Talking Toolbox Tracks Tool Usage

FOD costs the aviation industry significant sums every year and part of this is incurred through deficient tool control methods. Shadow boards and tagging systems help but are not infallible and while many see radio frequency identification (RFID) as the way forward, numerous problems with it remain to be resolved. So when Coplan Limited of Milton Keynes, United Kingdom entered the field it steered clear of this unproven technology and developed an Intelligent Tool Control (ITC) system that represents a real step forward.

Access to each Coplan tool kit is controlled by either PIN code or swipe card, which shows who has used its contents and when. The tools are held within foam recesses with a contrasting background color, making it abundantly clear when items have been removed.

Each tool sits atop a sensor that is linked to the toolbox's integral PC, and the current tool location information is displayed on the built-in monitor. So at a glance the technician is able to confirm where everything is.

The individual tool boxes can then be grouped into networks so that supervisors and managers can see in real time the status of an individual tool. Further integration with a company's job-control software means that tasks cannot be signed off until the toolbox itself verifies all tools allocated have been returned. The network can also access servicing information, putting instructions and diagrams on the box's screen. The ITC has been tested and proved to be so successful that David Park of the Coplan sales force was able to confirm that, "a major OEM and a large military customer are both very interested in the system."

Those who see ITC as just another tool control system are in danger of missing the wider picture. Its true potential comes from the uses the information it gathers can be put to. For instance, accurate data on tool usage can be fed into the customer's efficiency improvement systems and help identify the true cost of each job. This in turn can work to perfect the science of contract bidding as well as highlighting where productivity bottlenecks occur. It can also reveal which are the most effective technicians, thus helping to target the training budget.

For the ITC to be fully effective considerable IT integration will be required. This is not cheap but Coplan does not intend to compete purely on the basis of price. It is selling a tool-control solution that will impact across the customer's entire operation.

-- By Colin Browning