Boeing Global Services is working with the AI data optimization company Pelico under a memorandum of understanding to explore ways to modernize how C-17A Globemaster III heavy maintenance is planned and executed.
Why it matters:
The collaboration is intended to help reduce depot cycle time, improve fleet availability and make aircraft delivery performance more predictable. Boeing and Pelico will assess whether new scheduling, supply coordination and AI-enabled workflows can help teams respond sooner to shortages and critical-path constraints.
Driving the news:
The effort will evaluate Pelico’s Manufacturing Orchestration Platform as a single workspace that connects supply, engineering, planning and depot operations. The platform is expected to replace fragmented, spreadsheet-driven processes with a shared, real-time view of material shortages, bottlenecks and maintenance priorities; and a faster path to acting on them.
Planned capabilities include shortage anticipation, dynamic prioritization based on impact to maintenance flow and initial agentic workflows to help automate routine approval and supplier communications. An earlier Pelico deployment in Boeing Global Services commercial spare parts operations helped validate the approach and was extended beyond its initial term.
“This work is focused on delivering measurable operational improvements and creating a repeatable capability we can scale as we validate outcomes,” said Travis Williams, Boeing vice president of Mobility and Surveillance Aircraft Services.
Pelico’s platform is intended to help close the gap between the maintenance plan and what is actually happening on the shop floor, giving teams a shared view of dependencies and constraints and a clearer basis for sequencing maintenance decisions.
What’s next:
The MOU establishes a framework for phased evaluation and potential broader use across other heavy-maintenance programs. Boeing will use the collaboration to assess results and determine how similar digital tools could support sustainment operations across additional platforms.
By Kiley Keenzel