The Dyess Air Force Base C-130 aircraft maintenance managers were facing a serious inventory issue. To prevent foreign object damage (FOD), a high level of user accountability and inventory tracking was needed to control tools and equipment. However, a manpower shortage required the base to shift personnel away from its tool control facility. Dyess management had two choices: jeopardize mission effectiveness and safety or find an adequate solution that replaced their tool control facility.

Dyess formulated a small team of managers tasked with investigating commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies for a viable solution. The team assessed asset accountability software, barcode solutions, GPS, GPRS, long wave identification technologies, and radiofrequency identification technologies; however, they found that none of these single solutions would be effective. Resultantly, they began soliciting companies to customize a tool and equipment management solution for their base and other units of the Department of Defense (DOD).

The Dyess team chose a company based in Austin, Texas, that specialized in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and RFID (radiofrequency identification) solutions: OHEL Technologies. After 18 months of testing, development, and process mapping, OHEL Technologies showcased a prototype to the Dyess’s maintenance managers. The solution was an early version of what is now called the OH-BOX.

The OH-BOX was implemented outside the tool control room, called the composite tool kit (CTK), where it would be thoroughly field-tested for more than a year. The automated solution was designed to check in/out tools and equipment for aircraft maintainers. It controlled user access and instantaneously collected data on inventory, repair needs, and calibration for each drawer and tool item. The data collected from the OH-BOX would report to the overhead software system that was designed for managerial automation. The OH-BOX was found to have significant benefits:

·        25-man hours a day saved - $875 cost savings per day

·        Easily accessible and customizable reporting features for inventory, user access, and tool repair/calibration data

·        5x faster check-out and check-in of tool and equipment items

·        20% reduction in necessary inventory

Dyess Air Force Base was so pleased the OH-BOX provided such a profitable increase in user accountability and workshop visibility that they decided to expand their footprint of OHEL’s products and services by nearly 40 times their original investment.

Air Mobility Command, the Dyess C-130 Major Command, is one of many government aviation units that sought out automated IIoT solutions for tool and equipment control. Specializing in the aviation industry with a mission-centric origin, OHEL Technologies continues to provide DoD clients with operational safety and value, cost savings, and unmatched customer support.

For more information, please visit www.oheltechnologies.com.

Phone: (512) 565-4030