InferX demonstrates enhanced aircraft readiness to NAVAIR using next generation predictive analytics technology

InferX has announced that it demonstrated how its next-generation predictive analytics products and solutions, in conjunction with IBM Cognos business intelligence solutions, helps defense agencies significantly reduce repair and maintenance costs.

The demonstration was made to a large audience at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) headquarters at Patuxent River. In a presentation entitled, “Improving Aircraft Readiness Using Diagnostics and Prognostics Analytics in Aircraft Maintenance Data,” InferX and IBM Cognos demonstrated how it could significantly improve readiness and decrease maintenance costs. Readiness is the number one goal of the US Department of Defense and one of its greatest challenges.

Vijay Suri, InferX Chief Executive Officer, said, “A major challenge to readiness arises when planes return to the ground with malfunction codes encountered in electronic components during flight, which cannot be duplicated on the ground. It becomes even more difficult to duplicate the airborne conditions that cause equipment failures aboard older aircraft in the fleet.”

Suri said, “InferX was able to show that the combined use of next-generation predictive analytics and business intelligence dashboard technology can significantly reduce the costs that arise from these errors. InferX showed that to improve readiness, it is critical to know when parts will likely fail based on actual equipment conditions rather than hypothetical reliability projections. A software solution using next-generation predictive analytics products is designed to provide such information to the Navy.”

Dr. Jerzy Bala, InferX Chief Technology Officer and key architect of the InferX product suite, said the InferX aircraft readiness solution compares previously gathered computer-stored data with performance monitoring data from legacy systems aboard designated aircraft in an effort to pinpoint the true cause of a failure. This gives maintenance engineers insight to address what really needs to be repaired.

“This analysis prevents expensive, time consuming, and error-prone troubleshooting and unnecessary parts replacement and increases each aircraft’s turnaround time from the hangar to the flight line. This mining effort is used to augment current processes and procedures in order to make smarter decisions, such as remove the component, leave it in the aircraft, or re-test. The benefits are many, including improved aircraft system performance and operational capabilities, tremendous cost savings, and greater precision and efficiency across the spectrum of aviation maintenance,” said Dr. Bala.