Maintenance interval determination and optimization tool and method
First Claim
1. A method of using a maintenance interval determination and optimization tool (MIDOT) for optimizing a maintenance schedule associated with commercial fleet vehicles comprising the steps of:
- collecting historical maintenance data from one or more components within a platform, said platform comprising commercial fleet vehicles, said one or more components comprising vehicle components selected from an entire vehicle in addition to said vehicle engine;
associating a maintenance task with the one or more components;
determining an optimal maintenance task interval to perform the associated maintenance task on the one or more components, said optimal maintenance task interval determined according to statistical analysis that determines a survival probability function including selected confidence bounds, said survival probability function comprising a plotted Weibull distribution of associated component lifetimes, said component lifetimes derived from specific actual usage of each of said one or more components, said maintenance task interval selected within said confidence bounds to equal a survival probability threshold of the one or more components surviving a specified time, said survivable probability function derived from said historical maintenance data, said historical maintenance data comprising a same associated maintenance task or cause associated with the one or more components, the step of determining of an optimal maintenance task interval to perform the associated maintenance task on the one or more components including the steps of;
extracting component maintenance data associated with the one or more components from a component maintenance database, the step of extracting the component data including the steps of;
querying a component maintenance database to extract component maintenance data including removal data associated with removal events of the one or more components; and
exporting the extracted query results to a second component maintenance database;
processing the component maintenance data to remove data that is not relevant to the associated maintenance task, the step of processing the component data including the steps of;
using the exported extracted query results to form a second data set;
identifying data related to removal of each of the one or more components to service another platform; and
identifying data related to removal of components that are removed due to non-maintenance related schedules such as service directives; and
analyzing the component maintenance data to determine said optimal maintenance task interval that meets a specific survival function percentage comprising said survival probability function, the step of analyzing the data including the steps of;
determining associated component lifetimes for each of the one or more components from the second data set;
plotting the associated component lifetimes in said Weibull distribution of the second data set to form plotted component lifetime data points;
performing a Weibull analysis on the plotted component lifetime data points;
determining said optimal maintenance interval for each maintenance task to be performed on the one or more related components; and
comparing the optimal maintenance interval with an existing maintenance interval to determine if use of the optimal maintenance interval is economically feasible for a non-safety task; and
incorporating said optimal maintenance task interval in said maintenance schedule associated with said commercial fleet vehicles.
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Abstract
A Maintenance Interval Determination and Optimization Tool (MIDOT) provides optimized maintenance schedules for performing maintenance tasks on one or more components or systems based on component survival functions and economic analysis of non-safety tasks associated with maintenance schedules. MIDOT is used for specified platforms such as aircrafts. The MIDOT filters maintenance history data, uses a statistical analysis to predict likely maintenance needs, and performs an economic analysis to optimize aircraft maintenance schedules. Specifically, the MIDOT calculates component survival probability, based on the specific usage of one or more related components within the platform and determines an optimal maintenance task interval to perform a maintenance task associated with the one or more related components.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of using a maintenance interval determination and optimization tool (MIDOT) for optimizing a maintenance schedule associated with commercial fleet vehicles comprising the steps of:
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collecting historical maintenance data from one or more components within a platform, said platform comprising commercial fleet vehicles, said one or more components comprising vehicle components selected from an entire vehicle in addition to said vehicle engine; associating a maintenance task with the one or more components; determining an optimal maintenance task interval to perform the associated maintenance task on the one or more components, said optimal maintenance task interval determined according to statistical analysis that determines a survival probability function including selected confidence bounds, said survival probability function comprising a plotted Weibull distribution of associated component lifetimes, said component lifetimes derived from specific actual usage of each of said one or more components, said maintenance task interval selected within said confidence bounds to equal a survival probability threshold of the one or more components surviving a specified time, said survivable probability function derived from said historical maintenance data, said historical maintenance data comprising a same associated maintenance task or cause associated with the one or more components, the step of determining of an optimal maintenance task interval to perform the associated maintenance task on the one or more components including the steps of; extracting component maintenance data associated with the one or more components from a component maintenance database, the step of extracting the component data including the steps of; querying a component maintenance database to extract component maintenance data including removal data associated with removal events of the one or more components; and exporting the extracted query results to a second component maintenance database; processing the component maintenance data to remove data that is not relevant to the associated maintenance task, the step of processing the component data including the steps of; using the exported extracted query results to form a second data set; identifying data