REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (Oct. 9, 2014) -- When the AMRDEC Maintenance Engineering Division learned that the Corpus Christi Army Depot was experiencing critical parts shortages with the Turbine Disk Assembly and Turbine Shaft Assembly used on the UH-60 T700 Engine Programs, they knew who to call.
Research revealed an ample supply of these parts on location in the division's Storage Analysis Failure Evaluation and Reclamation, SAFR warehouse. The AMRDEC team evaluated and shipped one Turbine Disk Assembly and five Turbine Shaft Assemblies to CCAD to be used on the production lines pending Maintenance Engineering Call repair guidance support.
Resolving this problem resulted in $33,969 of cost avoidance.
The SAFR Program is an AMRDEC Aviation Engineering Directorate, AED tool that identifies and collects unserviceable mission critical parts and provides remediation solutions to military aviation maintainers worldwide. SAFR "select mission essential" candidate parts are typically high-demand, complex to manufacture, experience raw materials shortages, subject to long delivery lead times and frequently fail current repair criteria. Aviation Maintenance Engineers work on-site to formulate repair development solutions based upon evaluation and analysis of these parts. Upon authorization of an AED airworthy repair solution, SAFR repairable parts are transferred to maintenance programs for repair and return to service.
Recent SAFR parts review evaluations by the AH64 AED and Original Equipment Manufacturer Partnership Drive Systems Team identified 506 reparable parts totaling $3.6 million in potential cost avoidance inventory.
As the result of this and other repair solutions, the SAFR program reclaims and delivers approximately $20 million in reparable critical supply relief parts per year to Aircraft on the Ground and depot production, resulting in significant Cost Wise Readiness maintenance cost reductions. The VE cost savings metric is also used to measure the combined success of the Maintenance Engineering Division and SAFR program, which averages approximately $50-$100 million per fiscal year.
"Our goal is to return the assets back to service, extend the utilization and provide cost wise readiness support to the US Army Rotary Wing Aviation Systems," said Mark Velazquez, SAFR Program Chief Engineer, "In fiscal year 2011, the SAFR program exceeded a total cumulative Value Engineering savings threshold of $1 billion."
On-site engineers work with maintenance artisans to get parts re-qualified as serviceable items, while maintaining the highest levels of airworthiness and flight safety.
"One of the keys to the success of the SAFR Program is that we can put our hands on the part, provide on-the-spot maintenance engineering answers to production, programs, supply, artisan and partnership questions," said Kevin Rees, chief, Maintenance Engineering Division. "Our Partnerships with Army Research Labs, Navy Research Labs allows the SAFR program to explore new technologies and work in concert with our OEM partnerships to supply parts and engineering support services to the Depot."
AMRDEC AED Engineering and SAFR Program strive to extend parts utilization, reduce maintenance burden and improve operational readiness by providing effective Cost Wise repair solutions and critical parts supply relief to aviation maintenance activities in support of U.S. Soldiers around the world. The SAFR program has been supporting the Aviation and Missile Command AMCOM, Army Logistics Command ALC, depot maintenance programs at Corpus Christi since 1989.
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The Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to develop technology and engineering solutions for America's Soldiers.
RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness -- technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment -- to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it.
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