Tooling Control Programs Are Used in the

¶ … tooling control programs are used in the aviation industry to help reduce the number of lost tools and miscellaneous equipment that can be misplaced by workers performing maintenance or installation services in an aircraft facility. Such lost tools can also include otherwise harmless office supplies such as pens or paperclips, making the need for a rigorous foreign object damage control program for tooling control essential for aviation companies today.

A wide range of solutions are available for tooling control purposes, ranging from the straightforward and simple tool silhouette cutouts to sophisticated computer-based applications that used radio-frequency identification or bar coding technologies. Irrespective of which tooling control approach is used, there remains a need for improvement in any aviation-related context since one lost tool in a million is too many.

To shed some fresh insights into these issues, this study provides a current overview of industry best practices related to tooling control programs, how they are administered and what techniques are used to control the use of tools and other foreign objects in the aviation industry in general and how tooling control can be used to reduce the incidence of tool loss at Sikorsky in particular. A summary of the research, important findings and recommendations for implementation and further research are provided in the study's conclusion.

TOOLING CONTROL: IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE LOST TOOLS IN THE AVIATION INDUSTRY INTRODUCTION When a surgeon leaves a surgical implement in a patient, the patient can easily die as a result. Although such a mishap is clearly a tragedy (and a potentially hefty malpractice lawsuit as well), when an aircraft mechanic leaves a tool in an aircraft, though, hundreds of people can die as a result and the economic consequences can be enormous.

Indeed, the need for effective tooling control procedures in the aviation industry is absolute and even one tool lost in a million is an unacceptable rate. Unfortunately, the harsh reality of the human condition is that people are susceptible to mistakes, accidents, untoward incidents, and mishaps of every kind. It is reasonable to suggest that everyone loses something from time to time, but in the vast majority of cases, the outcome of such events is benign.

In the aviation industry, though, the need for an absolute standard of safety with respect to tooling control is well-known and recognized but achieving these high levels of quality control is a challenging enterprise to be sure. Despite the challenges that are involved, there is a compelling need to improve tooling control for a number of reasons beyond the overarching safety-related issues that are involved.

For the purposes of this study, tooling control refers to those steps that are taken to eliminate the number lost tools or equipment misplaced by anyone performing maintenance or installation services in an aircraft facility. Tools are not limited to just wrenches and drivers, but can include seemingly innocuous office supplies such a pen or paperclip. Tooling control is an ongoing issue at Sikorsky Aircraft that needs to be addressed immediately. This is not just a safety issue but also affects the operational cost of the company.

At Sikorsky ("the company"), each tooling on the shop floor is accounted for and if alerted as missing, it is immediately considered FOD. When tools used on the shop floor cannot be accounted for an immediate halt is put on the manufacturing process, which means "no work," resulting to a decrease in productivity affecting the company's bottom line. The current process for responding to a lost tool incident at the company is as follows: 1. Production stop and a search conducted immediately to locate the lost tool 2.

Document the lost tool report 3. Send out the appropriate emails alerting everyone including our customer that we misplace a tool 4. Conduct an interview with the employee, QA supervisor, and MFG supervisor 5. Decide on a corrective action and submit it to our customer for approval 6. Follow through approved corrective action to located the lost tool 7. If the tool is not found it is permanently imbedded into the aircraft's permanent records. As noted above, lost tools are a significant.