Major Aerospace/Defense Contractor Dramatically Reduces Calibration Turnaround Time Using Keysight Services

 The First Step Toward Reducing Test Cost Of Ownership

Test equipment calibration can be a costly and time-consuming proposition—one that’s regularly required for routine preventative maintenance over an asset’s entire life. While calibration ensures instruments are working at an optimal level, the turnaround time (TAT) and related costs associated with that process can be substantial if not properly managed, tracked, and controlled. Those costs often include the cost of the actual calibration itself, logistical costs, and any cost if the instrument needs repair to bring it back into calibration when found out of tolerance. The cost to acquire and maintain, rent, or borrow temporary replacements to maintain engineering productivity while instruments are out of calibration, is an additional cost to any calibration management program.

During the time assets are out for calibration, companies often employ a loan pool for access to replacement “loaner” equipment on a short-term basis to keep programs running. It’s a process that can get quite complicated and drives costs up dramatically if not actively controlled.

One major aerospace/defense contractor found itself facing these issues and set out to resolve the matter utilizing Keysight Technologies, Inc. services and expertise. Its goal was to reduce the TAT of its instrument calibration and improve its service levels, while also driving down costs.

Challenge

The primary challenge the aerospace/defense contractor faced was an extensive TAT. On average, it had to wait a full 30 to 45 days for its test instruments to be calibrated and receive any calibration data for any issues related to out of tolerance instruments needing a recovery plan. To mitigate that TAT delay and maintain engineering productivity, it was forced to manage an extensive loaners pool with all the spares, leases, rentals, logistics, and maintenance that came with it. Doing so substantially drove up the contractor’s operating expenditure—to a tune of $25,000 a week for excess equipment rental and borrowing costs. At the end of the day, these added expenses resulted in a seven-figure problem that kept growing.

Solution

In order to reduce the calibration TAT and expenses that came with it, the contractor needed to get a better understanding of its assets—what they were, where they were, and who they were being used by, if at all. It also needed a better way of managing its assets and loan pools. For those tasks it turned to Keysight Services, with its top-notch engineering resources—people, processes and tools—and a proven history of helping customers engineer improved processes that lower costs.

To address the challenge, Keysight Services introduced sophisticated asset data tracking and control process monitoring capabilities. The data generated proved vital, but it was just the first step. Next, Keysight Services revamped the management process and infrastructure the contractor was using to have calibration and repair services delivered. The contractor had been acquiring much newer generation test equipment for the latest technology development programs they were under-taking. That, in turn, required newer technology calibration standards and procedures to be able to bring in to compliance this newer test equipment. The contractor wanted access to on-site calibration services, so Keysight set up a state-of-the-art calibration laboratory at the contractor’s facility capable of calibrating Keysight and non- Keysight equipment, complete with the staff needed to run it (Figure 1). In addition, Keysight Services was able to retrain the contractor’s personnel to help seamlessly transition personnel and run the lab.

Results

Through a combination of inventory tracking, state of the art, on-site calibration lab services and better service delivery management, Keysight Services was able to provide the aerospace/defense contractor with a solution that dramatically cut both the time and costs associated with the calibration and repair processes. Overall, calibration TAT decreased from 30 to 45 days to just 2.5 days, while enabling the contractor to save an estimated $1.3 million annually.