein the design objective includes safety, reliability, and performance, or a combination thereof; evaluating an actual configuration of the item of equipment; determining if the actual configuration complies with the target configuration; determining a predictive maintenance requirements for the item of equipment based on a longevity estimate, a probability of failure, a financial analysis, or a combination thereof; planning for the availability of at least one of resources and a component for performing maintenance consistent with the configuration maintenance requirements and the predictive maintenance requirement; including planning an upgrade requirement for upgrading the actual configuration to the target configuration if the actual configuration is noncompliant; and coordinating the upgrade requirement and the predictive maintenance requirement into a combined maintenance schedule for both the upgrade requirement and the predictive maintenance requirement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 37)
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23. A system of managing maintenance activities for at least one item of equipment, the system comprising:
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a configuration monitor for determining a configuration maintenance requirements for maintaining a target configuration of an item of equipment; wherein the configuration monitor establishes the target configuration of the item of equipment and determines whether an actual configuration complies with the target configuration; the target configuration being based on at least one of safety, reliability, and performance; a predictive maintenance controller for determining a predictive maintenance requirements for the item of equipment based on a longevity estimate, a probability of failure, and a financial analysis, or a combination thereof; a resource planner for planning for the availability of at least one of resources and a component for performing maintenance consistent with the configuration maintenance requirements and the predictive maintenance requirement; wherein the resource planner is arranged to plan an upgrade requirement for upgrading the actual configuration to the target configuration if the actual configuration is noncompliant; and wherein the resource planner coordinates the upgrade requirement and the predictive maintenance requirement into a combined maintenance schedule for both the upgrade requirement and the predictive maintenance requirement. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification