I’ve been fortunate to be a part of hundreds, if not thousands of maintenance check projects.
Over the years, I’ve noticed a trend. During the maintenance project, there’s always panicked emails and phone calls. Half of the calls are for material that should have been pre-planned.
It’s guaranteed. It’ll happen. Maybe even today.
Maintenance teams wait too long to purchase the material they need. So when they do purchase, they’re in a frantic rush.
Sound familiar?
I’m not writing this to tell you that panicking is wrong. Not at all.
You need the material. If panicking gets your bird out of the hangar. So be it.
But a better, less stressful way is to pre-plan the material you know you’ll need before your upcoming maintenance check. Items like rivets, grease, oils, tape, wire, o-rings, bolts, and various other expendables and consumables.
I’ll tell you what I know about pre-planning. It’s called a pre-draw.
This Is What An Aircraft Maintenance Pre-draw Kit Is & Why You Need It
Pre-planning your maintenance check material is called a pre-draw kit.
Each maintenance check, whether you’re an MRO, operator, lessor, and even military, there are items you know you’ll need.
Whether it’s an overnight check, line maintenance or a full blown C & D check, you have task cards, so you have an idea of what’s going to happen. You have a list of the consumables, expendables, and even tooling required.
A simple example is with your overnight checks. Your maintenance team will be sure to inspect your aircraft tires for damage. If the tire is damaged, they’ll have to remove it and install a replacement tire. When installing the tire, they’ll need a mixture of tools, consumables, and various expendables.
Aircraft material similar to this:
Tool:
Wrench - Torque 0 to 350 ft-lbs (0 to 474.53 Nm)
Consumables:
Grease - Mobil 28 grease
Expendables:
Tie bolts
Inner wheel bearing
Outer wheel bearing
Outer grease seal
Retaining clip
Washers
Inflation valve extension kit
This my friend, is a pre-draw kit. A kit specifically designed for a routine, recurring purpose.
This is a simple example. Your C and D check would be a more elaborate pre-draw kit depending on the task cards scheduled. But you get the picture.
Why would you frantically search the world for material if you could use a kit for a specific task card?
Or how I like to call it, “A task in a box.” All your maintenance team does is open the box and poof, they have the material they need to perform the work.
With your next maintenance check kit, pre-plan by using a pre-draw kit. It’s certain you’ll save time…and money.