ProPlan™ 21 provides technology for the rapid definition, creation, and editing of constraint based MRO plans, enabling advanced plan analysis and plan execution for depot management decision support across all production echelons.
Key to the responsiveness of Air Logistic Centers (ALC), the hub for maintenance, repair, and overhaul of Air Force aircraft, is planning. Responsiveness is a particularly acute need given the increased pace of Air Force operations worldwide, and ALCs are under pressure to reduce the number of aircraft on station at any given time, to speed maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) turnaround, and to meet on-time delivery commitments despite significant variability in work content, component part reliability, and replacement part acquisition lead-time—all while continuing to maintain consistently high standards of quality.
This initiative, funded by the U.S. Air Force, researched and proofed concepts for advanced MRO-based, multi-echelon planning and analysis technology. The initiative provided technology for the rapid definition, creation, and editing of constraint based MRO plans, enabling advanced plan analysis and plan execution for depot management decision support across all production echelons. The ProPlan™ technologies also provide point-of-discovery planning support with interactive plan critique/verification at all levels of MRO management. This capability helps production management develop optimized plans, schedules, and situation responses, and to more effectively process designs. The technology allows depot decision makers to rapidly specify, evaluate, compare, and select the best process based on quantitative analysis of the process’ impact on both scheduled and surge-critical production scenarios.
Phase II Development
In Phase II of the Advanced MRO Multi-echelon Planning & Scheduling (ProPlan™ 21), KBSI developed a state of the art, intelligent process design repository that is driven by advanced constraint management and semantic web capabilities. Key innovations of the ProPlan™ 21 technology include a cross-echelon approach that combines multiple soft computing and knowledge discovery methods for rapid, constraint-based planning and a process model-based approach that maximizes re-use of domain knowledge for rapid model development, deployment, and analysis.
The ProPlan™ 21 initiative addressed a number of technical barriers, providing solutions that help Air Force ALCs more effectively plan MRO activities and meet increased aircraft needs. In particular, ProPlan™ 21 provides advanced concepts and methods for effective constraint discovery, definition, and representation, and for cost effective life cycle plan maintenance.
This material is based upon work supported by the United States Air Force under Contract No. FA8103-06-C-0259. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Air Force.