Arinc is looking to expand the application of a software tool that can identify within a system electronic or mechanical components that pose the highest risk of becoming obsolete. The Arinc Logistics Assessment and Risk Management (Alarm) system is being used by the US Department of Defense to reduce life-cycle costs.
Using a database developed by Arinc, the software analyses the bill of materials for a system and assigns an obsolescence risk rating to each component based on factors such as how many remain in inventory, whether drawings and tooling still exist and whether it requires any banned chemicals or special processes.
These ratings allow Alarm to rank the priority of high-risk components. “There may be 8,000-9,000 end items. Alarm narrows this down to the 15-20% worst items,” says Walter Tomczykowski, Arinc programme director for diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages.
High-risk items then undergo an engineering and logistics analysis to determine the best solution. “If there is a 20-year supply on hand, then there isn’t a problem, but if it is a long lead-time component there might be,” says Tomczykowski. The Alarm database was assembled by Arinc using DoD inventory data and catalogue codes. Arinc hopes to expand the system’s use to include NATO data.
The Annapolis, Maryland-based systems engineering firm has also developed a related software system, already in use by airlines, that shows spares depletion with time based on obsolescence. The operational impact analysis (OIA) tool indicates which spares pools are in danger of depletion based on the inability to repair the parts because of obsolescence.
Source: Flight International
