IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF ISOCHRONAL MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING FOR THE KC-130J

This thesis explored the potential readiness benefits that could be gained from centralizing the Marine Corps’ KC-130J isochronal (ISO) maintenance special inspections. ISO inspections are scheduled for aircraft based solely on elapsed calendar time, and organic squadron maintenance personnel conduct the inspection in-house. Increases in squadron workloads combined with limited personnel have resulted in these ISO inspections taking considerably longer than expected to complete, which directly impacts aircraft readiness. By consolidating the maintenance effort at a central location, contract workers can be employed to handle the ISO inspections for the entire KC-130J fleet. The Air Force has employed a similar system for its special operations C-130 fleet, and the inspection timeline has improved dramatically. The inspection process was modeled via a stochastic discrete event simulation written in Python. The model provided an estimate on the overall improvement in readiness levels across several potential scenarios, and the minimum required turnaround time based on central facility capacity can be determined.Outstanding ThesisCaptain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited