Getting aircraft back in flight faster

Getting aircraft back in flight faster

At Pratt & Whitney's Oklahoma City site, automation and advanced robotics are decreasing downtime

When that moment arrives, a red robotic cart will race across the polished concrete floor to pick it up. And from there, that bolt and its brethren will be on the fast track to their first flight.

The storage area, the bins and the robotic carts are the linchpins of a new automated system Pratt & Whitney uses at its military engines logistics complex in Oklahoma City. That system drastically reduces downtime for military aircraft undergoing maintenance.

"We are really excited about it (this new system). Something that might've taken two days now takes two hours," said Greg Treacy, the site lead in Oklahoma City and a vice president at Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business.

He was referring specifically to the process of locating replacement parts. But in a broader sense, he was also talking about using automation to complement the team's efforts and improve overall performance at the site. Workers there inspect, repair or replace parts, and assemble "kits" of parts for Air Force mechanics, for multiple military engines including:

• The F135, which powers the F-35 fighter jet
• The F119, which powers the F-22 fighter jet
• The F117, which powers the C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft

The site's proximity to Tinker Air Force Base - a major maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub - reflects the close connection employees feel with the airmen, and the missions they support.

"Our partners on Tinker Air Force Base are just that. They're our partners, as we disassemble and assemble these engines," Treacy said. "The ability for us to be more efficient, to be faster, directly impacts their ability to get an engine out the door to support the warfighter in the field when that person needs it. So, our ability to have the right part at the right time, at the right pace, is absolutely critical to the success of our entire partnership. And that's what this building allows us to support."

Hear Greg Treacy explain how automation at Pratt & Whitney's Oklahoma City site benefits nearby Tinker Air Force Base.

A journey to automation

The clearest benefit of automation at the site has been in "picking time," or the time it takes to retrieve a piece of hardware from inventory. Under the old system, a picker would be lucky to find 15 in an hour. Today, that number is closer to 70.

Here's the difference: Under the old system, a picker would open a bin and have to rummage through it not just for a part number, but a batch number - so, not just a type of bolt, but one that was made at the same time, in the same place as the one being replaced. Each bin could have had 100 of the same part, but all with different batch numbers.

"And so that associate had to go in and rifle through all those to find that specific needle in the haystack batch number for that part number to then be able to pick it and retrieve it and get it out to the customer," said Rod Webb, general manager for Logistics at Pratt & Whitney in Oklahoma City.

Today, that needle is much larger and the haystack much smaller; the bins contain no more than four batches, and the system knows exactly where each one is.

"Instead of digging through a pile, the automation system presents the correct tote with the right batch, making picking faster and more accurate," Webb said.

Although the facility's automation is still in its early stages, they're already seeing big gains in efficiency, cutting the picking time from two days to two hours for the F135 engine.

"It's been a huge boost in productivity," Webb said. "Getting those kits to mechanics faster is huge - it helps us return engines on time, if not early."

With growth on the horizon, Pratt & Whitney knows preparation is crucial - because without it, better efficiency won't be enough to meet the needs of its customers.

"It was really the impetus on why we did this in the first place," Treacy said. "And [it's] why we've created a facility and a process that'll last us for the next 10 years to support all that growth - not just here in Oklahoma City, but around the world - the entire network of customers that we support."