Delta, Boeing to Test RFID on Engine Parts

Airline hopes to improve inventory tracking; aviation industry seeks common standards

By Bob Brewin

June 7, 2004 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - Delta Air Lines Inc. and The Boeing Co. next month plan to start testing the use of radio frequency identification tags to track airplane engine parts -- a trial run that may herald widespread RFID adoption by airlines and suppliers of aircraft components.
The test at Delta dovetails with plans by Chicago-based Boeing and rival aircraft maker Airbus SAS to jointly develop RFID standards for the aviation industry. Boeing and Toulouse, France-based Airbus will host the first of three Global Aviation RFID Forums in Atlanta this week to start the standardization process with airlines and suppliers. Similar meetings are planned in Hong Kong and Munich this summer.
Kenneth Porad, program manager for Boeing's automated identification program, said his company and Airbus have decided to "speak with a single voice" on using RFID technology to track aircraft parts. Boeing and Airbus buy parts and subsystems from many of the same companies, Porad said, estimating that they have "70% common suppliers."
Porad said an agreement on RFID standards between Boeing and Airbus should help reduce deployment costs for suppliers and lead to the development of smart RFID tags that airlines could use to better manage and even reduce their parts inventories. The value of those inventories can amount to $1 billion per airline, he added.
That's about what Delta's parts inventory is worth, said Marty Kansinger, general manager of material services at the Atlanta-based airline. Delta tracks about a half-million parts, and Kansinger noted that improving the accuracy of inventory data "is very important to us" because of the potential for reducing costs.


Delta's RFID trial will track parts used in engines such as this Pratt & Whitney Series 2000.

Garbage In, Garbage Out
Parts tracking depends on the quality of data entry, which now often begins with an airplane mechanic making notes about parts replacements on a clipboard. Delta plans to conduct the RFID test to see if the tags can help speed up data entry and reduce errors while minimizing the amount of information that end users have to input manually, Kansinger said.
During the test, which will run through the end of the year, Delta will use RFID devices and so-called smart bins equipped with RFID readers at one of its repair depots to track the movement of engine parts through the facility.
Delta and Boeing also hope to determine how well RFID tags and labels -- which are substrates that contain embedded tags -- can stand up to engine temperatures that reach as much as 500 degrees. Kansinger said

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