When considering any maintenance program, it is evident that safety and accuracy come first. However, efficiency and cost savings are also critical metrics to aim for when it comes to process improvement. Through planned preventative maintenance, operators can optimize safety outcomes while also reducing the economic burden. In this blog, we will discuss everything you need to know about planned preventative maintenance and how to implement it in your workspace.
When it comes to maintenance, strategies may be considered either proactive or reactive. If a flight surface were to stop actuating quickly, it would create a need for an immediate, reactive maintenance intervention. Across the board, reactive actions tend to be more costly and cause more extended downtimes. Whether a particular part is out of stock or an employee calls out sick, the crew's ability will always be limited to the circumstances of the situation at hand. These events can be stressful for both the maintenance personnel and the operator of the aircraft. Through the implementation of planned maintenance strategies, entities may begin to operate with a proactive approach, thereby avoiding or dulling the effect of unforeseen events.
Planned maintenance may be subdivided into preventative and unscheduled types, both of which should be fully understood to enhance productivity. Preventative maintenance includes scheduled, regular periodic checks that reduce the probability of downtime by identifying fixable issues early on. The most common version of this is the mandated preflight check, which involves a systematic checklist approach to ensuring system operationality and equipment integrity. Other examples of planned maintenance are the 50- and 100-hour inspections. The 50-hour inspection, in particular, is a good example of a check which is entirely optional to the operator. Although there are some non-negligible costs associated with this inspection, the benefit of exposing a potentially damaging issue always outweighs it. There is also increased efficiency when electing to do a 50-hour check because actions such as changing the oil, which is already a requirement, are completed as well.
Planned unscheduled maintenance may seem like a contradictory idea, but having all assets in place when unplanned events happen is a powerful strategy. The first type of unscheduled maintenance is reactive, which can only be planned for to a certain extent. An example of this might be keeping extra specialty fasteners for a particular engine part in storage in case it were to fail. Although this should not be done for every item, it is helpful to identify high-risk or highly-specialized components which might otherwise take weeks to receive. Meanwhile, corrective maintenance is the identification and rectification of minor, less critical issues before they become catastrophic. For example, if a crew member were to notice a small leak near one of the breaks, then an unscheduled service event would occur. Since this happened outside of any appointed time window, it is considered unscheduled. It is therefore critical to ensure proper staffing and space at all times.
At ASAP AOG, we are ready to support all of your maintenance programs, providing you with the components necessary to bolster operations. With over 2 billion new, used, and obsolete items to choose from, we can help fulfill your requirements with rapid lead times and significant cost savings. We invite you to browse our expansive offerings at your leisure, keeping in mind that you may initiate the purchasing process at any time using our Instant RFQ service. To begin, simply submit a form as found on our website, and one of our expert team members will provide you with a competitive quotation within 15 minutes or less.
