The Maintenix® Solution for Aerospace Manufacturers
The Maintenix® product is an advanced Maintenance & Engineering (M&E) system designed specifically for the aviation industry. Maintenix provides aerospace manufacturers with the ability to collect maintenance and reliability data from their customers, giving them visibility into the operation of their components in the field. Maintenix encompasses broad functionality and modern technologies that allow Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to provide their customers with proactive customer support, cost-effective MRO services, and effective management of their maintenance information.
- When aerospace manufacturers deliver their aircraft, engines, or components to their customers, they must also deliver the as-built configuration "baseline" (or blueprint) and the OEM's approved maintenance program. Maintenix provides the ability to build and manage equipment configuration baselines and maintenance programs. The equipment baseline capabilities allow the OEM to define and maintain the configuration blueprint of the aviation asset hierarchy, including the master parts list and part compatibility rules. The OEM can also define the entire maintenance program, including recommended maintenance activities, scheduling intervals and effectivities.
- Over time, the maintenance program changes as new alternate parts are approved and as fault modes emerge that require additional inspections or maintenance work. Sometimes, part modifications also eliminate the need for certain maintenance actions, which must then be removed from the program. With the maintenance program management functions in Maintenix, the OEM has the ability to manage the continually evolving maintenance program, and to provide Service Bulletins (SBs) and other modifications to their customers in a timely manner.
- Maintenix also offers reliability analysis tools, which allow manufacturers to analyze maintenance and reliability data from the field to determine if their equipment is performing well. Maintenix can help to identify any new fault modes or recurring problems that sometimes arise within a fleet over the life of the aviation asset. These trends can be monitored and analyzed, allowing the OEM to take appropriate action, such as issuing a Service Bulletin or developing a new maintenance procedure, or even redesigning a part.
- Isolating the root cause of a malfunction can be an extremely difficult task requiring a significant amount of knowledge and experience. The diagnostics & prognostics tools offered in Maintenix use Pilot Reports (PIREPs) and, if available, aircraft and engine fault messages from onboard computers to help technicians and engineers to diagnose maintenance problems. This module provides context-sensitive links to relevant technical publications such as the fault isolation manual (FIM), the minimum equipment list (MEL) guidelines, and the aircraft maintenance manual (AMM). The system uses a case-based knowledge management database, containing a history of recurring faults and successful repair strategies, to provide automated troubleshooting and decision support. OEMs can use information collected from their many customers to build a comprehensive knowledge base that will facilitate the diagnosis of future occurrences of similar problems, and to provide recommendations for appropriate corrective maintenance actions.
- For aerospace manufacturers that have expanded into the MRO services business, the configuration & records management capabilities of Maintenix provide a complete electronic logbook for the aircraft, engine, and components This allows for tracking of such information as the as-maintained configuration, equipment usage, fault records, and maintenance histories.
- To provide advanced support capabilities, Maintenix can operate at all levels of maintenance. Upcoming requirements for spare parts and resources such as labor, tools, and facilities can be forecast throughout the maintenance organization. Maintenix also provides project scheduling, and capacity planning and leveling capabilities. In addition, maintenance work packages can be planned, scheduled, and assigned in these modules. Required parts can be requisitioned and issued "Just in Time" (JIT) to specific work orders. The work execution features round out the software's maintenance functionality, providing electronic "to do" lists based on assigned maintenance tasks, links to technical publications, and data collection capabilities at the point of maintenance. Maintenix also offers progress monitoring, allowing the OEM's customers to see the work-in-progress and the current status of their equipment. The information collected by Maintenix can be provided to the customer as a record of the work that was performed and the configuration changes that were made.
- Point of maintenance data collection is facilitated by the fact that Maintenix supports wireless devices, allowing maintenance and configuration information to be sent to, and collected from, the hangar or shop floor where the work is being done. In addition, Maintenix provides electronic signature technology that enables digital sign-off of tasks, and complete electronic record keeping capabilities.
- The modern n-tier, web-based architecture of Maintenix makes it highly scalable and enables Internet deployment of the system. This allows aerospace manufacturers to support a large number of aircraft, engines and components, and a continually expanding customer base – without having to install the software on all of the customers' computers, and without running into the scalability limitations that exist with older client-server systems.
Maintenix provides manufacturers with a new approach to managing maintenance, product support, and reliability information. The system allows the OEM and its customers to work together, sharing information in order to improve the quality of the aftermarket support processes, including proficient in-service data collection, maintenance management, and supply chain optimization. Overall, Maintenix enables aerospace manufactures to gain a competitive advantage by lowering the cost of ownership for complex assets and increasing customer satisfaction, through streamlined maintenance processes and proactive customer support.
For more information about the capabilities of Mxi's Maintenix software, please visit the benefits page and browse through the Maintenix area of our web site. In addition, information on how Maintenix can be used to support comprehensive OEM or third party contractor Performance Based Logistics (PBL) programs is available on the Performance Based Logistics page in the Solutions area of this web site.
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