AI System for Matching Service Faults with Spare Parts

The problem

When serial numbers, faults, bills of materials, catalogues and stock data are held in separate sources, their fields must be matched by hand before compatible part candidates can be prepared.

The service engineer must compare every compatible part candidate with its source record; missing or conflicting evidence must not replace the final decision.

If a field modification absent from the bill of materials is not set aside for review, an incompatible part could be dispatched; the record must not proceed without a human decision.

What we set out to improve

• Time taken for draft compatible part candidates and their supporting evidence to reach the service engineer for review
• How records set aside for human review because a field modification is absent from the bill of materials are resolved
• Number of suggestions corrected after identifying a risk that an incompatible part could be dispatched

How the system works

1. 01 Retrieve the serial number, fault, bill of materials, catalogue and stock data from permitted sources using the record identifier
2. 02 Link source, date and version information to the shared work record
3. 03 Validate fields and units
4. 04 Prepare compatible part candidates with their supporting evidence
5. 05 Check for an exception: a field modification is absent from the bill of materials
6. 06 Have the service engineer accept, revise or reject the suggestion
7. 07 Record the approved decision and its source in the processing log

Methods we used

• A source-identified common data schema for the serial number, fault, bill of materials, catalogue and stock data
• A decision structure that separates deterministic rules from AI suggestions
• A review screen showing compatible part candidates alongside the underlying source evidence
• A mandatory human review queue when a field modification is absent from the bill of materials
• An event identifier that prevents duplicate processing

Where people stay involved

Data and security

Only the fields required for this decision should be processed from the serial number, fault, bill of materials, catalogue and stock data. Access to the source systems must be authorised separately from the service engineer role, and personal data, commercial information and technical secrets must not be passed into the model context unnecessarily. Reading, suggestions and human decisions must be logged separately.

Who this suits

Frequently asked questions