- Access technical documents through a single point of entry.
- Streamline engineering and maintenance operations.
- Minimize technical interruptions such as delays and cancellations.
Boeing has been providing technical information in digital format since 1992 with the creation of the Reference Engineering Data Automated Retrieval System (REDARS) (see April-June 1995 Airliner magazine). Operators' engineering and maintenance personnel now use high-speed systems with search-and-retrieval capabilities instead of flipping through paper and microfilm documents. The effort required to maintain current and accurate technical libraries is significantly reduced. The time savings allows for more engineering research (for example, developing repair procedures) and more time for mechanics to spend in productive labor. With simplified, rapid access to the most current data available, operators can reduce costs and ultimately increase revenues by returning airplanes to the revenue fleet sooner.
Boeing is partnering with its customers and suppliers to assess the long-term value of leading-edge digital information technologies. The goal in this effort is to provide a unified set of applications based on Air Transport Association (ATA) specification 2100. According to Moore's Law, technology doubles every 18 months and product concepts currently considered feasible may quickly become obsolete. The Boeing approach in recognizing Moore's Law is to create digital products that will easily evolve into more powerful business applications as technology advances. This process includes transitioning operators (when requested) to cost-effective and more productive versions. The use of both existing and evolving ATA specifications is a key to maintaining the required stability.
The company's long-term strategy is to provide both digital data and systems throughout engineering operations. This includes materiel provisioning management, maintenance training, engineering, planning, heavy maintenance, line maintenance, dispatch, and flight operations. The delivery and use of data across different computing systems form the foundation for the growing Boeing family of digital data products and services. Providing end-to-end support with a single point of contact for all aspects of systems management is the cornerstone of the Boeing philosophy on digital products. The four primary products in the family are
- Boeing On-Line Data (BOLD).
- Portable Maintenance
Aid (PMA)
- Portable Document Query System (PDQS).
- Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).
Boeing On-Line Data (BOLD)
The digital data product Boeing On-Line Data (BOLD) is a secure global on-line delivery system that provides the aviation industry with the most accurate, current information available to operate and maintain the worldwide Boeing fleet. Through a single secure login, users have access to a complete digital reference library of information previously available only in an operator's central technical library of paper, microfilm, and aperture cards. BOLD makes access to information as close as the nearest networked Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX workstation (fig. 1). As a result, the most current data is available at engineers' and planners' desks as well as on the shop floor for mechanics performing an overnight or heavy maintenance check.Operators and maintenance repair organizations around the world have used BOLD since its introduction in March 1995. Since then, system usage has increased to more than 6 million requests per week from both operators and Boeing users, as roughly 8,000 users at over 60 installations in Asia, Europe, and North America have moved away from outdated and hard-to-maintain paper processes. The operators included in this group fly more than 70 percent of the airplanes in the Boeing fleet. Switching to digital on-line data has enabled customers to reduce costs and increase revenue. Quick, easy access to the required data reduces research time during heavy maintenance, allowing airplanes to return to revenue service sooner.
Users of BOLD have access to information created by Boeing and its component suppliers. To provide an integrated solution to all the data needed to operate and maintain a fleet, engine manufacturer CFMI has contracted with Boeing to provide select engine maintenance data over BOLD. Discussions and negotiations with other major engine manufacturers are underway.
Data currently available on BOLD include
- Engineering and tooling drawings for all Boeing-designed commercial
airplanes, from the 707 to the 777. Work is underway to scan the approximately 1.5 million aperture cards that represent drawings for all Douglas-designed commercial airplanes. Completion is scheduled for mid-1999.
- A part-number index that correlates and links airplane parts and their associated installation drawings.
- Airplane service bulletins issued since August 1993 for Boeing-designed commercial airplanes and those issued since November 1994 for Douglas-designed commercial airplanes.
- Airplane service bulletin index for all bulletins issued for the combined Boeing and Douglas fleet, with a link to the loaded bulletins.
- Airplane service bulletin index for all bulletins issued for the combined Boeing and Douglas fleet, with a link to the loaded bulletins.
- Component maintenance and overhaul manuals for all Boeing and Douglas components.
- Component maintenance and overhaul manuals for more than 230 suppliers.
- Boeing part, materiel, and process standards.
- Information that correlates airplane effectivity for an operator's Boeing fleet, allowing the user to query information applicable to a particular airplane.
Boeing has involved operators in the evolution of BOLD since its introduction. Direct feedback has resulted in additional content and enhanced functionality. Some of the following have been implemented and others are under development:
- Lower network costs.
- Improved system
performance.
- More technical data.
Lower network costs.
