WO2002029697A1

WO2002029697A1 - Reporting system for managing contract performance guarantees

Info

Publication number: WO2002029697A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/042391
Authority: WO
Inventors: Floyd J. Pemberton
Original assignee: Detroit Diesel Corporation
Priority date: 2000-10-05
Filing date: 2001-09-28
Publication date: 2002-04-11
Also published as: AU2002211829A1

Abstract

A reporting system (Figure 1) for managing information relating to capital equipment contract performance guarantees is disclosed. A relational database (10) is provided with information such as performance guarantees (12) for fuel economy, operational costs and availability of equipment. Data is accumulated in the relational database that is received from remote sites via an Internet link to a website. Data relating to fuel consumption, service costs, service tracking, warranty costs (14), service parts and availability of the equipment to the customer are accumulated and then correlated to the performance guarantees (12). The database is used to prepare reports (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) periodically that can be used to manage contract performance guarantees.

Description

REPORTING SYSTEM FOR MANAGING CONTRACT PERFORMANCE GUARANTEES

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method of controlling information relating to equipment purchase contract guarantees relating to operating costs, service costs, and equipment availability. The invention also relates to an Internet-based method of automatically tracking information relating to capital equipment purchase contract performance guarantees, service costs, warranty costs, and the like.

BACKGROUND ART

Capital equipment manufacturers, and in particular diesel engine manufacturers, may offer customers assurances relating to the availability of the equipment and cost per hour of operation. For example, diesel engines for mine haul trucks used in large open pit mining operations may be sold with contractual commitments relating to fuel costs and service costs. Also, other contractual commitments may be made on equipment availability or as to downtime relating to capital equipment performance. Similar contractual arrangements are also negotiated for other types of capital equipment such as diesel engines for trucks that are purchased for mining operations and the freight hauling industry.

Previously, information relating to contractual performance incentives such as service costs, fuel costs, warranty costs and equipment downtime were maintained in files for each item of capital equipment. Maintaining the files and conducting annual reviews to determine whether performance assurances were met are handled on an ad hoc basis. Recently, efforts have been made to organize some of this information on spreadsheets. While spreadsheets have been developed to collect some relevant information regarding equipment service and equipment utilization (or downtime), no system is known to exist that correlates equipment contract performance guarantees and service cost assurances with equipment performance and actual service information.

Recently, efforts have been made to utilize the Internet in communicating engine fault information and other information when diesel engines are serviced and information becomes available from the engine control module. Such systems fail to provide an automatic and convenient mechanism for documenting, tracking and monitoring service costs, warranty costs and equipment service history that are correlated with contract assurances relating to the same equipment.

These and other drawbacks and problems associated with management of information relating to operation and service of capital equipment are addressed by applicant's invention as summarized below.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, a method is provided for controlling management information relating to capital equipment purchase contracts and service costs. The method comprises providing a relational database into which contract information is entered regarding contractual commitments. Service information is entered into the database remotely through a network regarding the identity of the capital equipment, operating hours, fuel usage, quantity of downtime, reasons for downtime, cost of repairs, nature of repairs, the time of a service event, and a text explanation of service events. Contract and service information in the database are accumulated over the life of the capital equipment and service information is correlated to contract information. Periodically, reports are provided via the database based upon the contract information and accumulated service information.

According to another aspect of the method of the present invention, the method may also include controlling warranty costs by entering warranty information into the database regarding warranty costs and the scheduling of warranty service. The warranty information is correlated in the database with the contract information and the service information. The step of providing periodic reports further includes providing reports based upon warranty information.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, the step of accumulating service information may further comprise accumulating warranty information and periodically comparing warranty information to service information and contract information.

Also according to the invention, the step of entering service information may further comprise entering service scheduling information in the database. The step of correlating contract information and service information in a database may further comprise correlating such information with service scheduling.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, the step of entering contract information may include entering contract information relating to guaranteed operating costs per hour and availability.

The method of the present invention may also be characterized as an Internet-based method of automatically tracking performance guarantees of capital equipment purchase contracts and comparing such guarantees against operating costs, service costs and warranty costs. The Internet-based method comprises providing a website including a database into which performance guarantee information is entered. The method further comprises receiving at the website service information that it is entered into the database regarding the identity of the capital equipment, operating hours, fuel usage, downtime cost data, service cost data and also may include a text explanation of events. According to the method, performance guaranty information is correlated to service information and periodic reports are provided correlating performance guaranty information and service information.

According to another aspect of the Internet-based method, capital equipment purchasing contracts may be for the purchase of mining vehicle engines. The capital equipment purchasing contracts may also be for the purchase of freight truck engines, bus engines, or other items of capital equipment.

