Commercial aero-engine aviation material virtual inventory system

Abstract

The invention discloses a commercial aero-engine aviation material virtual inventory system. The system comprises a basic function module, a core function module and an auxiliary function module. Wherein the basic function module is used for providing a user management and air material transaction management platform for users joining in inventory joint sharing; the core function module is used for providing aerial material information and a fund management platform for users joining in inventory joint sharing; and the auxiliary function module is used for providing a spreading platform for users joining in inventory joint sharing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of aviation engine inventory management, and in particular to a virtual inventory system for commercial aviation engine aviation materials. Background Art

[0002] According to statistics, the global civil aviation industry currently has about $50 billion in spare parts inventory, of which $23 billion are turnover parts and $27 billion are maintenance parts, and the annual inventory of spare parts increases at a rate of 7% to 10%. According to Aviation Weekly's 2019 Fleet and Maintenance Market Forecast, the global civil aircraft fleet will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 2.8% in the next decade. Driven by this, the global civil aviation after-sales service market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3%, and the market value will set a new record of $862.3 billion. The market demand for engine maintenance business is estimated to be about $298.5 billion, accounting for 33% of all civil aviation maintenance service expenditures. According to the maintenance data of the PW4000 fleet in the past decade, the cost of aviation materials accounts for the largest proportion of 35% of the cost of maintenance of this type of engine at Pratt & Whitney's maintenance plant.

[0003] At present, many airlines adopt the inherent management mode of self-management or leasing of aviation materials to manage or lease aviation materials. However, in the increasingly competitive market environment, the inherent management mode has brought huge cost and financial pressure to airlines, and the inventory of aviation materials that can be used under this mode is limited, so it is inevitable that the required aviation materials and spare parts cannot be guaranteed. The development of Internet technology has driven the rapid development of e-commerce. The e-commerce platform enables buyers and sellers to share demand forecast information and help sellers to conduct more effective production management. The e-commerce platform is equivalent to a powerful database that stores millions of information about parts quotes, remaining equipment, maintenance capabilities and tools, ground equipment, etc. Aviation companies obtain the above information through the database and use electronic purchase orders, inquiries, shipping information, invoices, guarantee claims and other transactions and information inquiries quickly and conveniently. Therefore, it is urgent to apply the e-commerce platform to aviation material management to replace the traditional inherent management mode of self-management or leasing of aviation materials. Summary of the invention

[0004] A brief summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceived aspects, and is neither intended to identify the key or critical elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its only purpose is to give some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be given later.

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a virtual inventory system for commercial aviation engine aviation materials, which can realize the interconnection and interoperability of aviation material information between inventories and the allocation and sharing of aviation materials, effectively reduce the shortage cost and inventory cost of aviation material spare parts, and achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement for aviation material spare parts providers and aviation transportation companies.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0007] The present invention provides a virtual inventory system for commercial aviation engine materials, including a basic function module, a core function module and an auxiliary function module; wherein:

[0008] The basic function module is used to provide user management and aviation material transaction management platform for users who join the inventory joint sharing;

[0009] The core function module is used to provide aviation material intelligence and fund management platform for users who join the joint inventory sharing;

[0010] The auxiliary function module is used to provide a promotion platform for users who join the joint inventory sharing.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the commercial aircraft engine material virtual inventory system of the present invention, the basic functional modules include a partner management unit, an aircraft material leasing unit, an aircraft material sharing unit, an aircraft material procurement model unit, a service upgrade unit, an agreement tracking unit, an inventory information update unit, an order management unit, a complaint support unit, a supplier recommendation unit, an operation log unit, a transaction tracing unit, a data analysis and prediction unit, an aircraft material calculator unit, a financial settlement unit, and a user portal unit; wherein,

[0012] The partner management unit is used to provide partner qualification review, membership access, cooperation agreement, evaluation, and rating functions for users who join the inventory joint sharing;

[0013] The aviation material leasing unit is used to provide users with aviation material leasing information;

[0014] The aviation material sharing unit is used to provide users with aviation material sharing services;

[0015] The aviation material procurement mode unit is used to provide users with two aviation material procurement modes: conventional aviation material procurement and large-scale aviation material procurement;

[0016] The service upgrade unit is used to provide users with an upgraded version of the information sharing service function at the member strategy level;

[0017] The agreement tracking unit is used to provide cooperation agreement tracking services for users;

[0018] The inventory information update unit is used to provide users with real-time update function of aviation material inventory information;

[0019] The order management unit is used to provide users with the functions of creating, querying, modifying and quoting aviation material trading orders;

[0020] The complaint support unit is used to provide users with service complaints and satisfaction survey functions;

[0021] The supplier recommendation unit is used to provide users with supplier rating recommendation functions;

[0022] The operation log unit is used to provide users with system transaction record function;

[0023] The transaction tracing unit is used to provide users with historical transaction order query function;

[0024] The data analysis and prediction unit is used to provide users with big data analysis functions;

[0025] The aviation material calculator unit is used to provide users with aviation material demand and safety stock recommendation functions;

[0026] The financial settlement unit is used to provide financial settlement and management functions for users;

[0027] The user portal unit is used to provide users with member-version autonomous portal functions.

