1. A method for modeling a maintenance task having input parameters and one or more activities, said method comprising the steps of: collecting said input parameters; generating derived variables, including the steps of: performing a search on said input parameters using one of more functional forms; correlating said functional forms to the results of the performed search, and ranking said functional forms based on the results of the step of correlating; and applying a primary analyzer to said input parameters and said derived variables to generate outputs corresponding to said activities.