Minimizing Maintenance Cost with Visualization

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DataVis & Design

Sometimes a bar chart or a table just doesn’t cut it.




Spending in the U.S. logistics and transportation industry totaled $1.48 trillion in 2015, and represented 8 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP). A key business problem in managing global operations is service and maintenance costs. Without timely and cost-efficient fleet maintenance, supply chains can become inefficient and costly, even causing delays to customers. For example, when the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta shut down for 12 hours in December of 2017, it is estimated that it costs Delta between $25 and $50 million in revenue.






How Axis Group Helped




The challenge was to produce a visual to help identify potential supply chain issues, such as delayed flights or maintenance outages. The visual would need to be useful, understandable and most importantly, functional for tracking service teams, repair facilities, and parts depos. Ultimately, the solution helped end users quickly identify maintenance opportunities and deploy service teams to service delayed aircrafts.



The design includes a real-time doppler radar weather overlay. Flight paths in progress are indicated by solid flight lines and projected flight paths are indicated with dashed lines. Other indicators were placed on the map to indicate parts suppliers and maintenance facility locations. The design also leverages animation transitions to zoom the map to a specific plane once it has landed for a brief period before returning to the world view (see below).






Summarized Points:

  • Dark scale map with offsetting bright colors focuses viewer on essential information
  • Blank map allows focus to be on repair locations rather than country borders
  • Zoomed detailed map view gives granularity when the viewer requires more information
The Contributors:


Liza has a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Georgia Tech with a background in architecture. She enjoys all forms of design, from buildings to screens. Liza likes reading, kickboxing and playing video games in her free time.












Andrew Hughes is a Finance major from The Pennsylvania State University. He began his career in a rotational program working in Philadelphia. He enjoys helping others solve business problems and discovering the stories behind data. When he isn’t working with data, he is outdoors skiing and surfing.


The International Trade Administration "LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION SPOTLIGHT: The Logistics and Transportation Industry in the United States", https://www.selectusa.gov/logistics-and-transportation-industry-united-states. Accessed 12 February 2018.

Yamanouchi, Kelly. The Atlantic Journal Constitution. "Airport outage: Delta CEO to seek repayment for lost revenue", http://www.ajc.com/business/airport-outage-delta-ceo-seek-repayment-for-lost-revenue/VFPAnVlsk4dXQVTlYaI33I/. Accessed 12 February 2018.