Avionics News May 2020 - 13

To help manage the constant flow of information,
the Aircraft Electronics Association team is actively
researching and identifying resources to support your
business and your employees. To access this constantly
renewed data, the membership can visit the
AEA COVID-19 resource page at AEA.net/Resources.

leverage this slowdown to make the comeback all that much
better, stronger and more profitable.
The first things we can look toward are the nonrevenuegenerating tasks of the MRO. There are a few that are
founded in regulations and some that are founded in
business basics.
Refer to business 101: deferred maintenance tasks. How
many items have been deferred because you were too busy
with installations and you didn't have time for routine shop
maintenance? Now you have the time, and this is a perfect
opportunity to get those items corrected, repaired, mended
and painted.
How about cleaning? Again, with the ADS-B mandate and
the overall consumer excitement about the new technologies,
we have been deferring a good shop cleaning. This is the
time you have been waiting for. And while you are doing
that deep cleaning, include your flammable storage lockers
and inventory, and check and manage your shelf life items.
This leads us to the internal evaluation program. How
much time do you spend reacting to audit findings of your
national aviation authority or customers? Why not take
advantage of this slowdown to get in front of these external
audits by performing an internal audit and correcting your
findings? To help you with the internal audits, the AEA
offers an internal audit program that has been broken down
into 12 modules and focuses on individual elements of the
repair station. The 12 modules include:
* Module 1: Management.
* Module 2: Recordkeeping and Manual
Management.
* Module 3: Repair Station Manual/Maintenance
Control.
* Module 4: Quality Control and Assurance.
* Module 5: Process Evaluation.
* Module 6: Safety Management System.
* Module 7: Stores/Shelf Life Inspection Program.

Module 8: Occupational Safety and Health and
Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods.
* Module 9: Personnel.
* Module 10: Training.
* Module 11: Security.
* Module 12: Human Resources.
The final area to focus on during this slowdown is likely the
one item with the highest return on investment: training. This is
a great time to do some refresher training as well as some initial
training on new products, equipment and processes.
What types of topics could be included with refresher
training? A good indoctrination training program might include:
* Aviation regulations, particularly those associated
with the repair station maintenance functions and
authority as reflected on the certificate, operations
specifications, and exposition/manuals.
* Your company manuals, policies, procedures, and
practices, including quality control processes,
particularly those associated with ensuring
compliance with maintenance (including inspection),
preventative maintenance, and alteration procedures
established to show compliance with the repair
station regulations (Part 145).
* Transportation of hazardous material (hazmat)
requirements, as well as Occupational Safety and
Health Administration standards, Environmental
Protection Agency regulations, and other local,
state, and federal laws requiring training for
different categories of employees.
* Maintenance human factors. Regardless of the
regulatory requirement for maintenance human
factors training, training in human factors is
a business decision that can reduce errors and
improve productivity.
*

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Avionics News May 2020

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