HAECO RFID MRO Tool Management Solution

We, the global leader and innovator of Gen2 passive UHF RFID metal tags, have been selected by Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO), one of the world’s leading independent aircraft engineering and maintenance companies, to implement a comprehensive Tool management solution and prevent A foreign object detection (FOD) has occurred. HAECO chose us due to strong recommendations from the aviation industry and the company's strong market experience and capabilities in RFID tool tracking management for MRO and FOD.

     HAECO provides maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services to more than 200 aircraft annually. Since its founding in 1950, the company has grown to become one of the largest players in the rapidly growing global aircraft MRO market, valued at more than $67 billion. Over the next decade, the Asia-Pacific and Chinese markets will see the fastest and largest growth in global MRO demand and spending.

     As MRO companies rush to improve efficiency and productivity, HAECO's Line Services executive general manager Patrick Wong and his team used their operational experience and best practices to determine how integrating data and technology can achieve significant improvements.

     Each MRO company's mechanics use their own tools and toolboxes, and at the end of each shift, mechanics must conduct a complete inventory to ensure they don't leave any tools on the aircraft. This process is often done manually, which is inefficient and inaccurate. Manual processes can also lead to duplication or loss of data, as well as inaccuracies in tool tracking databases.

     The project team's vision was to automate the inventory process with a solution with a user-friendly system interface and technology that could integrate existing tools and toolboxes without requiring additional investment in new equipment. “We needed a solution that could quickly and accurately complete inventory checks with 100% accuracy,” Wong said. “The interface had to be easy to use, and the variety of tracking tools meant we wanted the flexibility to install labels for any size tool and equipment.”

     The pilot project was completed in November 2017 at HAECO's main operating site in Hong Kong. The complete tracking solution includes a mobile application connected to the company's backend system, using handheld RFID Readers to track and trace 3,200 tools.

     Using RFID's solution, HAECO reduced inventory inspections from 20 minutes to less than 3 minutes, an 85% reduction that saves each machinist 17 minutes per day. HAECO achieves rapid return on investment (ROI) based on time savings alone.

     In addition to making mechanics more productive, inventory checks are more accurate and automatically reconciled with reporting. By ensuring that tools are not present on the aircraft, HAECO is able to reduce the likelihood of foreign object damage (FOD) on its customers' aircraft. The company can also better manage the care and maintenance of expensive tools and can use real-time inventory data to create comprehensive reports and conduct data analysis and business forecasting.