By Robert A. “Rob” Miller
The C-130 Hercules Division has embarked on the integration of Conditions-Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) philosophy across the sustainment enterprise for C-130-based platforms. I will define the progress made and lessons learned during the year:
The implications of shifting from a fly-to-fail (unscheduled) component removal to scheduled removals are profound. The “Plus” in CBM+ is a reflection of the development/synthesis of big data for the purpose of defining scheduled removal thresholds or marginal operating conditions that would drive removal prior to failure. Having “Clean data” is the foundation of all activity. Without decision-quality data, your CBM+ house is built on sand. This year, working with designated Air Force and Department of the Navy leadership, the C-130 Hercules Division data scrubbing software tool has become the benchmark Maintenance Data Scrubbing Tool for US Department of Defense air platforms. The next step? Involving all program activities and the supply chain in a timely manner is paramount.
Product support integrators and providers will be required to shift from a repair-centric to overhaul-centric philosophy, as items will be flowing back to repair facilities which do not fit the typical repair paradigm–they have yet to actually fail. As many pieces of equipment have multiple, regularly occurring failure mechanisms, developing a “repair parts kit” which addresses these mechanisms is usually required.
Technical Data must be adjusted to avoid ‘Retest OK’ (RTOK) of items that were removed prior to failure and may still show “OK” on test equipment using previously approved test plans. The danger here is putting marginal components back into the supply chain that will fail quickly after re-installation, and therefore actually reduce reliability through the application of CBM+ processes. In some cases were defined failure mechanisms are not apparent; Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) and Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) activity will likely be required.
With the addition of kitted repair/overhaul activity, repair flow days will likely need to be adjusted for additional active repair and perhaps less troubleshooting. Over time as asset reliability increases, the decrease of actual repair actions should offset additional flow time, but in the short term, man-hour and component demand spikes will be common. All of these actions must be coordinated through supply computation, contract modification, and ultimately budgeting. To “do it right,” close coordination with various Supply Chain partners over the course of years is a must. Like with most other business activities, there’s ultimately no substitute for positive working relationships.