Condition-Based Maintenance for Aircraft Engines

In this paper we describe how a condition-based maintenance (CBM) system might be operated for operators of assets such as aircraft engines. We show that merely having a monitoring and diagnostics system in place is not enough to derive the full, or even the majority of the, benefit from CBM. Our investigations show that to maximize the benefits from CBM for the enterprise, it is as important to focus on the aftermarket supply chain — i.e. the back-end of the process — as it is to develop better data gathering, diagnostics, and prognostics techniques. Via simulation, we show that optimizing the value chain results in lower costs and turn around times, and higher asset availability, spare part availability, and fill rates. For individual equipment operators the benefits could be substantial, depending on the size of their fleets and nature of their equipment usage. Providers of maintenance services, increasingly the original equipment manufacturers, stand to gain as well. As the demands on the aftermarket supply chain become more predictable, they can service the same asset base with lower spares inventory, while meeting increasingly aggressive turn-around-time targets, thus improving the bottom line and customer satisfaction.