Gantt tracking controlled by something besides time?

[PerryRT]

OK folks, here's the situation I find myself in

I'm an aircraft maintenance controller. I'm responsible for forcasting, scheduling and planning aircraft maintenance for a fleet of aircraft

Now, some aircraft maintenance is "on condition" (something broke) but most (hopefully all!) is scheduled and is based on one of three things - date, aircraft flying hours, or aircraft cycles (number of landings.

I also have access to flight planning, so I can forecast out which aircraft is going to be used when, how much it is going to fly, etc

What I want to do is set up each maintenance action as a task in Project (I'm using 2000, incidentally) and let it show visually in a Gantt chart (and resource graphs), so I can see when aircraft flight requirements conflict with aircraft maintenance requirements and what work is going to happen when

However, I can't seem to figure out a reasonable way to have the data provided in the flight planning (approximate times and cycles) turn into automatic "target dates" for maintenance actions. And off hand, without getting DEEPLY into VBA (which I'm not good at), I don't see how to do it

Ideally, I'd like to be able to sit down at a computer, enter the actual flight times of the flights accomplished since last update, and automatically be able to see how that affects my maintenance plan (what's going to slide or move up based on more or less time on the aircraft?)

Right now, I'm doing it by hand and calculator, and it's killing me for overtime

Anyone out there have any ideas? I'm at my wits end here. This is SUCH a flexible program there's got to be a way, somehow....

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Perry,

I used to be in aicraft maitenance in the RAF, so I know the problem well,
though that was well before the PC had been invented I don't think there
is an in-built way of doing this. My instinct it to have a milestone FS
linked to the aircraft maintenance task with a lag of zero. Then, as you
become aware of flying hours, you need a procedure to add lag time
accordingly. Like this: IIF([number1]=0,[lag]=0,[lag]=[Number2]), where you
insert the flying hours in Number1 and Number2 has a formula to calculate
the appropriate amount of lag. This will need a vba routine as there is no
way of entering the lag simply. Try posting on the developer newsgroup.
Please see FAQ Item: 24. Project Newsgroups. FAQs, companion products and
other useful Project information can be seen at this web address:
http://www.mvps.org/project/.

Mike Glen
Project MVP

 

[Rod Gill]

Hi,

I've done some work with an airline company in this area. They use project,
but only to schedule the maintenance jobs themselves. They have templates
for each aircraft for each type of service. They use another package for
scheduling when each aircraft and engine needs servicing.

I suggest you swap paper and calculator for a spreadsheet firstly and use it
to define what you need. You may get a complete solution just using Excel.
At least you will end up with a better specification for what you want
before looking around for suitable software.

--
For VBA posts, please use the public.project.developer group.
For any version of Project use public.project
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Rod Gill
Project MVP
For Microsoft Project companion projects, best practices and Project VBA
development services
visit www.projectlearning.com/

OK folks, here's the situation I find myself in.

I'm an aircraft maintenance controller. I'm responsible for forcasting,

scheduling and planning aircraft maintenance for a fleet of aircraft.

Now, some aircraft maintenance is "on condition" (something broke) but

most (hopefully all!) is scheduled and is based on one of three things -
date, aircraft flying hours, or aircraft cycles (number of landings.)

I also have access to flight planning, so I can forecast out which

aircraft is going to be used when, how much it is going to fly, etc.

What I want to do is set up each maintenance action as a task in Project

(I'm using 2000, incidentally) and let it show visually in a Gantt chart
(and resource graphs), so I can see when aircraft flight requirements
conflict with aircraft maintenance requirements and what work is going to
happen when.

However, I can't seem to figure out a reasonable way to have the data

provided in the flight planning (approximate times and cycles) turn into
automatic "target dates" for maintenance actions. And off hand, without
getting DEEPLY into VBA (which I'm not good at), I don't see how to do it.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to sit down at a computer, enter the actual

flight times of the flights accomplished since last update, and
automatically be able to see how that affects my maintenance plan (what's
going to slide or move up based on more or less time on the aircraft?)

Right now, I'm doing it by hand and calculator, and it's killing me for overtime.

Anyone out there have any ideas? I'm at my wits end here. This is SUCH a

flexible program there's got to be a way, somehow.....

 

[John Beamish]

Interesting question. I developed a maintenance scheduling system (for
buses, but the general issues and approach mirror your issues).

The glib (and, actually, accurate) answer is the project is for projects
(PMI defines them as unique occurances) not for processes (repeated
operations). While it _is_ possible to make Project work for processes, it
isn't the appropriate tool. As others will tell you, you can "force"
project to handle processes, but it isn't pretty.

Your real issue is that you are looking at two separate (actually 3)
processes: flight schedules, maintenance schedules (which are both
dependent on and independent of flight schedules) and crew schedules.

I strongly advise you to research other software applications for these
areas. Although you can put a lot of effort into making Project handle
these items, you will get much more "bang for your buck" (or hours of
overtime <sad grin>) by investing your time and effort in researching and
implementing a product tailored to your industry's unique requirements.

If I were the regulatory agency (you don't say where you are) I would regard
your current scheduling approach as workable but marginal. I think you
might find it useful to talk with agency staff to see if they can put you in
touch with similar-sized carriers (not competitors, obviously!) to discuss
with them the approaches they have successfully used.

You came to the Project newsgroups to find out how to use Project. I'm a
strong supporter of MS Project but this is one occasion when I would
enthusiastically encourage you to search elsewhere for a solution.

Regards
JLB, PMP

OK folks, here's the situation I find myself in.

I'm an aircraft maintenance controller. I'm responsible for forcasting,

scheduling and planning aircraft maintenance for a fleet of aircraft.

Now, some aircraft maintenance is "on condition" (something broke) but

most (hopefully all!) is scheduled and is based on one of three things -
date, aircraft flying hours, or aircraft cycles (number of landings.)

I also have access to flight planning, so I can forecast out which

aircraft is going to be used when, how much it is going to fly, etc.

What I want to do is set up each maintenance action as a task in Project

(I'm using 2000, incidentally) and let it show visually in a Gantt chart
(and resource graphs), so I can see when aircraft flight requirements
conflict with aircraft maintenance requirements and what work is going to
happen when.

However, I can't seem to figure out a reasonable way to have the data

provided in the flight planning (approximate times and cycles) turn into
automatic "target dates" for maintenance actions. And off hand, without
getting DEEPLY into VBA (which I'm not good at), I don't see how to do it.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to sit down at a computer, enter the actual

flight times of the flights accomplished since last update, and
automatically be able to see how that affects my maintenance plan (what's
going to slide or move up based on more or less time on the aircraft?)

Right now, I'm doing it by hand and calculator, and it's killing me for overtime.

Anyone out there have any ideas? I'm at my wits end here. This is SUCH a

flexible program there's got to be a way, somehow.....

 

[James Griffiths]

Hi Perry

You have an intesting situation....and I've given it a lot of thought over the past few days (just shows how sad I am ). I have a number of ideas, but I want to ensure that I'm not re-inventing the wheel or working under a false premise. Could you just answer/ confirm a few simple concepts

1) I presume that the maintenance that is based on "date" will occur if flying cycles/hours/It's broke do not cause maintenance to occur earlier
2) I presume that you have a good idea as to the number of take-offs/landings and flying hours that are required before maintenance is required
3) What have you managed to produce so far (using your current method or MSP)...and what have you found to be the biggest obstacle
4) How far in advance do you want to be able to forecast the loading for the maintenance personnel
5) You will need to update the project on a daily basis. Are you happy with that
6) How may aircraft are you looking after?

I have a basic project structure that may work, but your additional info will help me even further

James