In part two of this post I will explain how Vector operates and the output that could be of benefit to aircraft owners and or operators and anyone with an interest in managing aircraft maintenance. 

I talked about the varied fleet we manage as a standalone Part M Sub Part G organisation in part one of this post.  Currently this fleet numbers 12 different types of which most number one or two aircraft.  Most airlines and hence the Continuing Airworthiness support departments cannot afford to operate varied types and small fleets.

For Vector we can ill afford to turn away business and hence are having to find different ways to manage Continuing Airworthiness such that we can manage these small fleet numbers.

The many changes; regulatory, type certificate holder, operator actions, are multiplied with this varied fleet. Starting from a basis of having well developed process and procedures and an airline standard maintenance system, we at Vector were well placed to support the aircraft but with growth quickly realised that the administrative process of many individual actions required to meet the requirements, was becoming difficult to manage even with developed process and procedures. In addition, the requirements to quickly increase in house capability, meant a way was required to train new employees more quickly and efficiently.

In identifying these requirements, we have embarked upon mapping our processes and turning these into step by step workflow that is instigated at the start of the main process and then cues each task for the  person required to action. This way staff can be trained on each individual task, the administrative flow of the process need not be remembered, documents, forms and checklist are automatically retrieved  and stored,  management oversight of any process can be readily seen and compliance can be ensured. 

The above process initially seemed simple, however the mapping of very step and turning into workflow has proved time consuming but has resulted in even further development of existing procedures.

By  now you may be thinking how does this affect me?  In addition to reducing costs and improving response time the method of working reduces errors.  In the current climate of need for cost reduction and increased flexibility, Safety Management Systems and with notification of EASA Ops introduction, all of these benefits become increasingly essential.

In my next post I will look at the information relating to EASA Ops and how it affects operators.