The Importance of Rotables and Consumables for Aircraft
In aerospace and aviation safety, safety is the singular most important thing. In order to ensure safety as much as possible, every step of the aircraft’s life is strictly regulated. In order to do this, the aviation industry enforces traces.
Traceability is paramount when purchasing
rotables and consumables for aircraft. Trace provides complete accountability from raw materials to end application. It improves manufacture quality and enables the ability to track down any mistakes and find out when and where it was made. Manufacturers, distributors, resellers, and end users can all be accounted for in trace. For example, 145 Trace simply means the rotable part was under ownership of a repair facility.
Rotable parts are components that can be removed, serviced, repaired, and overhauled throughout their lifespan. Rotable parts are also known as serialized components. The serialization of the part allows transparency for the part’s history, such as maintenance schedules and overhauls. Examples include parts such as avionics, pumps, and sensors. Consumables are typically parts that have a single use. Most bolts, screws, and rivets are recognized as consumables. Consumables maintain trace as well, through lot and batch numbers. Consumables must meet a fit, form, and function test, or be replaced if the part does not meet specifications. These parts usually have trace to the production lot for each package and/or set.
New technologies such as
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) allows for instantaneous access to a component’s history. Not only is RFID convenient, it also provides accuracy. The use of RFID eliminates the task of manually entering a serial number, this reducing the likelihood of any mistakes being made, or time wasted. RFID is primarily focused on rotable parts due to the maintenance requirements the part will require throughout the life of service.
The only independent
