Differences Between Operational Line Maintenance and Manufacturing - Research Paper Example

How does operational line maintenance differ from manufacturing and does either degrade aircraft maintenance abilities if no change is made? Or does stability lead to increase in quality? Student’s Name University Affiliation How does operational line maintenance differ from manufacturing and does either degrade aircraft maintenance abilities if no change is made? Or does stability lead to increase in quality? Summary In the aviation industry, companies are faced with enormous problems in the operations of their fleet. Hence, the maintenance of a huge fleet provides substantial issues for the business. The setting that is in existence, such as the costs and future aims of the company or airline pose a trick case scenario all together. There is an ever rise in the technical complexity of the airplanes in development today along with their maintenance. Hence, problems arise in the making of decisions on whether to manufacture new or maintain the airplanes that are owned by an airline. Problem The problem is the huge maintenance of aircrafts in an airline. The huge maintenance of the aircraft imply to the groupings of the maintenance of aircrafts that are owned by an airline on the foundation of the structures of each type of aircraft, the necessary needs of maintenance, and the functional features of each aircraft type. Thus, the cause of this problem are the huge and necessary maintenance needs that are needed to attain a complete repair of the aircrafts. These needs include the maintenance that had been planned before, examination of nearly all constituent parts of the airplane along with changes in the structure of the airplane. Significance of the Problem The significance of the problem is that in the current market environment coupled with the competition in the aviation industry, aviation industry players have to seek the best means through which to keep their airplanes up to date and effective in their operations. Doing so will ensure that they are able to cut on the huge costs that may be accrued overt time and find the best solutions to the aircraft problems that may face them in the course of their operations. Moreover, the problem sets alight the necessity to develop an action oriented program that identifies issues in the aircrafts. The program helps identify the best action that is needed to ensure that airlines get the most out of their fleet, be it through operational line maintenance or manufacture of new aircrafts. Development of Alternative Actions It is essential to realize that during the operational line maintenance, the aircraft is taken out of operations; hence, it provides no revenue to the airline. During this period when an aircraft or aircrafts are taken in for operational line maintenance, the time taken to undertake the necessary maintenance actions is known as the downtime. Further, it is vital to note that operational line maintenance is a complex undertaking. It is complex because of the difficulty and size of the operation. On the other hand, manufacture of new aircrafts is an option most airlines consider in order to meet their ever growing demands. An airline can choose to go the manufacturing way or the huge operational line maintenance way depending on the needs, such as safety along with the pros and cons (Atak & Kingma, 2011). The operational line maintenance of aircrafts is a vital part of any aviation industry player. It is vital because in reality, an airline cannot keep replacing its aircrafts from time to time and disposing off those that develop certain problems as they conduct their day to day operations. Hence, it offers an avenue to correct the problems that are noted by the people on the ground who operate each of the individual aircraft. Operational line maintenance has been in practice over the years among certain industry players who have their own programs and departments that undertake the necessary operational line maintenance. However, some of them have agreed contracts with engineering firms, which undertake the necessary maintenance programs. All of these depend on the business plan of the airline. In spite of the merits and demerits of operational line maintenance, the practice is favored by different airlines due to the specific category of requirements that bear a huge consequence on the airlines operational success in the market niche that it functions (Samaranayake & Kiridena, 2012). One advantage of operational line maintenance is that it helps replace old and worn out parts of aircrafts in place for new, novel, and modern parts. As such, it has positive impacts not only on the aircraft itself but also on other groupings of the airline such as the maintenance of components of aircrafts that the airline sees no need to replace and the management of how these parts are configured in tandem to the requirements of the airplane. The other benefit is that through the availability of repairable parts, operational line maintenance plays a huge role in cutting down on operational costs. Though the biggest cost for most airlines in the aviation industry stems from fuel costs, the maintenance of aircrafts forms a huge part of the cost of aircraft fleet management. However, with