Focus on Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+)
Interest in Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) has increased steadily in recent years, particularly in light of its ability to serve as a powerful weapon system readiness enabler. It should therefore come as no surprise that Congress has taken an interest in this important topic in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 – Report of the Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives on H.R. 2500, which stated:
“The committee is aware the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force are each conducting, to differing degrees, pilot initiatives to assess the benefits of using a condition based maintenance plus (CBM+) maintenance model on weapon systems. With CBM+, maintenance personnel can use algorithms that analyze data collected from onboard sensors or from historic data and maintenance trends to make informed decisions before a part fails. The committee believes that a CBM+ maintenance system can help reduce maintenance workloads, minimize the maintenance downtime of a weapon system, improve the management and response of the supply chain, reduce maintenance costs, and increase overall military readiness (emphasis added). The committee believes CBM+ has potential applications on both legacy weapon systems and new acquisition programs. Therefore, the committee directs the military service chiefs to each provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than November 1, 2019, on the use of conditions based maintenance systems and processes. The briefings should address specific weapon systems that are currently utilizing CBM+ approaches, observations on the impact CBM+ practices have had on the readiness of these weapon systems, plans to expand CBM+ to additional weapon systems, and any barriers to the expansion of CBM+.”
For those who would like to learn more about CBM+, several readily available resources include:
“The committee is aware the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force are each conducting, to differing degrees, pilot initiatives to assess the benefits of using a condition based maintenance plus (CBM+) maintenance model on weapon systems. With CBM+, maintenance personnel can use algorithms that analyze data collected from onboard sensors or from historic data and maintenance trends to make informed decisions before a part fails. The committee believes that a CBM+ maintenance system can help reduce maintenance workloads, minimize the maintenance downtime of a weapon system, improve the management and response of the supply chain, reduce maintenance costs, and increase overall military readiness (emphasis added). The committee believes CBM+ has potential applications on both legacy weapon systems and new acquisition programs. Therefore, the committee directs the military service chiefs to each provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than November 1, 2019, on the use of conditions based maintenance systems and processes. The briefings should address specific weapon systems that are currently utilizing CBM+ approaches, observations on the impact CBM+ practices have had on the readiness of these weapon systems, plans to expand CBM+ to additional weapon systems, and any barriers to the expansion of CBM+.”
For those who would like to learn more about CBM+, several readily available resources include:
- CLL 029 Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) Online Training (OLT)
- CLL 030 Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Online Training (OLT)
- CBM+ ACQuipedia Article
- RCM ACQuipedia Article
- DoD Instruction 4151.22, Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) for Materiel Maintenance
- DoD Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) Guidebook