[0028] According to an embodiment of the commercial aircraft engine material virtual inventory system of the present invention, the core functional modules include a multi-dimensional material sourcing unit, a unified negotiation and signing unit, a credit limit unit, a knowledge base and data intelligence unit, a transaction rebate unit, and a centralized claim unit; wherein,

[0029] The multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing unit is used to provide users with a multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing platform;

[0030] The unified negotiation and sub-signing unit is used to provide users with a unified negotiation and sub-signing platform;

[0031] The credit line unit is used to provide a platform for users to provide cash credit lines;

[0032] The knowledge base and data intelligence unit is used to provide users with a knowledge base and data intelligence sharing platform;

[0033] The transaction rebate unit is used to provide users with an aviation material transaction rebate platform;

[0034] The centralized claims unit is used to provide users with a centralized claims platform.

[0035] According to an embodiment of the commercial aircraft engine parts virtual inventory system of the present invention, the auxiliary function module includes an information broadcast unit, a supplier advertising unit, a value-added parts order unit, a special service publishing unit, and a parts exhibition and sales unit; wherein,

[0036] The information broadcast unit is used to provide information publishing function for users;

[0037] The supplier advertising unit is used to provide an advertising platform for suppliers;

[0038] The value-added aviation material order unit is used to provide users with value-added aviation material order information;

[0039] The special service release unit is used to provide users with aviation material VIP support service functions;

[0040] The aviation material exhibition and sales unit is used to provide users with an aviation material exhibition and sales platform.

[0041] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: the present invention adopts the virtual inventory management theory for the inventory management of aircraft engines and establishes a virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine aviation materials. After users join the virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine aviation materials, they can realize the interconnection and intercommunication of aviation material information between inventories and the allocation and sharing of aviation materials, which not only effectively reduces the shortage cost and inventory cost of aviation material spare parts, realizes the cost reduction and efficiency increase of aviation material spare parts providers and aviation transportation enterprises, but also solves the problems of inventory backlog of airlines and long maintenance period of aviation materials. In addition, the present invention forms a large-scale order by concentrating the orders of various airlines, thereby giving full play to the advantages of centralized procurement, allowing airlines to buy the required aviation materials at a lower cost and reducing the operating costs of airlines. At the same time, the present invention uses the integrated transaction data of various airlines to provide aviation material prediction functions based on big data for aviation material demand, solving the problem that the current lack of aviation material transaction data leads to the inability to accurately predict. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] The above features and advantages of the present invention can be better understood after reading the detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, the components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components with similar related properties or features may have the same or similar reference numerals.

[0043] Figure 1 1 is a diagram showing an architecture of an embodiment of a virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine parts according to the present invention.

[0044] Figure 2 The flowchart shows an embodiment of the present invention of sharing aviation materials based on the virtual inventory system of commercial aircraft engine aviation materials. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Note that the aspects described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments are only exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention in any way.

[0046] Disclosed herein is an embodiment of a virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine parts (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a virtual inventory system). Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an architecture of an embodiment of a virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine materials of the present invention. Figure 1 As shown, in this embodiment, the commercial aircraft engine aviation material virtual inventory system includes a basic function module, a core function module and an auxiliary function module. Among them, the basic function module is used to provide user management and aviation material transaction management platform for users who join the inventory joint sharing, the core function module is used to provide aviation material intelligence and fund management platform for users who join the inventory joint sharing, and the auxiliary function module is used to provide a promotion platform for users who join the inventory joint sharing.

