Air Force weapon systems and their component systems undergo periodic, comprehensive maintenance at the depot, a process that involves mechanics inspecting inducted items for conditions requiring overhaul or repair.  For cases when parts are not available or are too expensive, when parts require extensive material deposition and/or machining to meet tolerances, when the necessary procedures are not included in the technical manuals, or when the mechanic sees an opportunity to improve process efficiency by deviating from the specified procedures, mechanics must consult an expert engineer.  The process of consulting an engineer is often referred to as the 202 process, named after the AFMC Form 202, Nonconforming Technical Assistance Request and Reply.

The 202 process is beset by a number of systemic problems that include a high volume of 202s, excessive and highly variable turnaround times for 202s, a high percentage 202s returned for clarification, qualification mismatches between 202 work and the engineers assigned to complete it, and a high volume of repeat 202s.  Providing a comprehensive solution to these issues must begin with a careful reexamination of the 202 process, its physics, and its many variants, followed by deliberate process reengineering.

KBSI’s Technical Support and Professional Engineering in Real-Time (TechSPERT™) initiative is focused on delivering critical engineering knowledge and technical expertise at a warrior-centric pace.  The TechSPERT™ initiative is developing (i) a reengineered engineering technical support (ETS) process; (ii) a knowledge capture, discovery, exploitation, and management methodology; and (iii) a blueprint for augmenting standard Air Force product life cycle management (PLM), engineering data management, and engineering analysis systems to deliver a comprehensive, high velocity ETS capability.

The TechSPERT™ initiative will also develop supporting knowledge engineering and management capabilities and tools, composing the needed capabilities through a harmonization/integration effort using primarily COTS/GOTS elements.  These include “Know who knows” tools (network modeling tools designed to capture relationships among individuals with respect to their expert knowledge, learning, work, and innovation networks), “Know how” definition tools (technical support knowledge base management tools including KBSI’s process definition tools (ProSim) and ontology description capture/harmonization tools, and “Know where” tools (for configuration management and location information for key file, system, tool, and data sources).

The TechSPERT™ solutions has significant market potential across the growing operation and sustainment (O&S) market, which includes both public and private industry elements [e.g., DoD maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), NASA MRO for STS and next generation space vehicles, commercial airline industry MRO, commercial MRO of other large complex systems like ships, buildings, petrochemical facilities, etc.].  For example, the knowledge network and scoring model technologies, which provide “Know Who Knows” information and a way to baseline and measure relative expertise among SMEs, can be leveraged in multiple industries.  The TechSPERT™ solutions can also provide a knowledge asset management capability within large organizations that recognize the growing need for effective knowledge capture and transfer (e.g., hospital systems, university systems, technology companies, etc.).