Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-17
2004-11-09
Beaulieu, Yonel (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
C701S033000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06816762
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of aircraft operations and maintenance and in particular to the use of technical logs and/or flight operational information and/or flight crew information to maintain a flight and/or maintenance and/or flight crew history for an aircraft and/or aircraft operator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Globally, it is estimated that commercial aircraft operators spend nearly U.S. $400 billion per year on operating expenses. There are clear economic reasons, for aircraft operators interested in operational efficiency, to attempt to minimise the cost of fleet maintenance, vendor costs, fuel consumption, crew costs, airport fees and other costs, and to optimise the potential of using any means whereby overall operating expenses may be minimised.
There are four groups of players in the aviation industry:
Aircraft Operators. These include commercial passenger airlines, a sector that can be sub-divided into two broad categories: full service airlines and specialist service providers (such as the low cost airlines or corporate travel specialists). The other two major categories of aircraft operators are freight carriers and national defence forces.
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). There are four main categories of OEM: Airframes (principally, Boeing and Airbus); Engines (principally, GE, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce); Avionics (such as Honeywell, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, etc.); and Components (such as Allied Signal, Hamilton Sundstrand, BF Goodrich, etc.).
Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Providers. There are two main categories of MRO companies: Independents such as FLS Aerospace that provide MRO services to aircraft operators but where the aircraft operator has no proprietary interest in the MRO company, and in-house companies where the principal customer owns the MRO company (e.g. Lufthansa Technik). The MRO sector can also be sub-divided as to the breadth of service offered. Most major MRO companies strive to provide a comprehensive set of services so that an aircraft operator can transfer its complete maintenance operation to the MRO company or select a suite of desired services. Other MRO players specialise in specific MRO activities such as engine overhaul.
Third Parties. These include Governments (through their continued ownership of airlines), Regulators, Airports, and Independent Service Providers.
The outsourcing of non-core activities by aircraft operators continues to be a key strategy in an ever more competitive market. Most major aircraft operators now outsource heavy maintenance services to independent MRO's, but continue to perform light maintenance in-house. The main reason cited for not outsourcing the complete maintenance cycle is that labour unions prevent it. For this reason aircraft operator owned capacity remains a significant factor in the MRO sector and these owners are seeking to increase their level of 3rd party service provision in order to improve profitability.
The other major reason why aircraft operators are reluctant to outsource all of their maintenance activities is the fear of losing control of information regarding their fleets. Aircraft operator profitability is determined by aircraft utilisation: filling seats with revenue generating payloads and keeping aircraft in the air by minimising maintenance time. So, when an aircraft operator hands its aircraft over to an MRO company it is effectively handing over control of a key profit driver to a third party. (There is also a regulatory imperative on aircraft operators to ‘manage’ the maintenance of their fleets).
Only a few leading aircraft operators have managed to turn their MRO operations into sustainable businesses (e.g. Lufthansa and Air France), although profitability has been marginal at best. All of the major U.S. carriers provided full service MRO to third parties during the 1980s but comparatively few have remained in this business.
There are three core business streams in aviation MRO namely:
Airframe, Engine, Avionics, and Component Overhaul
Line Maintenance and Aircraft Control
Component Management
Overhaul, or heavy maintenance is carried out at MRO hanger facilities. The aircraft is taken out of operation and delivered to the hangar by the aircraft operator. Typically, many activities are then outsourced to third parties such as specialist engine repair shops (who will often further outsource specific engine parts to other specialist outfits). Put simply, the objective is to overhaul the aircraft and get it back into service as quickly as possible.
Line Maintenance and Aircraft Control (Maintrol) is the light maintenance service performed while the aircraft is in operation. It needs to be carried out at all the destination airports flown to by an aircraft operator (including its hub airport). Maintrol activities consist of recording cycles flown, monitoring engine and airframe condition, and replacing components. The key objective of maintrol is to ensure that the aircraft makes its next scheduled take-off.
Component Management is the activity that ensures that an aircraft operator carries the most economically efficient inventory of spare parts. It is a logistical operation designed to ensure that parts will be available at airports when an aircraft needs a part replaced.
The crucial skill in performing all of these MRO activities is not technical competence (as this is a mandated standard) but the ability to share information and co-ordinate activities. Clearly, the process is a distributed activity (overhaul is outsourced along the MRO industry supply chain) and maintrol services are provided at remote airport locations. When an aircraft is in a hangar, the turnaround time can be affected by the performance of the smallest supplier in the chain. When an aircraft is on the ground at an airport, it may have to remain at the airport until the required spare part can be sourced. The upshot of this situation is a disruption to flight schedules and the associated problems that are well known in the industry. Delays can therefore prove very costly not just in a monetary sense, but also with respect to the public perception of the airline.
In comparison to the design and manufacture of airframes, engines and components, the aviation MRO sector is ‘low-tech’. MRO is carried out by a process of dismantling, assessing, repairing and/or replacing. The parts are then put back where they were found. Every process is carried out strictly according to OEM approved procedures and these procedures are supervised and approved by the various regulatory authorities responsible for air travel safety.
That said, the process of aviation MRO is extremely complex and information-intensive. It involves gathering huge quantities of data, detailed planning, and precise logistical control. The management of this process not only determines the efficiency of MRO companies but also directly affects the bottom line profitability of aircraft operators.
The MRO companies, as well as the OEMs and the aircraft operators currently have a variety of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in place to manage the flow of information within their own organisations. However, integration of IT systems between the key players in the industry is almost non-existent. Furthermore, the process of data collection is largely paper based and data input is manual. The source of all maintenance related data is the aircraft. After each landing a Technical Log (a paper form) is completed by a ground engineer and/or a pilot and is signed off by the Captain of the aircraft. These ‘tech logs’ are then delivered back to the aircraft operator base, conventionally using a returning aircraft, where the details are manually entered into computer systems to generate management reports. Aircraft operators use these reports to manage their fleets and to schedule heavy maintenance checks. When an aircraft is due for a heavy maintenance check, many crates of paper are transferred by aircraft operators to the MRO company, where they are manually entered into the MRO's I
Brennan Jonathan
Hardgrave Stephen
Hensey Bernard
Beaulieu Yonel
Flightman Research Limited
Jackson & Walker, LLP
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