Method, system and computer program product for analyzing maintenance operations and assessing the readiness of repairable systems

• US 7,580,847 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2001
• Issued: 08/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Keller, Kirby Joe, Black, Scott Edwin
• Primary Examiner(s): Jeanty; Romain
• Application Number:
  US09/918,945
• Publication Number:
  US 20030033178A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,947 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7
• US Class Current: 705/7.22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

An automated method, system and computer program product for assessing the readiness of a plurality of repairable systems, such as a fleet of aircraft, are provided. In addition to identifying the repairable systems that will be operational, the relative state of readiness of the repairable systems is determined such that the repairable systems that are most likely to successfully complete the designated task can be selected. Additionally, an automated method of analyzing the maintenance operations performed upon a plurality of repairable systems, such as a fleet of aircraft, is provided. In this regard, the relative states of readiness of the repairable systems are determined and maintenance resources are allocated based upon the respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the repairable systems. As such, maintenance operations scheduled for the aircraft that will have the greatest state of readiness upon completion of the maintenance operations can be prioritized.

Claims

1. An automated method of assessing readiness of a fleet of aircraft comprising:

receiving at least one mission request including a date and a number of aircraft;

automatically determining relative states of readiness of a plurality of aircraft of the fleet with a computer, wherein determining the relative states of readiness comprises automatically analyzing maintenance information associated with the plurality of aircraft with the computer to determine the relative states of readiness of the plurality of aircraft on the date of the requested mission, wherein determining the relative states of readiness further comprises determining the relative states of readiness based upon an intensity function appropriate for the type of process that describes a probability of failure of the aircraft following completion of maintenance operations; and

identifying aircraft with the computer that are able to perform the requested mission and providing, via the computer, respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the aircraft identified to be able to perform the requested mission.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein identifying aircraft that are able to perform the requested mission comprises identifying the aircraft having the greatest likelihood of completing the requested mission.

3. A method according to claim 1 further comprising proposing a modification of the mission request in order to increase the relative states of readiness of the aircraft able to perform the modified mission in comparison to the relative states of readiness of the aircraft able to perform the requested mission.

4. A computer program product for assessing readiness of a fleet of aircraft, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

a first executable portion for receiving at least one mission request including a date and a number of aircraft;

a second executable portion for automatically determining relative states of readiness of a plurality of aircraft of the fleet, wherein said second executable portion is also configured to automatically analyze maintenance information associated with the plurality of aircraft to determine the relative states of readiness of the plurality of aircraft on the date of the requested mission, wherein the second executable portion is further configured to determine the relative states of readiness by determining the relative states of readiness based upon an intensity function appropriate for the type of process that describes a probability of failure of the aircraft following completion of maintenance operations; and

a third executable portion for identifying aircraft that are able to perform the requested mission, wherein said third executable portion is also configured to provide respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the aircraft identified to be able to perform the requested mission.

5. A computer program product according to claim 4 wherein said third executable portion is further configured to identify the aircraft having the greatest likelihood of completing the requested mission.

6. A computer program product according to claim 4 further comprising a fourth executable portion for proposing a modification of the mission request in order to increase the relative states of readiness of the aircraft able to perform the modified mission in comparison to the relative states of readiness of the aircraft able to perform the requested mission.

7. A system for automatically assessing readiness of a fleet of aircraft comprising a processing element configured to receive at least one mission request including a date and a number of aircraft, said processing element also configured to automatically determine relative states of readiness of a plurality of aircraft of the fleet based upon an automated analysis of maintenance information associated with the plurality of aircraft to determine the relative states of readiness of the plurality of aircraft on the date of the requested mission, wherein said processing element is configured to determine the relative states of readiness by determining the relative states of readiness based upon an intensity function appropriate for the type of process that describes a probability of failure of the aircraft following completion of maintenance operations and wherein said processing element is further configured to identify aircraft that are able to perform the requested mission and provide respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the aircraft identified to be able to perform the requested mission.

8. A system according to claim 7 wherein said processing element is further configured to identify the aircraft having the greatest likelihood of completing the requested mission.

9. A system according to claim 7 wherein said processing element is further configured to propose a modification of the mission request in order to increase the relative states of readiness of the aircraft able to perform the modified mission in comparison to the relative states of readiness of the aircraft able to perform the requested mission.

10. An automated method of assessing readiness of a plurality of repairable systems comprising:

receiving at least one system allocation request including a date and a number of systems to be allocated; and

automatically determining relative states of readiness of the plurality of repairable systems with a computer, wherein determining the relative states of readiness comprises;

analyzing maintenance information associated with the plurality of repairable systems with the computer to determine the repairable systems that will be operational on the date of the requested system allocation; and

determining, with the computer, respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the repairable systems that will be operational on the date of the requested system allocation based upon respective probabilities of failure of the repairable systems following completion of the maintenance operations, wherein determining the respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the repairable systems comprises determining respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the repairable systems on the date of the requested system allocation based upon an intensity function appropriate for the type of process that describes the probability of failure of the repairable systems.

11. A method according to claim 10 further comprising identifying systems that will be operational on the date of the requested system allocation.

12. A method according to claim 11 further comprising providing the respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the repairable identified to be operational on the date of the requested system allocation.

13. A method according to claim 11 wherein identifying systems that will be operational on the date of the requested system allocation comprises identifying the systems having the greatest state of readiness on the date of the requested system allocation.

14. A method according to claim 11 further comprising proposing a modification of the system allocation request in order to increase the relative states of readiness of the systems identified to be operational on the date of the modified system allocation request in comparison to the relative states of readiness of the systems identified to be operational on the date of the original system allocation request.