Roy Harris, director, Aviation Readiness & Resource Analysis, shares with the attendees the background on the formation of the Integrated Logistics and Support Management System (ILSMS).
Patuxent River, MD. — In light of today’s tight budget environment, Naval Aviation is shifting from procurement to sustainment and modernization. With aircraft flying more extended missions and airframes remaining in the fleet longer, this shift has brought new challenges, especially when it comes to maintaining aircraft and equipment.
Airframe service life extension is not a new concept for Naval Aviation, but it has led the fleet and the industrial facilities to encounter new and “first time” problems in material condition as well as supply.
To continue operating in top form and to ensure warfighters are ready to fight and win today while preparing for tomorrow, NAVAIR Logistics and Industrial Operations (AIR 6.0) held a Sustainment Summit this month.
“There are a lot of initiatives underway within AIR 6.0 to better support our fleet, and we wanted to ensure Program Executive Officers [PEOs], Project Management Aircraft [PMAs], lead engineers and all our Product Support Managers [PSMs] were aware of them,” said Toni L. Meier, director of Logistics Management Integration (AIR 6.6). “We also wanted to solicit their feedback and determine whether there were areas for improvement and/or any other initiatives they thought we should begin.”
The Integrated Logistics and Support Management System (ILSMS), presented by Audie Dennis, Aviation Logistics and Maintenance Analysis (AIR 6.8.2) division director, was one of the new initiatives that generated excitement in the room. ILSMS is a data mining tool that aggregates 10 years’ worth of historical data from 19 different databases to point leadership and analysts to the problem areas today and to proactively target these problem areas in the future. The data reflects squadron usage, aircraft, supply, cost, and maintenance down to the component level – all in a standardized format. Data is culled, integrated and synchronized to show operation and sustainment costs and track fleet performance. Right now, the tool must be installed on a desktop computer, but a web-based version is in the works and will be available by the end of the 2016 fiscal year.
Other topics presented at the summit included “Readiness: Funding, Challenges and Harmonization,” “Sustainment Kill Chain: Triggers, Line of Balance, Effects,” “Maintenance Planning, Scheduling and Execution (MPS&E) Capability,” and “ILSMS and Condition Based Maintenance + (CBM+).”
“The highlight was the great attendance and the interchange with the participants,” Meier said. “They gave us valuable feedback.”
The AIR 6.6 staff were the main organizers of the event along with Todd L. Balazs, deputy assistant commander for Logistics and Industrial Operations (AIR 6.0A); Dennis J. West, Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC) deputy commander; Tracy B. Moran, Industrial and Logistics Maintenance Planning/Sustainment Department director; Roy W. Harris, Aviation Readiness & Resource Analysis director; and the AIR 6.0 technical directors.