Bombardier has embarked on a major overhaul of its aftermarket support business after the experience and lessons learned from the entry into service over the past two years of the 70-seat stretch Dash 8Q400 turboprop and CRJ700 regional jet.
"The CRJ700 and Q400 have both had their share of technical issues and unexpected parts demand follows close behind, and we've had to learn to deal with that," says Jeff Mihalic, Bombardier Aerospace Regional Aircraft, vice-president and general manager, customer services. The initial step has been to offload responsibility for its Dash 8-100/200/300 inventory of slow-moving spares to Volvo Aero Services and focus on the new regional aircraft.
"We've a lot of demand being placed on the spares organisation and we would prefer to focus on emerging needs and what parts are needed to support new aircraft and so help our customer buy the right material. This agreement with Volvo allows us to focus on customers with new products," says Mihalic.
Bombardier is spending more in three main areas. The company is moving its central distribution centre for spares from Toronto to Detroit and this is due to be completed this month. This is designed to overcome the hurdle of importing spares first into Canada and then re-exporting them to the USA, where the bulk of Bombardier's customers are. The next step will be to allow vendors to dispatch urgent items direct to operators.
The company is also reprovisioning its inventory to ensure the availability of spares and greater coverage, as well as adding more staff. The goal is to fulfil parts orders within 30 days of being placed and, in the case of an aircraft on the ground, ship and deliver critical parts to the airline within 24h.
Source: Flight International