[0047] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the basic functional modules include a partner management unit, an aviation material leasing unit, an aviation material sharing unit, an aviation material purchasing model unit, a service upgrade unit, an agreement tracking unit, an inventory information update unit, an order management unit, a complaint support unit, a supplier recommendation unit, an operation log unit, a transaction tracing unit, a data analysis and prediction unit, an aviation material calculator unit, a financial settlement unit, and a user portal unit. Among them, the partner management unit is used to provide partner qualification review, membership access, cooperation agreement, evaluation, and rating functions for users who join the inventory joint sharing. The aviation material leasing unit is used to provide users with aviation material leasing information; the aviation material sharing unit is used to provide users with aviation material sharing services; the aviation material procurement mode unit is used to provide users with two aviation material procurement modes: conventional aviation material procurement and large-scale aviation material procurement; the service upgrade unit is used to provide users with an upgraded version of the information sharing service function at the member strategy level; the agreement tracking unit is used to provide users with cooperation agreement tracking services; the inventory information update unit is used to provide users with real-time update functions of aviation material inventory information; the order management unit is used to provide users with aviation material transaction order creation, query, change, and quotation functions; the complaint support unit is used to provide users with service complaints and satisfaction survey functions; the supplier recommendation unit is used to provide users with supplier rating recommendation functions; the operation log unit is used to provide users with system transaction record functions; the transaction tracing unit is used to provide users with historical transaction order query functions; the data analysis and prediction unit is used to provide users with big data analysis functions; the aviation material calculator unit is used to provide users with aviation material demand and safety inventory recommendation functions; the financial settlement unit is used to provide users with financial settlement and management functions; the user portal unit is used to provide users with member-version autonomous portal functions.

[0048] Specifically, in this embodiment, in order to enable various airline components to achieve interconnection and interoperability of inventory material information and allocation and sharing of aviation materials, the virtual inventory management theory is adopted to design a virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine aviation materials. After the airlines join the virtual inventory system, the various functional units provided by the basic functional modules can enable the airlines participating in the virtual inventory system to achieve interconnection and interoperability of inventory material information and allocation and sharing of aviation materials. This can not only effectively reduce shortages of aviation spare parts and inventory investment, but also only require a small amount of resources to be invested each month to ensure the safe operation of the fleet. Figure 2 This is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention for sharing aviation materials based on a virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine aviation materials. Figure 2 , which details the specific workflow for sharing aviation materials based on the commercial aviation engine aviation material virtual inventory system.

[0049] like Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, after the service provider and the aviation material provider join the virtual inventory system of commercial aviation engine aviation materials, the service provider and the voyage provider sign a lease agreement to form an aviation material sharing pool, which is used to provide aviation material sharing services to third parties. After the demander joins the virtual inventory system of commercial aviation engine aviation materials, it signs a sharing agreement with the service provider on the virtual inventory system of commercial aviation engine aviation materials according to its needs, and enjoys the right to use the aviation materials in the shared list during the agreement period according to the sharing agreement. Among them, if the shared aviation material fails, the faulty aviation material will be returned to the service provider, and the service provider will provide available aviation materials for replacement. At the same time, the service provider is also responsible for repairing the faulty aviation material and returning it to the aviation material sharing pool. The demander needs to provide flight hour settlement or fixed usage fee settlement on a quarterly or annual basis according to the sharing agreement. After the expiration of the sharing agreement, the demander and the service provider will jointly discuss whether to terminate the sharing agreement or sign a new sharing agreement.

[0050] In this embodiment, the virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine materials can centralize the orders of various airlines to form large-scale orders, give full play to the advantages of centralized procurement, and allow airlines to buy the required materials at a lower cost, thereby solving the problem of airlines lacking bargaining power in purchasing materials. At the same time, since the virtual inventory system concentrates a large amount of transaction data, it can use the massive transaction data to provide a big data-based material forecasting function for the demand for materials.

[0051] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the core functional modules include a multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing unit, a unified negotiation and sub-signing unit, a credit line unit, a knowledge base and data intelligence unit, a transaction rebate unit, and a centralized claim unit. Among them, the multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing unit is used to provide users with a multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing platform; the unified negotiation and sub-signing unit is used to provide users with a unified negotiation and sub-signing platform; the credit line unit is used to provide users with a cash credit line providing platform; the knowledge base and data intelligence unit is used to provide users with a knowledge base and data intelligence sharing platform; the transaction rebate unit is used to provide users with an aviation material transaction rebate platform; and the centralized claim unit is used to provide users with a centralized claim platform.

[0052] Specifically, the virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine materials in this embodiment not only provides some basic functions for conducting material transactions, but also provides some core functions for joining the virtual inventory system. By integrating the material inventory resources, logistics networks, maintenance capabilities, etc. of suppliers, distributors, MROs, OEMs, and customer airlines around the world, users can use materials and reduce the proportion of materials funds to realize resource transactions in different states, different times, and different spaces. In the transaction process, in addition to providing multi-dimensional sourcing functions, it also provides unified negotiation and sub-signing functions, cash credit line provision functions, transaction rebate functions, knowledge base and data information provision functions, and centralized claims functions for contract signing and funding issues. These functions provide participants with unparalleled help that other systems or platforms cannot match, increasing the possibility of transactions.

