HELICOPTER ‘HOME DEPOT’


No matter how good Airbus Helicopter Inc.’s customer service and maintenance departments may be, the system lives or dies by how well the company’s warehouse is stocked. Will there be parts there when customers need them, either through direct orders or indirectly through the service centers that support their helicopters?


During the last helicopter sales boom, necessary parts could be very hard to find from any helicopter manufacturer. This left many rotorcraft grounded when they should have been earning their keep in the air.


Airbus Helicopters Inc. took note of what happened during the last boom, and took steps to ensure it doesn’t happen during the next one; as well as today. “This is


44 Nov/Dec 2017


why we have invested $170 million in our warehouse to increase the range and number of new and repaired parts on hand,” Baker said. Located at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the warehouse is staffed from 0600-2200 hours with two shifts and extra crew always on hand to provide 24/7 service. “We have also increased inventories at our seven U.S. independent strategic service centers,” Baker added. “We have done this to stage our parts much closer to customers.”


In line with its customer-first service focus, Airbus Helicopters Inc.


is continually


improving its turnaround times for fulfilling OTL (operating time limit) parts orders for customers.


“Our fulfillment success for orders with 15 days or less lead time has reached 96.6 percent on average,” Emerson said. “In instances where the customer gives us more than 15 days lead time, we are fulfilling their orders as requested 98.5 percent of the time.” Again, these are current achievements; Airbus is always aiming for 100 percent.


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