Case Study

Asset Inspection Automation for Aerospace Industry

Automated inspection systems can be used to inspect a wide range of assets, including aircraft structures, engines, and components. They can also be used to inspect assets in hard-to-reach or dangerous locations.

At a Glance

Automation is being increasingly used in the aerospace industry to optimize manufacturing and inspection processes.

Asset inspection automation involves the use of robotics, conveyance, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), artificial intelligence, and machine learning to collect rapid and accurate data for producing components that meet the highest safety standards

Key Highlights

Reduction in Time

Increased Accuracy

Elimination of Paper Based Recording

Tighter Inventory Control

Extending Asset Lifecycle

Minimizing Costs

Challenges

Ability to perform real-time communication
Reduction in human efforts
Time intensive process
Possibility of human error

About Client

The client is a leading aviation company of USA owning massive number of aircrafts scheduled for enormous flights.

AVIATION

Industry

AUTOMATION

Domain

USA

Location

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How we helped?

Preflight inspection in aircraft for obligatory assets such as life vests and oxygen canisters was a manual process keeping their ground crew personnel overblown for several hours before each flight takeoff followed by tedious paper work and compliance records. The inability for utilizing the utmost life cycle of assets was another concern.

95%

Reduction in Human Efforts

100%

Elimination of Paper-based record keeping

Increased

Accuracy

The Solution

After considering the seriousness of pre-flight inspections and onboard asset management, Azilen carried out a skillful analysis and developed a strategically designed iPad application.
Azilen made the asset itself an element of the information system by proposing RFID tags. This concept revolutionized the sluggish manual inspection into a seamless walk-through inspection, significantly reducing the turnaround time. Thus, optimization of the entire asset inspection process substantially increased user efficiency & productivity. Also, a dedicated Experience Matrix was engineered, to amplify and digitalize the Asset Inspection Experience:

Experience Matrix:

1. Establishing Synergy: Between the UI & UX along with dynamic cabin seat map generation for effortless monitoring.
2. Expedite Reporting: Real-time data visualization and analytics along with generating digital reports, eliminating tedious documentation.
3. Easy Design: Simplistic and abstract design catering to a limited and target user group for utmost adaptability.
4. Excellent IA: Information architecture provides optimal accessibility and availability for end-to-end inspection processes.
There were two major considerations during assets inspection, one is the asset availability and other is asset validity in terms of expiry. So, two types of process got defined: Commissioning and Inventory Check
- Each asset needs to get tagged with RFID tags containing basic information about the asset including its expiry date. All assets are scanned before placing the aircraft, and hence back end data center will have all information about assets, asset life, and asset placement. The application will fetch this data to handle inspection visible through iPad.
- Whenever an aircraft inspection gets carried out, ground crew personnel can have a walkthrough inspection carrying the mobile device having the application installed, and an RFID handheld reader to scan the aircraft. Once the scanning process starts, the user will start the RFID reader and start walking in the aisle. The reader will detect all the assets which are tagged with RFID tags.
During the walk-through inspection, ground crew personnel will be able to see the graphical view of aircraft seats identifying asset status with two different color codes. Based on the color code of the seating location or non-seating location, the user will be able to quickly identify the status of tagged assets. i.e. if the asset is scanned and valid – Green, if the asset is scanned and invalid – Amber and if the asset is not found at all – Red.
Once the inspection is completed, the application will run a report used for compliance documents.
The application will sync all the reports after inspection to the backend data center. It will be in sync with the back data center to assure flawless data communication. In case of internet issues, the application can work offline and handle the inspection successfully. Once the internet issue is resolved, it will automatically be synced with the data center.

Asset management challenges

Automation propels digital transformation in asset inspection, removing the need for human record-keeping and enabling more efficient and effective inspections.

To enhance their production processes, companies in the aerospace sector use automation in a variety of ways, including robotics, conveyors, and artificial intelligence.

Supply chain management thought leadership for the aerospace sector may give unique insights into the benefits of automation and how it can be utilized to enhance asset inspection.

As the aerospace industry evolves, automation will play a growing role in guaranteeing the safety and dependability of aircraft components.