CTMA Project #: 141006
Problem: In the aviation industry, two critical areas driving a successful enterprise are aircraft availability and the overall life cycle cost of the fleet. A company’s ability to keep fleets flying, minimize flight delays and control life cycle costs has a direct impact on end consumer satisfaction. The industry in general will continue to struggle with these issues until a maintenance and sustainment enterprise management solution can be implemented that maintains a fleet of aircraft at an acceptable availability rate, while continually and simultaneously examining supply chain processes to improve efficiencies and costs savings. The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) is a joint, multi-national program that is dealing with exactly this set of constraints and challenges.
Benefit: Investigating the transition from design/manufacture to maintenance/sustainment on the F-35 will produce lessons learned regarding logistics support and lifecycle management modernization that can easily translate to the commercial airline industry. Results has the potential to drive down costs and improve flight services for end consumers worldwide.
Solution/Approach: This project will analyze the total lifecycle management from development to test and evaluation, production, and operations and sustainment. The initial sustainment capability demonstration will enable work with organizational internal and external stakeholders to implement revolutionary business and acquisition processes across production, operation, sustainment, and management domains. It will take a multi-dimensional perspective on delivering an effective initial sustainment capability and sustainment strategy for the JPO, that can act as a surrogate for implementation into the commercial market.
Impact on Warfighter:
- Reduce overall sustainment costs
- Revolutionize business and acquisition processes
- Synthesize risk avoidance/mitigation approaches
- Employ advanced quantitative analytical techniques
- Sustain warfighter readiness and lethality
DOD Participation:
- F-35 JPO
- U.S. Navy (observer)
- U.S. Air Force (observer)
- U.S. Marine Corps (observer)
- Country Partner Services (8 observers)
Industry Participation:
- Michigan Research Institute
- Andromeda Systems, Inc. (ASI)
- NCMS
Benefit Area(s):
- Cost savings
- Repair turn-around time
- Safety
- Maintenance management improvement
Focus Area:
- Business processes/partnerships
