By Benjamin S. Blanchard, CPL, Fellow (1929-2019) There is a tendency today to believe that the need for logisticians is declining and that in certain sectors, the word “logistics” is no longer a popular term and is in “disfavor!” Further, there is often the feeling that what has been implemented in the past is no good and no longer valid today. In such instances, we have reverted to changing some terms and definitions and proceeding onward as if we had…

By George Rees (Boeing, ret) Seventy years ago, George Orwell published his dystopian novel 1984 about a society where ‘Big Brother is watching you,’ knows where you are and everything you do. Flash forward to the present day, replace ‘Big Brother’ with ‘Big Ship,’ and welcome aboard Princess Cruise Line’s Medallion Class cruise ship. While not the sinister system Orwell proposed, Princess has worked hard the past few years to create an entirely new cruise experience using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology…

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…

By Robert A. “Rob” Miller One of the two foundational concepts foundational to Conditions Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) is Predictive Analytics Development, or PAD (the other being eRCM, or Enhanced Reliability-Centered Maintenance). PAD typically leverages information gained from sensors based on the aircraft (or other system/platform) in order to define when a particular component is performing in a marginal way which compromises system performance and/or indicates an approaching failure condition. By leveraging PAD, the supporting logistics enterprise can perform value-added…