Black & Rossi
Linking Technology and Defense
Black & Rossi
Introduction
Linking Technology and Defense
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It stands for Product Life Cycle Support
It is an International Standard
It is an information standard
 It defines the form of information
and how it can be linked together
It is a means to:
▪ Exchange or share product data
▪ Manage change
▪ Maintain product histories
 across organizational and application boundaries and
between life cycle phases

Management of complex products through life involves:
 Multiple organizations
 Multiple IT systems
▪ Many point to point links for exchange/sharing
 Many different functions
▪ Mostly operating in “cylinders of excellence”
 Managing change and obsolescence

No standard existed for the joined up view required to
manage and optimise products and their support systems
through life
Setting the Business Context
The Key Business Problem
How to keep the information needed to operate and maintain a
product aligned with the changing product over its life cycle?
Product
in Focus
Product Definition
Information
Transportation
Consumables
Maintenance
Schedules
Feedback
Software
Tools
Spares
Test
Equipment
Support
Facilities
Training
Storage
Requirements
5
Product Life Cycle Support (PLCS)
Typically complex systems environment – point to point
integration
Operational
Objectives
CM Data
CM Data
CM Data
CM Data
Functional Requirements
5.
Requirements
Management
12
Depot Maint
Mgmt
9.
Product
Data
Defects
and
Failure
s
CM Data
Suppor
t Data
1.
Support
Data
7.
FMECA
LSA Data
14 Defects
& Failure
Reporting
3.
Stock
Mgmt
4.
Maintenance
Management
Maintenance
Mgt Data
13.
Distribution,
Transportation
Design
Data
FMECA
Results
Support Data
Distribution
Data
LSA Data
6.
LSAR
8.
CAD
11
Parts
Supplier
Database
2.
Maintainers
Viewing
Tool
10
IETM
Part Data
LSA Data
Tech Pubs Data
Support Data
6
Product Life Cycle Support (PLCS)
PLCS will enable cost effective information exchanges
1.
Support
Data
Support data
2.
Maintainers
Viewing
Tool
3.
Stock
Mgmt
Maintenance
Mgmt Data
Part data
4.
Maintenance
Management
Maintenance
Mgmt Data
5.
Requirements
Management
Functional Req.
6.
LSAR
LSA Data
7.
FMECA
FMECA
Results
PLCS compliant information exchanges
Design Data
8.
CAD
Design data
9.
Product
Data
Tech
Pub Data
10
IETM
Parts Data
11
Parts
Supplier
Database
Maintenance
Mgt Data
Distribution
Data
Defects
& Failures
12
Depot Maint
Mgmt
13.
Distribution,
Transportation
14 Defects
& Failure
Reporting
In future, support system integration will be easier to implement
7
Finnish
Defence
Forces
Five Defense Departments: USA, UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland
Note: PLCS is dual use, NOT defense specific
Risk management
Norway
Major OEMs: USA, UK, Sweden
IT systems providers and consultants: ERP, PLM and specialist tools
US, UK, Netherlands
Black & Rossi
What activities does PLCS cover?
Linking Technology and Defense
Product needing support
Information
Provide
through life support
for product
Change & Events
IT infrastructure
Supported product
Information
Support infrastructure
Product needing support
Information
Provide
through life support
for product
Change & Events
Supported product
Disposed product
Information
Feedback
Requirements
IT infrastructure
Support infrastructure
Product needing support
Provide
through life support
for product
Supported product
Information
Manage
Information
to support a
product
Information
Generate
Support
Solution
Commission
Support
System
Provide
Support
Provide
Provide
Product needing
Productsupport
needing support
Design
through
life
through
lifesupport
support
&
product
forfor
product
Manufacture
Supported
product
Supported
product
Information
Information
Information
Information
Systems
Engineering
Manage
Information
to support a
Manage product
Information
to support a
product
Generate
Support
Solution
Commission
Support
System
Provide
Support
Generate
Commission
Provide
Support
Support
Business transactions
Support
Solution Order, Receipt,
System
Store, Allocate
HUMS
CBM
Design
&
Manufacture
Product needing support
Provide
through life support
for product
Supported product
Information
Information
Systems
Engineering
Manage
Information
to support a
product
Generate
Support
Solution
Commission
Support
System
Provide
Support
Business transactions
Order, Receipt, Store, Allocate
HUMS
CBM
Design
&
Manufacture
Product needing support
Provide
through life support
for product
Supported product
Manage Information
Information
to support a product
Information
Systems
Engineering
Manage
Information
to support a
product
Generate
Support
Solution
Commission
Support
System
Provide
Support
Business transactions
Order, Receipt, Store, Allocate
HUMS
CBM
Black & Rossi
What does PLCS contain?
Linking Technology and Defense
Key
Activity
Specifications
Activity
History
Product
Designs
Product
Breakdowns
Individual
Products
States
Product
Descriptions
Management
Process
Environment
Details
Items of interest
Tasks
and
Schedules
Project
Contract
Location
Support and usage
history
Configurations and discipline
views
The
physical
Products
(UID)
Commissioning of Work/Change
Properties, People and Times and more
Faults and
Operating
States
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Exchange and sharing of data across the product life cycle
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Capture of relationships/dependencies between items from
different disciplines
 Which usually reside in different specialist systems
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Capture of information to enable comparison of what was
supposed to be and what actually happened
 Maintenance, failures, usage, configurations
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Enable management of change
Maintenance
Requirements
Maintenance
Plan
Maintenance
Analysis
Design
Requirements
Maintenance
Schedule
Maintenance
Task
Maintenance
Task Planning
Fault state
definitions
Design
Configuration
Actual
Fault states
As-maintained
Spare Parts
Configuration
As-built
Manufacturing
BOM
Design
Analysis
Maintenance
Task
perfomance
Extended Enterprise
Change Management
LSAR
Designs
Usage
Domain
Definitions
(CAD, etc)
Definition
Individuals
Location
Management
Individual
Configuration
Black & Rossi
PLCS for Data Exchange
Linking Technology and Defense
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PLCS has a big scope and a rich flexible data model
For specific Data Exchanges a more tailored specification
called a PLCS DEX is used
 Reduces scope
▪ a subset of the overall PLCS information content
▪ XML schema to match
 Details how to capture specifics (e.g. Item Unique Id)
 Allows for localised terminology
DEXs can be used to contracting for information
Data sets from different DEXs are easily combined
 All covered by the underlying PLCS data model
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Funded by Black & Rossi
Stakeholders:
 NATO – Coalition Logistics Interoperability
 US Marines – PLMAV program
 NAMSA
 UID Office
Objectives:
 Demonstrate interoperability using PLCS in an
international arena
Operator
Maintainer
Maintainer
Operator
PLCS DEX
A Data Exchange Specification
Information is communicated using a subset of PLCS expressed in XML
Approach is independent of the applications used at either end of the exchange
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PLCS is an ISO standard that enables exchange and sharing
of technical data and feedback for complex
systems/products
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A DEX is a way to specify Messages for exchange that are
part of a consistent broader approach that maximises
information connectivity
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The Maintenance and Repair DEX will support Coalition
Logistic Interoperability needs
 In line with the NATO STANAG for PLCS