There’s An Alternative To Scrapping Aerospace Parts
Your aircraft experiences a component failure. The uncomfortable news comes – the component is only supported by the OEM. You know what this means. Replacing the part will take weeks and you’ll be left delaying crucial services for your customer in the meantime.
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Many in the aerospace industry don’t realize all the alternatives available to buying a new aircraft component; they scrap the damaged part and buy a new one. The reality is, many high-value expendable aircraft components are perfectly repairable with a DER repair from Airline Component Parts (ACP, an Aereos Company).
The bottom line: ACP are specialists in extending the life of what are typically thought of as expendable aircraft parts.
RELATED: What is a DER repair? (Part 1) and (Part 2)
New Support for Exclusively OEM-Supported Components
The OEM manual is created at the same time the aircraft component is originally designed. This component manual shows standard procedures for servicing and maintaining the component or will state if it cannot be repaired. The OEM purposefully omits – and sometimes removes – repair processes or servicing procedures for that specific part. The OEM does this purposefully to force the industry to continually buy new parts. Today, this doesn’t have to be the case.
ACP saves customers time and money by providing unique options to re-use or recover high dollar expendable APU, Pneumatic and Fuel component parts by delivering innovative technology driven DER Repairs.
With policies and services offered by ACP, DERs can develop and implement new repair procedures for expendable parts that either have no repair manual, or are only supported by the OEM.
In short, DER Repairs are game-changers, offering faster, cost-effective, long-term solution for costly, expendable parts. ACP has spent a great deal of time, energy and money to develop these highly useful procedures to service those parts for which the manual doesn’t have a recommended method in place.
The Top 3 Reasons To Get A DER Repair
1. Your Customer
Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong. ~ Donald Porter, Former VP of British Airways
Lead times from the OEM are notoriously long. Parts that have a 120+ day lead time for an OEM are typically filled within two weeks with a DER Repair from ACP. In one-tenth of the time you will have a fully functional part, approved by the FAA, and you can return to business as usual. The question is, how?
The most difficult position you can find yourself in when it comes to customer service is a delay due to circumstances beyond your control. It’s one of the most frustrating and common scenarios when working solely with OEM aerospace components. “We’re waiting for that part to arrive,” just doesn’t cut it.
To compound the frustration, it’s nearly always impossible to speed up the process when working with the OEM because, in many instances, it cannot be helped. While OEMs hold the production approval, but they often don’t manufacture the component itself. Meaning many sub-components – or portions of a part – are subcontracted to an outside company who, in turn, must fulfill the order to the OEM.
You’re not only at the mercy of the OEM, you’ll have to wait for their turnaround process to be fulfilled. While one supplier may be timely, another may not. And it’s not uncommon for many OEM customers to go months without an update – or even talk to a live person!
This is perhaps the best reason to get a DER repair. The lead time with an ACP DER Repair is exponentially shorter than the alternative. Need to know the status of a part? You can call one number and have all the pertinent information you need the same day.
2. Your Bottom Line
Another attractive reason to get a DER repair is because it makes the most sense for your business. ACP’s DER Repair shop is working for you – creating supply chain solutions specifically for you and your business.
There is less cost in repairing or servicing a part than creating a brand new one. In turn, this means less expense to the DER customer. A DER Repair is more economical than a brand new part from the OEM.
Often repair shops and airlines enforce penalties for late turn times. Deadlines are crucial in this industry, and making those time frames in a timely manner has a major impact. Lead times from OEMs are atrocious; a quick way to avoid those penalties is with a DER repair.
Not only are the savings in the cost of the DER part itself, your day-to-day operations also see less lost profit as a result of the quicker turnaround and reduced expense.
3. The Environment
When the OEM manual states a part is not repairable, it seems there is nothing left to do but to scrap the component. DER repairs, which give components new life, can prevent piles of scrap. Rather than sending these parts to the recycling center, it makes environmental sense to first check for an FAA-approved repair or service.
In fact, a great number of repairs don’t require a rebuilding the entire part. Many repairs require cleaning a single sensor or replacing a certain switch. Servicing a portion of the system that is damaged creates much less waste than purchasing an entirely new part.
DER repairs use the exact same components as the OEM, whenever those components are available. Repairing or replacing only the worn or broken portions of the larger part extends its life and prevents an unnecessary piece of scrap in the junkyard.
The Benefits Create Brighter Futures
Over the past twenty years, DER and PMA (Parts Manufacturing Approval) processes have changed drastically. Airlines that are thinking outside-the-box are flourishing – and one of the best examples of this forward-thinking is the use of DER Repair solutions.
You’ll reap the benefits of a superior customer experience, a positive impact on the environment, and a real, long-term, money-saving solution by extending the life of the original part.
Repairs have greatly improved. Technology is constantly changing. Forward-thinking businesses utilizing DER repairs constantly outperform their competition – and will continue to do so.
DER Repairs are yet another tool in their belt to help secure a better future for their customers and their business. Be proactive for the financial health of your air business and give your customers the treatment they expect as well.
To learn more about DER Repair Solutions, contact Stewart Pope at spope@airlinecomponent.com, or contact us here.