Another aspect of the Internet-based method summarized above may include providing a user interface that includes a database having administrative limited access fields and web accessible fields. The step of entering performance guaranty information may further comprise entering such information in administrative limited access fields while the step of receiving service information may further comprise entering such information in web accessible fields of the database.

According to another aspect of the Internet-based method, competitive information relating to the cost of service, the cost of operation, and downtime of competitive equipment may be entered into the database and correlated with the service information.

Finally, the Internet-based method summarized above may further comprise entering and correlating information in the database relating to service parts inventories, tracking of service part reliability, service parts requirements, and service information.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the best mode and attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGURE 1 is a flowchart illustrating the collection of information in a relational database and potential report outputs of the database in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a flowchart showing a mine or customer activity report system for collecting information and the relationship of daily reports received from on-site managers and monthly reports developed from the daily report information in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a flowchart illustrating the types of reports that may be obtained from the mine or customer activity reporting system in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 4a - 4c are charts of the database schema developed to provide the mine or customer activity reporting system of the present invention; and

FIGURES 5a - 5n are representative user interface screens for the mine or customer activity reporting system of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to Figure 1, a flowchart of the mine activity reporting system is illustrated. A relational database 10 is provided with competitive analysis (CA) and contract commitment information 12. Original sales competitive analysis proposal terms and conditions agreed to with a customer are loaded into the database 10. The CA becomes the basis for the customer profile information including information such as the number of trucks, the identity of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the trucks, and the specifics of the availability and cost per hour agreements. Warranty data 14 is also provided to the database 10. Information relating to policy/swing engines 16 maintained by the technical service group is also provided to the database 10.

Mine or customer activity reports 18 including information relating to equipment provided to a mine or customer, are entered into the database 10 by the supporting distributor or on-site personnel. The mine or customer activity reports 18 include reports documenting the time and event causing a truck to go out of service (downtime). Specific details relating to the incident causing the downtime are recorded in addition to the assignment of responsibility for the downtime. Engine related repairs are detailed and the costs associated with repairs are provided to the database. In addition, performance information relating to fuel usage and productivity of the equipment is also provided in the mine or customer activity reports 18.

As a result of collecting all mining operation data in the database 10, the system is enabled to provide a variety of statistical, management, and operational reports. Examples of reports provided by the system include availability reports 20 that report whether a particular engine is available or unavailable (downtime). Cost per hour reports 22 may be generated that indicate the cost of operating a truck per hour of operation. Performance reports 24 provide information relating to mine or customer operation and equipment operation. Cost of ownership reports 26 may be provided that indicate the fuel efficiency and service costs. Incident tracking reports 28 may be generated when a track requires service that provides information relating to the cost of service, parts serviced, reason for service, and cause of the problem.

Referring now to Figure 2, a flowchart showing an alternative embodiment of the mine or customer activity reporting system is provided. Mine or customer site location on-site managers 30 are linked to a network such as an extranet network at 32. The extranet network provides information to the C&I activity office at 34. Mine or customer activity reports block 36 indicates that the information from the mine or customer site location on-site manager at 30 are utilized in preparing mine or customer activity reports at 36. Password access 38 is required so that only authorized persons are permitted to have access to the system to protect the integrity of the system.

Reports received by the system on a daily basis are generally referred to as daily reports 40. Examples of daily reports include truck operating hours 42, downtime hours (engine repair) 44, unavailable hours (mine or customer reasons) 46, track downtime hours (non-engine) 48, incident data 50, and cost to repair 52. The system also receives monthly reports 54 to report information that is available on a monthly or other interval. Examples of monthly reports 54 include fuel/ton reports 56, mine or customer availability reports (reconciled) 58, engine update campaigns 60, and engine replacement 62. Both the daily reports 40 and monthly reports 54 are automatically provided to the database 64. The database 64 accumulates the data received from the reports and correlates the data with sales competitive analysis information, contract commitments, technical service information relating to policy or swing engines, and warranty data, and otherwise as previously described with reference to Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 3 , a flowchart is provided showing a variety of statistical, management and operational reports that are made available as a result of the database being provided with the operation data in a relational database 10 maintained on a central computer. The reports identified on Figure 3 allow early warning of negative trends in track availability, cost-per-hour, engine reliability, and other performance information.

With continuing reference to Figure 3, some examples of the types of reports that are available are shown schematically with a listing of fields assembled from the relational database 10 that are used to prepare the report. Mine or customer activity reports 18, as previously referred to in Figure 1, may include availability reports 20, cost per hour reports 22, performance reports 24, and incident tracking reports 28. In addition to the reports represented in Figure 1, other reports such as maintenance schedulers 70, daily mine or customer score card 72, and daily management summary reports 74 may be generated by the mine or customer activity report system.

