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PROGNOS®: Maintenance that stays a step ahead

Predictive Maintenance by AFI KLM E&M

PROGNOS®: Maintenance that stays a step ahead

In recent years many industrial sectors have been getting on board with Big Data, and aviation maintenance is no exception. Data is becoming a strategic lever in terms of optimizing maintenance policies; from response times to forward planning, predictive capability now goes hand-in-hand with MRO services. At AFI KLM E&M, this (r)evolution goes by the name Prognos® – a solution that is continuing to grow in both scale and efficiency.

The Prognos® trademark refers to a range of specialist predictive maintenance solutions born of a combination of Big Data and AFI KLM E&M's extensive operational knowledge, covering everything from the monitoring of engines and APUs, the analysis of the most critical component systems to supply chain management. These various solutions are all based around the same concept – collecting and analyzing myriad data flows using AI technology, in order to provide the customer with alerts and recommendations for their operational processes.

Making AOG a thing of the past?

Prognos® for Aircraft, for example, draws upon maintenance technical logs and Aircraft Operational Data (AOD) generated during flights by various on-board sensors. By applying homemade Prognos® algorithms to this data, it becomes possible to establish prognostics for future technical issues. The ensuing predictive maintenance operations can drastically reduce the incidence of AOG situations, identifying components before failure and replacing them during scheduled maintenance visits (rather than during an unscheduled grounding). Prognos® for Engine, meanwhile, enables a prognostics model to be automatically established and updated for a given engine, while Prognos® for APU applies a similar principle to auxiliary power units. This makes the tool capable of detecting even the slightest anomaly in an engine’s behavior, in order to predict the occurrence of a technical issue and notify the operator via the early warning system. At present, AFI KLM E&M teams are monitoring the status of over 1,300 engines using Prognos®, for multiple families of both older and new-generation engines, including the LEAP-1A and the Trent XWB.

When managing the supply chain has never been so important

Finally, Prognos® for Inventory aims to achieve

“inventory optimization for all types of parts, both consumable and reparable, and for all aircraft types. Fueled by supply chain data histories and forward planning data, the solution issues recommendations for the design and scope of inventories, supply chains, Main Base Kits (MBK) or initial provisioning (IP). The end result brings benefits to customers in terms of reducing inventory volumes, optimizing costs, improving the availability of stock items, etc.”

Rik Van Lieshout

Digital Products and Services Manager at AFI KLM E&M.

New algorithms for critical systems

In addition, the Prognos® range is expanding to cover more and more types of aircraft, engines, components, etc., in order to meet the needs of airline customers

“Prognos® for Engine will soon see its capabilities extended to cover PW1500 (A220) and LEAP engines. Work is also under way on Continuous Engine Operational Data (CEOD), in order to develop predictive maintenance models dedicated to specific components, enabling an even more accurate prediction of potential issues. In perpetual improvement, Prognos® for Aircraft is also becoming a more and more valuable solution, notably via the recent integration of algorithms for critical systems such as the Air Cycle Machine (ACM) on the Boeing 787 or the Integrated Driver Generator (IDG) on the Airbus A320.”

Magali Delacroy and Rob Stolk

Product owners

One thing that’s not hard to predict: further innovations are set to take the Prognos® suite to new heights!