Along with providing total turn-key avionics solutions for civil and military aircraft, helicopters and UAS, Scandinavian Avionics also deals with sales, maintenance (MRO), certification (STC), design & engineering, installation, product development, production, training and consultancy services. In a candid chat with Swati.Ketkar, Michael Truelsen - the CEO of Scandinavian Avionics opens up about their training module, the challenges they face, the global problem of skilled workforce and much more ...READ ON
Q - Scandinavian Avionics provides complete turn-key avionics solutions from certification to training. If we look at the training part, can you give us a small brief about the training module? Does it include in-depth avionics system operation training?
A - Correct. Our concept is to focus strictly on avionics and aircraft electrics, and then providing everything within that arena. Consultancy, installation, maintenance (component and line), certification, product development, production and training for any civil or military flying platform (helicopters, fixed wing and drone applications) - that is our definition of "avionics turn-key solutions for the aviation industry". Our training department provides a wide range of training courses for aircraft maintenance personnel, as well as support staff and even operational personnel. We cover aircraft specific type training, continuation training, in-depth maintenance and system operation training, CRM courses, certification training, training for nominated postholders, train the trainer, and a wide range of organisation specific training courses. A new addition to our offerings are a service to help organisations to keep track of their personnel and competences in terms of skills and training, as we see a need for this in the industry and we have a system that can provide a very good and simple overview for the responsible persons, within an organization with these requirements. Another development within training is our MAYDAY concept, which is a range of board games that are designed to be a facilitator for specific training topics. Our newest MAYDAY board game is focussing on Human Factors training and has already received tremendous feedback, and we see a huge potential in bringing in board games to the classroom. We are avoiding "death by powerpoint" and the students really get an excellent learning experience.
Q - How do you look at the global problem of skilled workforce shortage? What according to you should be the steps taken by global MROs to tackle this problem
A - The problem is real, that is for sure, and this is one reason we are investing heavily in our training department, so we can keep our own staff up to speed and provide training to externals. We have an extremely skilled and experienced workforce within our group, but we can see that in 10-15 years we will struggle, if we do not make sure to get young engineers into our system, and invest in their growth. It is a huge challenge for the industry, but the responsibility remains with the actors. We have apprentices in our workshops, engineering students in our design department and business students within our administration and it is imminent that we all invest in the coming generations, in order to keep our industry sharp on quality and safety for the future. If the general issue can be overcome is yet to be seen, but we are already behind the curve in all aspects of the business.
Q - In an AOG situation, where every minute counts, the SA group provides efficient logistics support system 24/7. In this extremely volatile field, where anything can go wrong at any step, thereby stretching the AOG time, what are the challenges that you often face? What was your most challenging experience so far?
A - We pride ourselves with our flexibility and agile approach. We have grown a lot the past years, however we are still a relatively small team and we stand by each other to get the job done. For an AOG the issue normally comes down to stock availability, software configuration and logistics, but at the end of the day, we always do everything in our power to get the issue solved for the end customer. There have been numerous AOG experiences, and a big part of the company's very foundation is built on our support - day and night - on the offshore helicopters for the oil and gas industry on the Danish west coast. They would call anytime and we had to be on-site within the hour. This was back in the eighties and nineties, and there are many fascinating stories from that time. The industry has obviously changed and we now support a lot of different types of operators, however the approach is still to do everything in our power to get the aircraft flying.
Q - Can you tell us about the latest technology used in Avionics maintenance of Aircraft & how is the SA group different from other avionics solutions providing companies?
A - With the new technology avionics the requirements in terms of test equipment is growing rapidly. Automatic test equipment is expensive and you need quite a revenue stream to make the return on investment. In our workshops we are still very diverse and maintain everything from old electromechanical gyroscopes and instruments, to EFIS screens and FMS computers. Recently we went a bit outside our normal scope and set up a complete Oxygen bottle maintenance shop in our Oslo department, which has been a very interesting process. We are involved in developing our own ATE equipment in order to keep investments in an acceptable level, however the biggest issue in this process, and in the avionics component maintenance industry in general, is the consolidation and pullback of aftermarket support by the OEM's. We need access to CMM's and data in order to keep supporting our customers in the field, but this is being restricted more and more by more or less all OEM's. This is killing the industry slowly, and the losers are the MRO's and the operators who will suffer from the poor support and high prices that monopoly brings. We are starting to see a pushback from operators, but the trend is frightening and not for the better. Luckily a few OEM's has seen this tendency, and is developing their support system for the better of the operators and not for their own focus on aftermarket revenue, and this is giving them a big advantage when it comes to promoting their equipment for retrofit upgrades. I hope that more will follow. We have been able so far to stay in the top of the international avionics segment, but many smaller shops have been forced to close their component MRO business. Our strength is within our deep system architecture knowhow. We are not just an avionics component shop, we do installations, deep engineering and aircraft troubleshooting and represents more or less all of the bigger avionics OEM's. We are committed to keep developing our MRO side despite the constant battles - latest addition is the win of a component maintenance contract for the global sustainment concept for the F-35 program.
Q - Cyber-security is still the most looming threat over the rapidly evolving avionics industry. DO you think our aviation industry is prepared to handle a cyber-attack? Apart from cyber-threat, what according to you are the other challenges revolving around avionics sector?
A - Cyber security is a topic for any industry, and the same goes for the aviation sector. We see monthly attacks on our network, but so far we have been able to resist. In terms of avionics the focus is luckily still very much on hardware separation and I trust the very conservative approach and relatively slow development will keep us above waters as an industry. That being said the threat is real and not to be taken lightly. As mentioned above I believe the biggest threat remains the approach from many OEM's in terms of aftermarket support. This is hurting the industry in the short term and can leave marks that will be impossible to recover from, once the third party MRO's are gone.
Q - With just a couple of months left for ADB-S deadline, the FAA estimates over a 100,000 aircraft yet to be equipped with the technology. Are the operators taking this deadline lightly? Your views...
A - Luckily the EASA mandate is six months later than the FAA mandate, however the hurdle is hard to grasp. I do not have an exact count, but we have several hundred ADS-B proposals out, but the orders are only slowly picking up. Maybe the history of mandates being postponed last minute is keeping operators hesitant, however the deadline is approaching and the ones who wait will be part of a major backlog once this kicks in. The industry will not have a chance to cover the installations in the pace required, so I would get my upgrade booked ASAP if I were an operator. We are ready though, we have spent the time getting STC's approved for a lot of scenarios and aircraft types, so we are in a position to support a good part of the market with a solution, but there will be other bottlenecks in terms of equipment availability and hangar capacity that will be showstoppers for those who wait too long.