Referring now to Figure 4, the relational database schema 80 is shown to include each of the database categories and information fields within each database category. Examples of relational database links or relationships between various fields and categories are shown diagrammatically with arrows. It should be noted that this is a flexible system and additional links and data fields can be added or links and data fields deleted in the relational database.

Now referring generally to Figures 5a - 5n, a series of user interface screens are shown including user interfaces for entering data into the relational database 10 and screens for generating reports based upon information in the database. Additional user of interface screens could also be provided. For example, a user ID password screen would be normally provided as well as screens for updating information, adding new equipment, or replacement part information may be provided by additional user interfaces.

Referring now specifically to Figure 5a, an initial menu screen 100 is shown to include an administrative menu 102 and a database entry menu 104. The initial menu screen the administrative menu 102 need not be provided at a mine or customer site. In addition, a site identification field 106 is provided to identify the customer's site from which the database entry may be made. Within the administrative menu 102, buttons are provided to access user maintenance 108, mine or customer site maintenance 110, assign update/field test 112, support engine maintenance 114, and generation of reports 116. Within the database entry menu 104, buttons are provided for updating the equipment list 118, updating profile information 120, entering daily or weekly events 122, and entering monthly events 124. A log out button 126 is also provided for logging out of the system. Each of the software buttons identified above access additional user interface screens that will be described in greater detail below.

Referring now to Figure 5b, the user maintenance interface 108 is shown with a series of fields to be completed for each user. Users are persons who are authorized to access the database entry menu and/or administrative menus of the mine or customer activity reporting system. From this user interface, the system may be accessed to add a new user 128, update selected users 130, remove selected users 132, and print a complete list 134. After the user maintenance task has been performed, the user may return to the main menu 100 or log out 126. User list information may include, for example, the user's name, user ID, password, access level, region, mine or site name, company name, phone number, fax number, and active or inactive status.

Referring now to Figure 5c, the mine or customer site maintenance user interface 110 is shown to include a mine or customer site identification 106 and software buttons for adding a new mine or customer 136, removing a selected mine or customer 138, and printing a complete list of mines or customer sites 140. Upon completion of the mine or customer site maintenance user interface, the user may return to the main menu 100 or log out 126.

Referring now to Figure 5d, the update equipment list user interface

118 is shown to include user interface software buttons for adding a new unit 142, updating a selected unit 144, removing a selected unit 146, and printing a complete list 148.

Referring now to Figure 5e, the user interface for database entry of daily/weekly events 122 is shown to include user interface software buttons for entering truck operating hours 150, downtime hours 152, adding components 154, completed repairs reports 156, repair order closeout 158, and maintenance due 160.

Referring now to Figure 5f , when the user interface software button for truck operating hours 150 is selected from the daily/weekly events menu, the user is permitted to submit reports at 162 or review past reports at 164. Information is entered into the track operating hours user interface on a daily basis by entering the total number of truck hours for each equipment unit.

Referring now to Figure 5g, upon entering the downtime hours 152 user interface on the daily /weekly events menu 122, the user is permitted to enter information regarding the number of downtime hours on a stated date. The user may also provide additional details relating to the equipment worked on, the number of hours of downtime for a track or engine, and the action to be taken. Similar software buttons are also provided to those described in reference to Figure 5f .

Referring now to Figure 5h, a repairs completed user interface software button 156 is accessible through the daily/ weekly events menu 122. The repairs completed user interface 156 permits recording data including description of a failure, repair completion, repair order number, indication of the primary part failure, location of the part, and total number of hours of service of the track. The report also permits addition of text relating to a description of the failure, a failure code, complaint code, and if necessary, indication of the replacement engine identification. In addition, the user may add general comments to provide additional detail.

Referring now to Figure 5i, a repair order closeout report user interface software button 158 may also be accessed from the daily/weekly events menu 122. The repair order closeout user interface 158 permits the user to report identification of open repair orders and the date of the report. The repair order closeout form permits reporting of repair order labor hours and cost, travel hours and cost, mileage, repair order parts cost, and miscellaneous costs, taxes and the like. The repair order closeout form may also indicate to what entity the repair was invoiced to.

Referring now to Figure 5j, from the main menu 100, the monthly events 124 user interface may be accessed to collect information that is available on a monthly basis. The user interfaces accessible from the monthly events menu 124 include fuel/ton mine report 166, mine or customer availability report 168, engine update/field tests 170, engine replacements 172, support engine status 174, component tracking 176, maintenance schedulers 178, and competitive information user interface 180.

Referring now to Figure 5k, the fuel/ton mine report 166 permits entry of information relating to the total fuel in gallons or liters, total tons (weight) of material hauled, number of hours of operation, and available hours. This information is provided based upon each piece of equipment on a monthly basis. Similar reports of freight hauled, passengers carried or other measure of productivity could be prepared depending upon the application.

