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Airbus Helicopters launches new ‘secured’ support services

By Vertical Mag | October 14, 2014

Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 51 seconds.

Airbus Helicopters’ display at Helitech International 2014 in 
Amsterdam, Netherlands. Mike Reyno Photo
Airbus Helicopters has launched two new repair and overhaul services that it says will allow it to deliver secured leadtimes to customers. The move, announced Tuesday at Helitech International 2014 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, includes the implementation of a Secured Standard Exchange policy and a Secured Turnaround Time (TAT) service, and is part of a wider company effort to improve its support and service offering.
“We are really deeply overhauling both the processes and the mindset to get a full customer service mindset everywhere in the world, and to change the way the company works — because some changes were necessary to get to the [support] performance we wanted,” said Matthieu Louvot, senior vice president of support and services at Airbus Helicopters.
“We have good control of all the parameters of our performance now, and we are ready to commit. [With the] two offers we’re unveiling, we propose [a] confirmed commitment to our customers in terms of performance — because we know we can achieve it, and we can live up to the commitment we make.”
The Secured Standard Exchange policy offers customers the possibility of immediately exchanging a part that needs repair or overhaul with another serviceable part, with the aim being to optimize operational availability and minimize downtime. To begin with, the policy will be offered on the dynamic components and equipment on the “Squirrel” family of aircraft (which includes the AS350, AS355, and EC130) — Airbus Helicopters said it would later be extended to other aircraft types in its fleet.
The second initiative sees the introduction of a Secured Turnaround Time (TAT) service of 45 days for equipment repair and overhaul. The manufacturer said this would reduce downtime and provide better predictability, and would initially be offered on equipment for Dauphin (AS365/EC155) and Super Puma (AS332/EC225) helicopters, currently covering 400 part numbers. As with the Secured Standard Exchange Policy, Airbus Helicopters said the Secured TAT will be expanded to the rest of the commercial range and to a wider range of items, including dynamic components, over the course of the next year.
Louvot said the company had also recently invested €100 million in spares, and was optimizing the way this stock is allocated among its support network through a state-of-the-art logistics system that was already paying dividends. “The number of parts arriving late as compared to customer request has decreased by 40 percent since 2012, so it’s a huge improvement and it’ll continue into next year. . . . [And] we are now at 98 percent service level with planned orders,” he said.
“I think the proof that we are succeeding is first and foremost that we are willing to take commitments on it,” he added. “Internally, we are doing things that have never been done; the way we work with the network, integrate with the logistics system worldwide, [and] the type of investment we’ve made with the IT systems. [It’s] a sign of the level of priority that has been given to support and services.”

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