Challenges
Faced with an unfamiliar mechanical issue, a leading aerospace manufacturer was experiencing turbulence in the plant. The company’s CNC machine had been down for weeks and was directly impacting operations and production output. Lacking onsite technical support, the team could not identify the root issue and properly restore the machine. What was once an asset had become a hindrance that resulted in ongoing downtime, confusion and reduced operational capacity.
Solution
The company had recently signed a contract maintenance agreement with ATS. However, when this particular issue arose, ATS technicians were not yet on site. Electing the help of its new maintenance partner, the company called ATS after spending weeks trying to fix the problem internally with no success.
ATS maintenance support immediately engaged its Subject Matter Expert (SME) Network and Technician Hub within the Reliability 360® Technology Center. Using the current machine as a reference point, the team searched through its proprietary database and found several similar machines that ATS services in other factories. From there, ATS assembled a team of SMEs that frequently work with these specific types of machines.
The SMEs spoke with the aerospace manufacturer over a teleconference to ask questions and fully understand the issue. Within 45 minutes, the team had agreed upon a likely root cause and believed that the problem stemmed from a programming error. Two of the SMEs had encountered similar programming issues in the past and one of those technicians was deployed to the client’s factory.
Once on site, the technician was able to confirm the programming issue and perform the necessary repair. Within a couple of hours, the machine was up and running again at full capacity. The technician spent the rest of the day assisting the client with other mechanical issues in the factory.
Results
The failure of this critical machine was directly affecting the company’s bottom line. In restoring the machine to full capacity, ATS brought the manufacturer back up to speed in minimal time. Leveraging its key internal resources, ATS was able to save the client significant time and money by quickly connecting them with the right experts.
This experience validated the client’s reasoning for beginning a long-term partnership with ATS. After seeing how quickly ATS was able to manage and navigate the problem at hand, the plant manager thanked the team and technicians, saying, “As you can tell, we really need ATS.”