Referring now to Figure 51, the support engine status user interface 174 provides a report for entering information relating to support engine status. The support engines are identified by serial number and location and are designated as to whether or not the engines are available. Information may also be entered relating to the number of hours of operation of a given engine block. Software buttons are provided for updating selected engines 182, or printing a complete list of support engines 184. The support engine list provides a list of information based upon information entered through the support engine status user interface 174.

Referring now to Figure 5m, the maintenance scheduler user interface 178 is shown in the form of an exemplary scheduler for a particular month and year at a given mine or customer site. The maintenance scheduler provides a convenient format to coordinate preventive maintenance procedures, engine update campaigns, and backlog repairs so that they may be scheduled with a view toward minimizing downtime and service incidents.

Referring now to Figure 5n, the competitive information user interface

180 is provided to collect information on competitive equipment at particular mining or customer sites on specified dates. The competitive information collected may include text comments or data relating to fuel consumption or service costs for competitive equipment.

The mine or customer activity reporting system described above is flexible and may incorporate additional information inputs and reports depending upon the needs of an organization. While the invention has been described in reference to mine activity reporting, the invention as claimed below should be interpreted to include other types of capital equipment that are used in other fields, including, for example, freight hauling, buses, marine shipping, manufacturing and power generation.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method of controlling management information relating to capital equipment purchase contracts and service costs comprising: providing a relational database; entering contract information into the database regarding contractual commitments; entering service information into the database remotely through a network regarding the identity of the capital equipment, quantity of downtime, reasons for downtime, cost of repairs, nature of repairs, and tracking service events; accumulating service information over the life of the capital equipment; periodically correlating in the database contract information and service information; and providing periodic reports from the database based upon contract information and service information.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising a method of controlling warranty costs including entering warranty information into the database regarding warranty costs and scheduling of warranty service, and wherein warranty information is correlated in the database with the contract information and the service information, and wherein the step of providing periodic reports further includes reports based upon warranty information.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of accumulating service information further comprises accumulating warranty information and periodically comparing warranty information to service information and contract information.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of entering service information further comprises entering service scheduling information in the database.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of correlating in the database contract information and service information further comprises correlating service information with service scheduling.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of entering contract information includes contract information relating to guaranteed maximum operating cost per hour and guaranteed minimum capital equipment availability.

7. A method of controlling management information relating to capital equipment purchase contracts, warranty costs, service costs and scheduling comprising: providing a relational database; entering contract information into the database regarding contractual commitments as to guaranteed maximum maintenance expenses and guaranteed minimum capital equipment availability; entering warranty information into the database regarding warranty costs; entering service information into the database remotely through a network regarding the identity of the capital equipment, operating hours, fuel usage, quantity of downtime, reason for downtime, cost of repairs, nature of repairs, time of a service event, and a text explanation of service events; accumulating warranty information and service information for the life of the capital equipment and periodically comparing warranty information and service information to the contract information; correlating in the database contract information, warranty information and service information; and providing periodic reports from the database based upon contract information, warranty information and service information.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of entering service information further comprises scheduling service operations.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of entering warranty information further comprises scheduling warranty service operations.

10. An Internet-based method of automatically tracking performance guarantees of capital equipment purchase contracts and comparing such guarantees against service costs, and warranty costs, comprising the following steps: providing a Web site including a database; entering performance guarantee information in the database; receiving at the Web site service information that is entered into the database regarding the identity of the capital equipment, downtime cost data, service cost data, and tracking service events; correlating performance guarantee information to service mformation; and providing periodic reports of the correlation of performance guarantee information and service information.

11. The Internet-based method of claim 10 wherein the capital equipment purchasing contracts are for the purchase of engines used in mining vehicles.

12. The Internet-based method of claim 10 wherein the capital equipment purchasing contracts are for the purchase of engines used in freight hauling trucks.

13. The Internet-based method of claim 10 wherein the capital equipment purchasing contracts are for the purchase of engines used in passenger buses.

14. The Internet-based method of claim 10 wherein the step of providing a Web site further comprises providing a user interface, wherein the user interface includes a database having administrative limited access fields and Web accessible fields.

15. The Internet-based method of claim 14 wherein the step of entering performance guarantee information further comprises entering such information in administrative limited access fields.

16. The Internet-based method of claim 14 wherein the step of receiving service information further comprises entering such information in Web accessible fields of the database.

17. The Internet based method of claim 10 further comprising entering competitive information relating to the costs of service of competitive equipment, the cost of operation of competitive equipment, and downtime of competitive equipment and correlating the competitive information with the service information.

18. The Internet based method of claim 10 further comprising entering information into the database relating to service parts inventories and service parts requirements and correlating such information with service information.