Operators told Boeing that network costs to reach the database in Seattle, Washington, were too high. In response, Boeing worked with SITA to reduce costs for customers who use Aeronet, the private SITA network. Boeing established regional hubs around the world to support users of the distributed client-server BOLD application. As a result, these users need only acquire a connection to the hub site nearest their location, and Boeing purchases the network connection back to Seattle. This high-bandwidth connection is monitored and adjusted to grow with the operator's usage. Current hub sites include Hong Kong, London, Singapore, and Tokyo. As new BOLD installations dictate, new hubs will be created. Planned sites include Bahrain, Moscow, São Paulo, and Sydney. Operators are not limited solely to SITA for network connection; BOLD supports standard TCP/IP access from any network provider, including the public Internet.Improved system performance.
One solution to improve system performance is to implement a local BOLD server at the operator's site. The commands that create the images on the screen originate from the local server and are transmitted across the operator's local area network to the user's display. Printing can also be served locally, further reducing dependence on external communication with the Boeing servers in Seattle or the nearest regional hub, thus allowing for quicker system response.Another significant improvement is local data caching. When a user first requests to view a document in BOLD, the document is retrieved from the central repository in Seattle, sent across the network, and loaded into a local cache on the operator's server. Navigation within the document is served from the local copy. When the document is requested again, the system will perform a quick currency check with the repository in Seattle to ensure that the local copy is the most recent. If not, the local copy is replaced with the newer version. Two types of caching, dynamic and static, are used. As documents fill the dynamic cache, the least accessed document is pushed out. Documents loaded to the static cache are not pushed out unless deleted or replaced with a newer version. The static cache is configurable and expandable to whatever size hard disk an operator's system can support (typically 1 terabyte). The dynamic cache is limited to 2 gigabytes.
A companion to local caching is a function called "publish and subscribe." Users can be notified of new or updated documents and request these to be automatically cached in their local server. For instance, an operator's service bulletin engineer can choose to be notified whenever bulletin activity occurs. Activity can be as broad as all Boeing bulletins or as narrow as bulletins applicable to a particular ATA chapter for a particular airplane model. When a new or revised bulletin is released, the system issues an e-mail notification and automatically downloads the bulletin to the local cache. The operator may designate the time that file transfers should occur to take advantage of off-peak hours, when rates are lowest.
More technical data
The greatest value of BOLD as a global on-line delivery solution, however, lies in the technical data offered. As part of an integrated Boeing digital data solution, BOLD will serve as the on-line delivery mechanism for other Boeing products. Examples include the Portable Maintenance Aid (PMA) and Portable Document Query System (PDQS) discussed later in this article. Both will be delivered by BOLD with their associated documents and functionality. This added functionality addresses operators' requests to Boeing for the additional data they need to support their business processes. This will include the following "big seven" documents:- Aircraft maintenance
manual.
- Fault isolation manual.
- Fault reporting manual.
- Illustrated parts catalog.
- Wiring diagram manual.
- System schematic manual.
- Structural repair manual.
BOLD will also contain engine manufacturer maintenance data. CFMI has contracted to deliver its service bulletins, engine manual, and illustrated parts catalog (IPC) for the CFM56-7--the sole engine for 737-600/ -700/-800--through BOLD. Negotiations with other major engine manu-facturers are underway to include additional models and documents.
Boeing is currently developing functionality that will enable operators to manage their own data through BOLD. For operators who maintain storage of their own engineering drawings on aperture cards, Boeing can digitally convert these and manage them in the BOLD data repository. This allows the user, from a single system, to view Boeing drawings as well as his or her own. Also planned for future enhancement is the ability for an airline to add its own authored pages to the component maintenance and overhaul manuals loaded in BOLD.
Lastly, BOLD is migrating to an object-oriented architecture. This will allow Boeing to offer a common object request broker architecture application programming interface to customers who would like to bypass the BOLD interface and access the data directly. As part of this technical migration, BOLD will move from its current X-Window/ Motif interface to a Java application incorporating Web technologies. BOLD is scheduled to become available on the Web in mid-1999. The drawings for heritage Douglas products and the traditional Boeing engineering and tooling drawings will become available on-line at that time, as will service bulletins and the "big seven" documents described in this article. Later, component maintenance and overhaul manuals, engine manufacturers' data, and Boeing part, materiel, and process standards will also become available through BOLD on the Web.
Portable Maintenance Aid (PMA)
Boeing has developed the Portable Maintenance Aid (PMA) to streamline the often time-consuming process of troubleshooting modern, complex airplanes. The PMA provides all the necessary line maintenance documentation in digital format along with a powerful search capability. The application includes specialized process-oriented features tailored to how each document is used. References within and between documents are hyperlinked to further minimize cross-referencing time.With an off-the-shelf notebook personal computer (PC) and the PMA, troubleshooting information is now at the mechanic's fingertips (fig. 2). The PMA interface (fig. 3) is intuitive and requires minimal training, even for users with no computer experience. The PMA currently contains customized versions of the following documents:
- Fault isolation manual.