related to removal of each of the one or more components to service another platform; and identifying data related to removal of components that are removed due to non-maintenance related schedules such as service directives; and analyzing the component maintenance data to determine said optimal maintenance task interval that meets a specific survival function percentage comprising said survival probability function, the step of analyzing the data including the steps of; determining associated component lifetimes for each of the one or more components from the second data set; plotting the associated component lifetimes in said Weibull distribution of the second data set to form plotted component lifetime data points; performing a Weibull analysis on the plotted component lifetime data points; determining said optimal maintenance interval for each maintenance task to be performed on the one or more related components; and comparing the optimal maintenance interval with an existing maintenance interval to determine if use of the optimal maintenance interval is economically feasible for a non-safety task; and incorporating said optimal maintenance task interval in said maintenance schedule associated with said commercial fleet vehicles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of using a maintenance interval determination and optimization tool for optimizing a maintenance schedule associated with commercial fleet vehicles comprising the steps of:
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collecting historical maintenance data from one or more components within a platform, said platform comprising commercial fleet vehicles, said one or more components comprising vehicle components selected from an entire vehicle in addition to said vehicle engine; selecting a maintenance task associated with said one or more components; performing a statistical analysis on one or more components to determine a suggested maintenance task interval associated with the maintenance task, said statistical analysis determining a survival probability function including user selected confidence bounds, said survival probability function comprising a plotted Weibull distribution of associated component lifetimes said component lifetimes derived from specific actual usage of each of said one or more components, said maintenance task interval selected within said confidence bounds to equal a survival probability threshold of the one or more components surviving a specified time, said survivable probability function derived from said historical maintenance data, said historical maintenance data comprising a same maintenance task or cause associated with the one or more components, the step of determining of an optimal maintenance task interval to perform the associated maintenance task on the one or more components including the steps of; extracting component maintenance data associated with the one or more components from a component maintenance database, the step of extracting the component data including the steps of; querying a component maintenance database to extract component maintenance data including removal data associated with removal events of the one or more components; and exporting the extracted query results to a second component maintenance database; processing the component maintenance data to remove data that is not relevant to the associated maintenance task, the step of processing the component data including the steps of; using the exported extracted query results to form a second data set; identifying data related to removal of each of the one or more components to service another platform; and identifying data related to removal of components that are removed due to non-maintenance related schedules such as service directives; and analyzing the component maintenance data to determine said optimal maintenance task interval that meets a specific survival function percentage comprising said survival probability function, the step of analyzing the data including the steps of; determining associated component lifetimes for each of the one or more components from the second data set; plotting the associated component lifetimes in said Weibull distribution of the second data set to form plotted component lifetime data points; performing a Weibull analysis on the plotted component lifetime data points; determining said optimal maintenance interval for each maintenance task to be performed on the one or more related components; and comparing the optimal maintenance interval with an existing maintenance interval to determine if use of the optimal maintenance interval is economically feasible for a non-safety task; performing an economic analysis to determine whether costs associated with performing the associated maintenance task according to the suggested maintenance task interval is feasible if the maintenance task is a non-safety task; and incorporating said optimal maintenance task interval in said maintenance schedule associated with said commercial fleet vehicles. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A maintenance interval determination and optimization software tool comprising programmed instructions stored in computer readable memory for optimizing maintenance schedules associated with commercial fleet vehicles comprising:
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a maintenance task selection module that operates to associate one or more components associated with a platform with a maintenance task, said one or more components comprising vehicle components selected from an entire vehicle in addition to said vehicle engine; and a statistical calculation module comprising programmed instructions stored in computer readable memory, said programmed instructions performing a statistical analysis based on historical maintenance data comprising said one or more components or based on historical maintenance data comprising similar tasks for components existing on another platform having a same associated maintenance cause, said statistical calculation module comprising programmed instructions to determine a suggested maintenance task interval associated with the maintenance task, said statistical calculation module comprising programmed instructions to determine a survival probability function including user-selected confidence bounds, said survival probability function comprising a plotted Weibull distribution of associated component lifetimes, said associated component lifetimes derived from specific actual usage of each of said one or more components, said suggested maintenance task interval selected within said confidence bounds to equal a survival probability threshold, said survivable probability function derived from said historical maintenance data. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification