It isn't news that many companies around the world are experiencing downtime in their operations due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. While commercial air travel numbers have plummeted in recent weeks, many airlines and MROs are taking advantage of this unexpected free time to make necessary or desired upgrades to their operations. If your MRO or maintenance depot is experiencing downtime, you might be asking yourself: is now a good time to upgrade my test system? In this blog post, we'll be looking at the different reasons you may be considering an upgrade and whether now is a good time to execute them.

Adding New Test Capability or Production Capacity – Wait to Upgrade

During periods of lower customer demand and lower work output is usually a great time to upgrade your test system for additional test capabilities. With a lower than usual workload, an upgrade causes minimal interruption to your operations. However, with the significant decrease in demand for the commercial travel industry, analysts are predicting that some aircraft platforms my not return to service at their previous levels. It's becoming less clear which aircraft platforms will have the greatest need for MRO in the coming years. It's best to wait to add capability.

Reacting to Obsolescence – Upgrade Now

Every so often, one of our suppliers will stop manufacturing a sub-component used in our test systems. These suppliers will typically give a timeline, letting customers know when they will stop supporting the product, and often will publish an obsolescence plan, or end of life plan, that details steps you can take to upgrade your system. For example, Microsoft issued a notification that they will be stopping their support of the Windows 7 operating system, and has encouraged customers to upgrade to Windows 10. The US Military is still focused on these upgrades. If a product obsolescence is or will disrupt your operation, a downtime like this is a great time to perform these upgrades.

Reacting to a Test Specification Change – Upgrade Now

Aircraft component OEMs will periodically issue change notices for the maintenance documentation for their components. These changes may be a result of improved maintenance methodology, or they may be modifications to the component design that result in changes to the test procedures. In the case of changes to the test procedure, your test system may also require changes. A period of lower workflow is a great time to upgrade your test system and ensure that that you are ready to test the latest version of component portfolio when your workload returns.

Do any of these situations apply to you? Contact us today to see if now is a good time to upgrade your test system.