Tool inventory and control is a growing fast in aviation. Many shops are moving away from mechanics having their own personal tools favoring the control of a tool room and running log of accountability. This is good and bad. The bad comes from the waste of time in running back and forth waiting in line for tools, the good being the lower investment required to wrench on airplanes on the mechanic. That money for the company to buy simple hand tools will come from somewhere tho, and in my mind I'd imagine it coming in the form of lower wages.
I was in the air force so I understand tool rooms, the shift end and start rush, the guy who doesn't really know what you need when you ask for a certain tool and taking the time to nearly draw a picture of a flexhead ratchet after he hands you a flexible extension no thanks I like my basics.
I've been putting together my tool set and new that I wanted a running control of my personal tools. When in smaller shops applying for a job tools often come up and having my own FOD and tool control methods in place show initiative and responsibility. In GA having a well organized tool box shows the owners that you care about your tools and are likely to care about their flying machine.
As professional mechanics our dress and appearance can't always be top notch so we are often judged by our tools. Cleanliness, servicability, and neatness can give our employers and clients warm fuzzies about our work ethic. Cleanliness is for another post. I'll focus on control and neatness here.
FOD or foreign object debris can turn into foreign object damage quickly. Carelessness is the only reason for it, whether that careless moment was brought on by being rushed, distracted or just generally not giving a **** is of no concern. It is the responsibility of the mechanic to control his area preventing loss of tools hardware or other things.
To ensure tools are accounted for foam shadowing is quite possibly the best and fastest. Foam is readily available at Sears and a few nights sitting tracing and cutting is all that is needed. To quickly identify missing tools it's smart to contrast the liner to the color of foam and outline the cutout in a contrasting paint pen. Thats the easy part and honestly pretty fun to get to play with every tool in your box for a little while.
Tackling the inventory sheet, that's the part I was dreading. I like to know what I have and where it is. People borrow tools and can forget at the end of a shift they had it etc.. I wanted an inventory of each drawer tool room style. I want to know Joe Snuffy has my 11/32 combination if i lent it to him. I want to know what tools I put into a bag to head out to the ramp to remove a magneto.
I'm not good with xcel and I'm sure with enough tinkering i could figure out a good sign in out sheet but that kind of computing *****. I started searching inventory software and found Home Inventory on the app story (mac user). This software is pretty bad *** for 19 bucks.
The software tracks everything from date bought, value, condition, inspection intervals, warranty information, serial numbers, where bought, etc etc... Very adaptable from home wares to tools. cont... in next post with pics
I was in the air force so I understand tool rooms, the shift end and start rush, the guy who doesn't really know what you need when you ask for a certain tool and taking the time to nearly draw a picture of a flexhead ratchet after he hands you a flexible extension no thanks I like my basics.
I've been putting together my tool set and new that I wanted a running control of my personal tools. When in smaller shops applying for a job tools often come up and having my own FOD and tool control methods in place show initiative and responsibility. In GA having a well organized tool box shows the owners that you care about your tools and are likely to care about their flying machine.
As professional mechanics our dress and appearance can't always be top notch so we are often judged by our tools. Cleanliness, servicability, and neatness can give our employers and clients warm fuzzies about our work ethic. Cleanliness is for another post. I'll focus on control and neatness here.
FOD or foreign object debris can turn into foreign object damage quickly. Carelessness is the only reason for it, whether that careless moment was brought on by being rushed, distracted or just generally not giving a **** is of no concern. It is the responsibility of the mechanic to control his area preventing loss of tools hardware or other things.
To ensure tools are accounted for foam shadowing is quite possibly the best and fastest. Foam is readily available at Sears and a few nights sitting tracing and cutting is all that is needed. To quickly identify missing tools it's smart to contrast the liner to the color of foam and outline the cutout in a contrasting paint pen. Thats the easy part and honestly pretty fun to get to play with every tool in your box for a little while.
Tackling the inventory sheet, that's the part I was dreading. I like to know what I have and where it is. People borrow tools and can forget at the end of a shift they had it etc.. I wanted an inventory of each drawer tool room style. I want to know Joe Snuffy has my 11/32 combination if i lent it to him. I want to know what tools I put into a bag to head out to the ramp to remove a magneto.
I'm not good with xcel and I'm sure with enough tinkering i could figure out a good sign in out sheet but that kind of computing *****. I started searching inventory software and found Home Inventory on the app story (mac user). This software is pretty bad *** for 19 bucks.
The software tracks everything from date bought, value, condition, inspection intervals, warranty information, serial numbers, where bought, etc etc... Very adaptable from home wares to tools. cont... in next post with pics