[0053] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the auxiliary function module includes an information broadcast unit, a supplier advertising unit, a value-added aviation material order unit, a special service publishing unit, and an aviation material exhibition and sales unit. Among them, the information broadcast unit is used to provide information publishing functions for users; the supplier advertising unit is used to provide an advertising platform for suppliers; the value-added aviation material order unit is used to provide users with value-added aviation material order information; the special service publishing unit is used to provide users with aviation material VIP support service functions; and the aviation material exhibition and sales unit is used to provide users with an aviation material exhibition and sales platform.

[0054] Specifically, in this embodiment, the virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine aviation materials also provides a display function for both the supply and demand sides of aviation materials, so as to display their respective corporate images, promote and sell their own products, and improve business efficiency. The virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine aviation materials provides users with supplier information notification functions and special services through auxiliary function modules, such as personnel training, consulting services, price discounts and other information release functions, aviation material exhibition and sales functions, aviation material VIP support service functions, supplier advertising functions, etc. All users participating in the joint inventory sharing can display their respective corporate images, promote and sell their own products, and improve business efficiency on the virtual inventory system platform through the communication channels provided by the virtual inventory system.

[0055] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0056] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. The technician may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as resulting in a departure from the scope of the present invention.

[0057] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in cooperation with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0058] The steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, a storage medium may be integrated into a processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0059] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented as a computer program product in software, each function may be stored on or transmitted by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. Any connection is also properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, a server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc as used herein include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disk often reproduces data magnetically, while disc reproduces data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Claims

1. A virtual inventory system for commercial aircraft engine materials, characterized in that: It includes basic function modules, core function modules and auxiliary function modules; among them, The basic function module is used to provide user management and aviation material transaction management platform for users who join the inventory joint sharing; The core function module is used to provide aviation material intelligence and fund management platform for users who join the joint inventory sharing; The auxiliary function module is used to provide a promotion platform for users who join the joint inventory sharing.

2. The commercial aircraft engine material virtual inventory system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The basic functional modules include a partner management unit, an aviation material leasing unit, an aviation material sharing unit, an aviation material purchasing model unit, a service upgrade unit, an agreement tracking unit, an inventory information update unit, an order management unit, a complaint support unit, a supplier recommendation unit, an operation log unit, a transaction tracing unit, a data analysis and prediction unit, an aviation material calculator unit, a financial settlement unit, and a user portal unit; wherein, The partner management unit is used to provide partner qualification review, membership access, cooperation agreement, evaluation, and rating functions for users who join the inventory joint sharing; The aviation material leasing unit is used to provide users with aviation material leasing information; The aviation material sharing unit is used to provide users with aviation material sharing services; The aviation material procurement mode unit is used to provide users with two aviation material procurement modes: conventional aviation material procurement and large-scale aviation material procurement; The service upgrade unit is used to provide users with an upgraded version of the information sharing service function at the member strategy level; The agreement tracking unit is used to provide cooperation agreement tracking services for users; The inventory information update unit is used to provide users with real-time update function of aviation material inventory information; The order management unit is used to provide users with the functions of creating, querying, modifying and quoting aviation material trading orders; The complaint support unit is used to provide users with service complaints and satisfaction survey functions; The supplier recommendation unit is used to provide users with supplier rating recommendation functions; The operation log unit is used to provide users with system transaction record function; The transaction tracing unit is used to provide users with historical transaction order query function; The data analysis and prediction unit is used to provide users with big data analysis functions; The aviation material calculator unit is used to provide users with aviation material demand and safety stock recommendation functions; The financial settlement unit is used to provide financial settlement and management functions for users; The user portal unit is used to provide users with member-version autonomous portal functions.

3. The commercial aircraft engine material virtual inventory system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The core functional modules include multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing unit, unified negotiation and signing unit, credit limit unit, knowledge base and data intelligence unit, transaction rebate unit, and centralized claims unit; among them, The multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing unit is used to provide users with a multi-dimensional aviation material sourcing platform; The unified negotiation and sub-signing unit is used to provide users with a unified negotiation and sub-signing platform; The credit line unit is used to provide a platform for users to provide cash credit lines; The knowledge base and data intelligence unit is used to provide users with a knowledge base and data intelligence sharing platform; The transaction rebate unit is used to provide users with an aviation material transaction rebate platform; The centralized claims unit is used to provide users with a centralized claims platform.

4. The commercial aircraft engine material virtual inventory system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The auxiliary function module includes an information broadcast unit, a supplier advertising unit, a value-added aviation material order unit, a special service publishing unit, and an aviation material exhibition and sales unit; wherein, The information broadcast unit is used to provide information publishing function for users; The supplier advertising unit is used to provide an advertising platform for suppliers; The value-added aviation material order unit is used to provide users with value-added aviation material order information; The special service release unit is used to provide users with aviation material VIP support service functions; The aviation material exhibition and sales unit is used to provide users with an aviation material exhibition and sales platform.

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