Materials management system

A method of managing parts used in the maintenance of multiple fleets of aircraft, the method comprising:

• generating a request for a replacement part required for the maintenance of an aircraft in one of the fleets;
• moving the requested replacement part to a location where the maintenance on the aircraft is to be performed;
• removing and replacing a part on the aircraft with the replacement part;
• moving the removed part to a parts receiving and inspection location;
• receiving and inspecting the removed part at the receiving and inspection location;
• and,
• determining at the receiving and inspection location whether the removed part is serviceable.

A method of managing parts used in the maintenance of a fleet of aircraft, the method comprising:

• receiving a part required for the maintenance of an aircraft;
• inspecting the received part to determine whether the part meets a set of predefined conditions;
• determining whether the part is a repaired part;
• if the part is determined to be a repaired part, then determining whether a set of historical records relating to the repaired part are complete;
• and,
• if either the historical records are not determined to be complete or the predefined conditions are determined not to be met, then placing the repaired part in quarantine.

A system for managing a pooled inventory of material held at differing locations and used in the maintenance of multiple fleets of aircraft, comprising:

• a material request module for processing requests for material and for determining whether the requested material is present at one of the locations;
• a material transfer module responsive to material requests for transferring parts between the differing locations;
• a material receiving and inspection module for receiving and inspecting the material;
• and,
• a material shipment module for managing the shipment of material from a supplier in response to a material request.

A method of managing a pooled inventory of parts held at differing locations and used in the maintenance of multiple fleets of aircraft, the method comprising:

• generating a request for a part required for the maintenance of an aircraft;
• determining whether the requested part is in the pooled inventory, including determining whether the requested part is being held in the inventory at the location where the maintenance is to be performed;
• if the requested part is determined to be in the pooled inventory, then—
• (i) if the part is not at the location where the maintenance is to be performed, then generating logistics for moving the part to a location where the maintenance is to be performed,
• (ii) if the requested part is being held in the inventory at the location where the maintenance is to be performed, then reserving the requested part at the location where the maintenance is to be performed, and associating a tail number of the aircraft with the reserved part;
• if the requested part is determined not to be in the pooled inventory, then ordering a supplier to ship the requested part to the location where the maintenance is to be performed on the aircraft;
• removing a part on the aircraft;
• replacing the removed part with the requested part;
• determining whether the removed part is expendable or repairable;
• if the removed part is determined to be expendable, then determining whether the removed part satisfies a set of warranty conditions requiring a supplier to replace the removed part;
• and,
• determining the value of the removed part, and wherein determining whether the removed part satisfies a set of warranty conditions is performed only if the determined value of the removed part exceeds a preselected value.

A system for managing a pooled inventory of material held at differing locations and used in the maintenance of multiple fleets of aircraft, comprising, comprising:

• a material request module for processing requests for material and for determining whether the requested material is present at one of the locations;
• a material transfer module responsive to material requests for transferring parts between the differing locations;
• a material receiving and inspection module for receiving and inspecting the material;
• a material shipment module for managing the shipment of material from a supplier in response to a material request;
• a material quarantine module for quarantining material received and inspected by the material receiving and inspection module;
• a material scrap module for scraping material received and inspected by the material receiving and inspection module;
• a material inventory adjustment module for making adjustments to records reflecting the pooled inventory;
• and,
• a material provisioning module for determining the material required for maintenance of aircraft at each of the locations.