HOW TO INCLUDE ASSET TRACEABILITY FOR SAFETY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS
Maintaining safety assurance systems is an important requirement for MROs and FBOs. System maintenance may seem to require a large time investment upfront, but it leads to simplified safety processes over the long term. The best way to do this is by making safety systems work for you. Automating processes allow AMTs to spend more time repairing aircraft instead of inputting data. A key part of the process is automating asset traceability.
What is Asset Traceability?
Asset traceability is the process of tracking an asset by specific criteria. Asset traceability for a torque wrench could include the person to which the tool is assigned, which aircraft tail numbers the wrench was used to repair, the last tool repair date, or in which facility the wrench is currently located. Quality or tooling managers may struggle with how to find all of the information. The ability to track this is important if any issues are found.
“The goal of system safety is to optimize safety by the identification of hazards within an environment and to eliminate or control their associated risk.” – FAA
Asset Tracking Methods
Many aviation maintenance facilities already have one or multiple systems in place for tracking assets. The most common place to start is with an asset or tooling log. Logs are often maintained by a maintenance or tooling manager. Paper records or Microsoft Excel are used to record information on who has checked out a tool or if an item is out of service. If an issue is identified with an asset, it can take a long time to search through records to find pertinent information.
Broken Tooling Example
During calibration, ADTS-002 fails calibration testing. The air data test set is found to be giving inaccurate measurements. The aviation maintenance facility needs to identify what aircraft or work orders where ADTS-002 was used for testing. What is the identification process?
How Automated Asset Tracking Works
Aviation asset tracking software works by providing a 360° view of an asset. Data related to each tool is stored in centralized location. Information can be entered detailing maintenance records, images, or associated documents. Transactions allow for real time tracking of asset status, location, or who had the tool last. The process can be completed by using data entry, barcodes, or RFID scanning.
To identify what work orders may have been impacted by broken tooling, it’s as simple as entering an asset ID or searching by any other criteria. When dealing with potential quality or safety issues, time is of the essence. Aviation asset tracking software saves time and provides greater accuracy.
Image credit: Simson PetrolLearn more about how asset tracking software can make it easier to maintain Safety Assurance Systems. Learn More