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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1470.PDF
286 FLIGHT International, 22 August 1963 These incredible machines, rather more costly than pencil shar peners, are capable of maintaining the whole Parts status up to the second, at the same time eliminating most of the manual processing of orders. In an instant they can verify stocks, price and lead- time for any part, and in the same instant prepare the customer acknowledgement, shipping and packaging instructions, export papers and invoice—and then bring themselves up to date in immediate readiness for another order. They will, in addition, issue low-stock warnings; specify bin locations on shipping documents; and deal with demands for their services individually or in bulk. Though clerks cannot compete with computers, computers do not abolish the need for experienced and efficient staff. So far the word "spares" has not appeared in this article; some managements are rather inclined to delete the final "s" in their attitude towards "spares." Spares departments have been used as waiting rooms for spare staff, and have been hitched on as side-lines to all sorts of departments. Field Service, Sales, Contracts, Production, Engi neering, Design, Flight Test and even Accounts: in one firm or another all these have had a finger in the "spares" pie. Rarely has a Parts man, bred to the requirements of civil operators' hangars- and stores, been put in charge of this vital aspect of after-sales. Rarely has adequate status been allowed to the department which can make or break a company's reputation long after an aircraft has been sold and re-sold. By comparison, the Parts Support of at least one of the American giants is a self-governing colony, the responsibility of a director answerable to the chairman himself. The Americans have not been in conflict with that unfortunate policy of economy in salary, which also regards Parts as dull and "non-productive." The Achilles Heel Something should now be said of the ancillary manufacturers, a category that has been referred to as the industry's "Achilles heel." From the overall aspect of Support this label is probably merited, although it would be unfair to suggest that it applies to all British manufacturers, or that it does not apply to any foreign firms. The Americans have their troubles, too, as evidence the strictures of TWA referred to previously. There is infinite room for improvement among the vendors who provide the bulk of replacement parts, for operators' irritation usually stems from failures in Vendor Support. A six-to-nine-months' delivery promise is bad enough by itself, but when an operator has to double this "promise" to achieve reality the situation becomes disgraceful. It is surprising, too, how difficult it sometimes is to obtain even stan dard nuts and bolts. The Government, the SB AC and individual constructors fre- Data-processing is beginning to make its contribution to efficient replacement-parts service in this country. Here are two scenes in the Hawker Siddeley (de Havilland) Hatfield factory, where (left) an IRM402 computer system is in use for Trident parts-support. On the right is seen the preparation of punched cards on ICT machines THINK AHEAD/ Catalogue, and furthermore to tell him which parts he will need, and their price and TRUE availability. It is depressing how many suppliers, both British and foreign, still fail to give this informa tion. There is no reason why ATA 100 should not be the uni versal standard for illustrated parts catalogues for civil aircraft of any size, although something less complex should be adequate to cover provisioning for smaller machines. ATA 200, Specification Integrated Data Processing Supply, is an attempt to rationalize the process of Parts Support among commercial aircraft manufacturers and operators by the introduc tion of a universally acceptable, standard, integrated data processing system. The object has been to reduce the administrative time in volved in processing the whole complex business of parts ordering and supply. The punched cards have been designed for manual as well as mechanical operation, to suit the needs of operators who do not have IDP. ATA 200 suffers, no doubt, from its quota of human imperfections, but it has been evolved by the Air Trans port Association of America on the initiative of the world's most experienced group of commercial aircraft users; and the variations on the theme, which are coming into limited operation in Britain, will make a valuable contribution to the Parts Support of the VC10, One-Eleven and Trident. We have a traditional reluctance to spend money on new equip ment, particularly when it is "non-productive." There is certainly one senior Support man in the industry who had to overcome pro longed opposition to his requisition for a pencil sharpener. Only by massive expenditure on equipment can efficient support be given to a modern airliner which requires a backing parts inventory of more than 50,000 separate items. Only by most careful thinking ahead can such equipment be phased-in to be available at the right moment, as is now being done within Rolls-Royce and "both air craft constructors." Evidence of Support of this kind interests potential customers much more than manufacturers' pledges given in sales brochures. Nevertheless, there is still much leeway between ourselves and the Americans. Douglas installed a Remington Rand "Univac" computer in their Parts Sales Division more than six years ago, and Boeing have an IBM "Ramac," also devoted to Parts Support.
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