| Featured
Article
|
 |
Have we
forgotten the basics?
By: M. Dreikorn
|
|
Did You Know?
Collisions
between vehicles and planes were narrowly averted 26
times from 2003 through January, according to a USA TODAY review of Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) data. That represents 22% of all
serious runway incidents, or about one serious incident
every other month.
|
| Our Sponsors
|
Visit Our Sponsor
The
IPL Group focuses on bringing sustainable cultural
change to AS&D organizations. Support areas
include:
Back to the basics Leadership
development
Integrated process
teams
Knowledge
management
Supplier
development
Supplier
oversite
Lean/Six-Sigma
Quality
management
Regulatory
support
Auditing
processes
Level III NDT
Operations
Project
management
Training
Urgent response
Due diligence
|
|
Visit Our Sponsor
The
Aerospace and Defense Learning Institute (ADLI) is a
501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization which is
dedicated to the sustainable knowledge base of the
AS&D industry.
Sponsors
are needed. If your organization is interested in
supporting this urgent industry-wide project, ADLI
urgently needs financial support to make the BoK happen
faster.
Click
the above logo to find out more about the ADLI its
important project - the development of the AS&D body
of knowledge.
|
|
Visit Our Sponsor
TrainingNow.org
offers AS&D relevant training, in-house, public, or
over the internet. New courses are being added, so
check the website for updates.
New look and content is on its
way!!!
|
|
Did you
receive this newsletter from a friend and would like to
ensure you are on the mailing list. Click the
above button to stay informed on what's going on in the
AS&D industry.
|
|
A
"Back-to-the-Basics" Workshop |
Visit Our
Sponsor
May
23, 2007
Anaheim,
California
This
one-day public workshop is perfect as either an
introduction or refresher to root cause and corrective
action. Participants will
learn:
Purpose and urgency for RCCA
Understanding of root cause
How to select a root cause tool
Using 5 Whys
Tree diagrams
Understanding corrective action
What is closed-loop
Using mistakeproofing
Applying preventative action
The price for
his workshop is
$450USD.
Michael Dreikorn is the instructor for this
value-added learning event.
Call 239.283.2839 to reserve your spot today.
Space is limited!
If your organization continuously deals
with the same problems, again and again... then this is
the workshop for you!
This workshop can also be delivered at your
location. Best when delivered with an IPT and
other workgroups.
|
|
Did You
Know?
Pointing
lasers at commercial aircraft is illegal in the
U.S.?
It's rather obvious that pointing a laser at an
aircraft can't be a good thing. But in the name of
safety, those guilty of pointing a laser at a commercial
airliner face fines of $500,000 and up to 20 years in
jail.
|
|
Visit Our Sponsor
By
using the concepts of Integrated Performance
Leadership (IPL), as described in The Synergy of
One, organizational leaders will discover how to
more effectively implement change by remaining aware of
the big picture and how it affects the entire
organization.
This book, published by the American Society for
Quality (ASQ) presents the modern day challenges of
organization and a recognition that there is no one
remedy to fix the system. Systemic improvement
requires systemic action!
|
|
Did you know?
Giovanni
Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO, this week
announced that it has revised its industry profit
forecast for 2007 from US$2.5b to
$3.8b:
-North
America: US$-600m (US$+4.4b if restructuring costs are
excluded)
-Europe:
US$+2.4b
-Asia-Pacific:
US$+1.7b
|
|
Did you
know?
Low-Carb Diets May Fool
Breathalyzer
A Virgin
Atlantic pilot, having failed a breathalyzer and held at
Heathrow March 31 prior to a flight to JFK, is one happy
man now, as science and diet have cleared his good
name.
|
|
In need of expert witness
services?
Michael Dreikorn and Associates have a
demonstrated track record of supporting AS&D
litigation needs. Within the AS&D industry, we
are experts in:
Quality
Regulatory
compliance
Supplier controls
Manufacturing
Maintenance
Log book entries
Product
investigation
Contract compliance
We can also show you how to avoid litigious
situations by being proactive. Contact us today to
find out how we can help you save your reputation.
Visit www.MichaelDreikorn.com or
call 239.283.2839.
|
|
Only available in the resale
market. This text is a great primer for those who
are trying to make sense of quality in the aviation
industry.
|
|
Questions
or comments, please feel
free to call, fax, or email us at:
(P) 1.239.283.2839
(F) 1.239.283.2197
| | |
The objective of this
newsletter is to provide perspective to the Aviation,
Space, and Defense (AS&D) industry on current and
relevant quality, safety, and regulatory matters in our
industry.
|
|
Have we forgotten the
basics? 
The definition of a professional is a
person who applies their skills in a trade which is
bound by a professional body of knowledge. For
many professional disciplines, a body of knowledge is
well-defined and can be deployed in a consistent
fashion. However, in the aerospace and defense
industry we struggle with industry-wide process
execution because our body of knowledge is not
well-defined. Luckily, groups like the IAQG, AS&D-ASQ, and ADLI are actively working to create a
defined body of knowledge for the AS&D industry.
Meanwhile, organizations are conducting their
day-to-day business with employees who may or may-not
know the basics of their position
responsibilities. My observation is that over the
past couple of decades there has been a strong focus on
specific tools like lean and six-sigma and themes like
quality circles and TQM. However, there has been
little focus on ensuring the people we engage in our
business have a strong foundation in the basics of their
trade.
Go ahead and test this observation for
yourself. Next time you are interacting with a
quality engineer ask them if they can explain to you
what "closed-loop" corrective action is. Chances
are they probably will not be familiar with the
term. You might also tempt fate and see if they
can describe the difference between a disposition and
corrective action. I'd venture that 7 out-of 10
quality engineers won't get it right.
Now, test these assumptions of knowledge in your
supplier-base. You had better brace yourself for a
rude wake-up call. Why would we expect a smaller
organization to have greater capability than a larger
one when it comes to managing the intellectual capital
of its workforce?
My recommendation: Make sure your organization can
walk before it attempts to run. Meaning, before
you go off and invest a lot of time and money into
advanced tools such as lean, six-sigma, and
CMMI, make sure your people have the foundational
knowledge to do their jobs right.
The bare minimums should include:
- Basic quality management system familiarization.
- Overview of controlling nonconforming
material (MRB).
- Root cause and corrective action.
- Familiarization of gauge R & R.
- Purpose of calibration systems.
- Understanding of applicable regulatory
requirements.
- Use of data.
You could probably add a dozen more basic knowledge
elements to this list. Good! Now go do it
and do something about ensuring your people have the
know-how to do their job. Oh, and don't forget
about your supplier-base!
Written by: M.J.
Dreikorn |
|
AS&D
News  The
following are news links relevant to quality, safety,
and regulatory matters in the AS&D industry.
These are only events which have been reported in the
past two weeks. If you would like to see something
else or more, please let us know.
Nearly three-quarters of all
aviation accidents in Australia between 2001 and 2005
were attributed to operational causes, with the
remainder being mechanical, according to a new safety
review released by the Australian Transport Safety
Bureau.
The Federal Aviation
Administration is relying less on hands-on inspections
and more on computer systems for its oversight of
critical maintenance work that air carriers are
increasingly outsourcing to contractors, some of which
are foreign, the Department of Transportation's internal
watchdog told Congress in hearings last
week.
If the Civil Aviation Safety
Authority couldn't identify a scandalous absence of
safety culture in a tiny aviation enterprise, Transair,
how will it handle this year's unprecedented demand for
air safety administration and enforcement?
NASA Aerospace
Safety Advisory Panel Meeting Scheduled for April 24,
2007 (USA)
The
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel will hold its Quarterly
Meeting. This discussion is pursuant to carrying out its
statutory duties for which the Panel reviews,
identifies, evaluates, and advises on those program
activities, systems, procedures, and management
activities that can contribute to program risk. Priority
is given to those programs that involve the safety of
human flight. The agenda will include Safety
Organization and Management; Technical Governance; Major
Contractor Safety; Constellation Program Safety; and
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Safety.
It's the third year in a row
problems including lost luggage and canceled flights
have grown worse for the airline industry.
ICAO is getting
stronger, but the organisation must make sure it matches
its increased muscle with responsibility and
transparency.
The UK UAV
community is being cautioned to give more priority to
configuration control during the development of new
systems to ensure the safety of unmanned aviation.
Hawaiian Airlines was named the
nation's top airline in an annual study that grades
on-time performance and customer
satisfaction.
The purpose of this notification is
to advise all aircraft owners, operators, manufacturers,
maintenance organizations, and parts suppliers and
distributors regarding parts that were improperly
cadmium-plated, brush- or stylus-plated, shot-peened,
stress-relieved, passivation-processed, and
nondestructive-tested.
To prevent a cargo door from
opening during flight; which could lead to structural
failure or loss of control of the aircraft
Remarks to Conference on Quality in the Space and
Defense Industries; Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Indicating that an Aerospace Command will take
shape soon to give India means to exploit its space
assets for military purposes, new Air Force chief Fali
Homi Major on Monday said IAF has chalked out a plan to
give it a truly global combat reach.
A new laser technique allows for instant detection
of bioterrorism agents, permitting tests that previously
were cumbersome or impossible, according to a report in
the April 13 issue of the journal Science.
The East African Community (EAC) is poised to form
a joint regional agency to oversee the implementation of
international standards and recommended practices.
Transport Canada's plan to eliminate regular safety
audits of Canadian airlines could increase risks to the
public and undermine the country's aviation
industry.
The federal government's announcement of its
$900-million Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative
(SADI) makes good business sense if Canada is to
preserve and enhance its role as a world-class leader in
aerospace technology. Under the new program, companies
will invest three to four dollars of their own capital
for every federal dollar received.
NTSB: Fatigue threatens air safety
(USA)
Sleep-deprived air traffic controllers
played a role in at least four near-fatal incidents on
the nation's runways, and the controller on duty in the
worst U.S. crash in five years got only two hours of
sleep.
|
AS&D
Events
The following is a listing of
upcoming events relevant to the AS&D industry.
| |
|
This newsletter is brought to
you by The IPL Group, LLC. We hope you find the
content informative and useful. If there are other
features of this newsletter that you would like to see,
let us know. The power of our industry is not
solely driven by mechanical means, it is our
intellectual base which brings innovation and
strength.
Sincerely,
Michael
Dreikorn
President The IPL Group, LLC
| | |