the availability of low cost parts for use in operational line management, then the costs that are accrued are cut down considerably (Steenhuis & de Bruijn, n.d.). Nevertheless, operational line maintenance has its disadvantages. One is that operational line maintenance may lead to the use of individual parts that are not in phase. In the evaluation of these parts, there may not be enough data to determine their levels of synchronization as per the manufacturer regulations. The other disadvantage of operational line maintenance is that an airline may lack the capability to undertake concurrent arrangement of the required resources and materials for operational line maintenance when it is needed. The result been a disruption in its schedule. In addition, the same airline may not have the ability to forward plan once the operational line maintenance has begun leading to the labor-intensive intervention, which lead to losses (Ackert, 2010). Manufacturing of new aircrafts is the second alternative Manufacturing is beneficial in that it avails airplanes that are processed and delivered as per the airlines requirements. The rationale behind it been used to replace old aircrafts among a fleet of aircrafts requires the highest levels of deliberation. Moreover, there is a huge bearing on the current and past technological differences that offer a stark contrast in the airplane models an airline uses in the day-to-day operations. One advantage of manufacturing is that the needs, including quality and satisfaction of the airline can easily be met in the manufacturing phase of an airplane. The reason being that it is easy to implement the needs that an airline has put on the table during manufacture through the use of current technological advances (Department of Defense, 2009). The other advantage is that it offers an opportunity for the use of innovative materials in the development of the parts of the aircraft such as materials that are considered as light, durable, and tough to meet all the demands in varying aspects of operations such as heating and environmental pressures. The use of innovative materials such as those that incorporate nanotechnology assures the airlines of the performance and durability of the aircraft (Subcommittee on Aviation; House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 2014). The disadvantages of manufacturing is that one it is time consuming. The fleet of an airline may be old and outdated and it requires efficient and productive aircrafts within its fleet. However, it fails as the aircrafts it ordered from the manufacturer are long overdue. The result is an increase in cost due to the utilization of old aircrafts as the new ones are being manufactured. The other disadvantage is that due to the time it takes to manufacture new aircrafts, the airline face uncertainty due to the financial variations in the global economy that may affect the manufacturing time and cost. The calculated manufacturing cost at an earlier time may be overruled by the future costs due to economic pressures, availability of resources, and fluctuating costs of the same materials (Ayeni, Baines, Lightfoot, & Ball, 2011). Recommendations The recommendation that may be made is the use of an integrated and cooperative strategy that incorporates both manufacturing and operational line maintenances. The reason for this recommendation is that it provides for an avenue to beat and maneuver through the disadvantages of each. If there is no change made, the aircraft maintenance capabilities are degraded. Hence, an airline that uses this recommendations is sure to reap benefits of both of them on the short and long-term. Using the recommendation avails stability, which leads to enhancement of quality. References Ackert, S. P. (2010, October 1). Basics of Aircraft Maintenance Programs for Financiers. Retrieved from http://www.aircraftmonitor.com/uploads/1/5/9/9/15993320/basics_of_aircraft_maintenance_programs_for_financiers___v1.pdf Atak, A., & Kingma, S. (2011). Safety culture in an aircraft maintenance organisation: A view from the inside. Safety Science, 49, 268-278. Ayeni, P., Baines, T., Lightfoot, H., & Ball, P. (2011). State-of-the-art of Lean in the Aviation Maintenance Repair Overhaul Industry. Journal of Engineering Manufacture, 225(11), 2108-2123. Department of Defense. (2009, June 1). Reliability, Availabilty, Maintainabilty, and Cost Rational Repoort Manual. Retrieved from acq: http://www.acq.osd.mil/se/docs/DoD-RAM-C-Manual.pdf Samaranayake, P., & Kiridena, S. (2012). Aircraft maintenance planning and scheduling: an ntegrated framework. Journal of Quakity in Maintenance Engineering, 432-453. Steenhuis, H., & de Bruijn, E. J. (n.d.). Manufacturing Mobility in Global Operations. Retrieved from researchgate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Harm-Jan_Steenhuis/publication/254860067_Manufacturing_mobility_in_global_operations/links/53fcd3240cf2364ccc04dd16.pdf Subcommittee on Aviation; House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. (2014, July 23). DOMESTIC AVIATION MANUFACTURING: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES. Retrieved from aia-aerospace industries association: http://www.aia-aerospace.org/news/domestic_aviation_manufacturing_challenges_and_opportunities/ Read More