- Aircraft maintenance
manual.
- Illustrated parts catalog.
- Wiring diagram manual--equipment list.
It also includes the following supporting documents:
- Combined index.
- Maintenance tips, service letters, and in-service activity reports.
- Dispatch deviation procedures guide for the 737-600/-700/-800/-900 and 777.
Future PMA expansion plans include addition of other manuals, such as the structural repair manual, wiring diagram manual, and system schematics manual, and integration with other Boeing digital products. Boeing will also continue to tailor the PMA to provide more efficient troubleshooting by using state-of-the-art diagnostic tools such as intelligent decision aids and intelligent graphics. Intelligent decision aids combine engineering design, mechanic knowledge, and in-service data to help diagnose problems on complex airplane systems. Intelligent graphics technologies provide improved navigation and text searching on illustrations.
The PMA is currently available for the 737-300/-400/ -500/-600/-700/-800/-900, 747-400, 757, 767, and 777. It is planned to be available to support introduction of the 717 in 1999 and other Douglas-designed airplanes at a later date. More than 36 customers have ordered or received the PMA for one or more of their Boeing models.
The primary requirement behind development of the PMA was the need to incorporate all technical documentation necessary for line maintenance in one application that can be carried to the airplane.
Operators can also add to the PMA in-house information that they author. This popular feature allows operators to view their own minimum equipment list and other documents on the PMA.
The Year 2000 (Y2K)-compliant PMA version 3.0 will be introduced in third quarter 1999.
Portable Document Query System (PDQS)
Boeing is conducting a pilot program of the Portable Document Query System (PDQS). This system provides an excellent transition to digital technology for operators who wish to implement digital maintenance processes gradually. PDQS maintains the familiar look and feel of paper documents (fig. 4) but eliminates the space and time required to store and update paper documents.The PDQS pilot program began in late 1997 and will be complete by the end of first quarter 1999. More than a dozen customers are participating in the program worldwide and represent a cross-section of small, medium, and large operators. Some operators have networked PCs, while others use standalone PCs. The purpose of the pilot is to collect candid feedback from operators about their requirements, based on fleet type, so Boeing can provide them with the right data at the right place, at the right time.
PDQS complements processes and procedures that are optimized for conventional documentation and is the ideal solution for standalone PCs. PDQS takes advantage of the industry-standard Adobe® Acrobat® portable document format (PDF) to provide the convenience of digital information storage. PDQS offers many document navigation and information retrieval features, including
- View/zoom.
- Search.
- Print.
- Copy/paste.
- Bookmarks.
- Thumbnails.
- Temporary revisions.
PDQS is a CD-ROM-based product compatible with Windows® 95 and is Y2K compliant. It requires a 486/33 or faster processor with 16-MB RAM or higher, a 3.5-in floppy drive, a 2X CD-ROM drive or faster, and a PostScript®-compatible printer.
The PDQS pilot includes in-production and legacy data for the following models: 727, 737-100/-200/-300/ -400/-500/-600/-700/-800/ -900, 747-100/-200/-300/ -400, 777, and MD-80. Other models have not yet been included in the pilot program.
The following documents will be available:
- Aircraft maintenance
manual.
- Illustrated parts catalog.
- Structural repair manual.
Structural repair manuals for the 757, 767, 777, MD-11, and MD-80 are also available. Boeing is currently working to make all models available in PDQS format. Boeing created the PDQS pilot program in response to the customer requirement to provide legacy data on-line and in a single format that is applicable to all Boeing models.
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
Boeing also offers maintenance and repair documents in digital format for operators who choose to create their own systems for using the data. The data is offered in Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) format for the text and computer graphics metafile or consultative committee international telegraph and telephone (CCITT) group IV tag image file format (TIFF) image for the graphics, in conformance with ATA specification 2100 for digital data interchange.Summary
As modern commercial airplanes grow increasingly complex, operators will need faster, more efficient ways to access maintenance and operations information about them. In response, Boeing will continue to refine and enhance its line of existing digital products--including BOLD, PMA, PDQS, and SGML--and develop new products to meet emerging needs.By offering digital technologies that provide long-term value, Boeing can help operators achieve the following:
- Reduced overhead costs associated with managing technical information.
- Improved line maintenance and technical operations.
- Reduced parts inventory and associated management costs.
- Increased airplane availability.
Details on Boeing digital data products and services are available from Digital Data Customer Support by
-
Phone: 206-554-9990
Email: digital@boeing.com
- Lower network costs.
- Boeing On-Line Data (BOLD).
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