5 min read
Maintaining a skilled workforce of maintenance technicians is becoming increasingly challenging in the aviation industry, especially for less-censored aircraft like the 737NG and CRJ. A recent poll conducted in a Veryon webinar revealed that 71% of participants identified the lack of experienced technicians as their biggest obstacle in troubleshooting and maintenance.
Simply Flying also reported a similar sentiment, highlighting the widespread industry trend of the escalating demand for skilled workers in aviation, including pilots, maintenance staff, and operational teams.
While the pandemic initially brought on a lot of challenges surrounding the aviation supply chain, it also impacted the availability of skilled labor. At the height of COVID-19, many in the industry either retired early or couldn't survive the downturn in the business when everything was shut down, creating a ripple effect across the industry. A shortage of experienced maintenance professionals due to pandemic-induced early retirements emerged, notably impacting troubleshooting abilities across the board.
As the demand for air travel continues to grow, so does the need for skilled technicians to keep fleets operational. While this shortage can affect efficiency and turnaround times and, ultimately, a company's bottom line, adopting modern technology empowers operators to thrive despite labor challenges.
Veryon, a leading provider of information services and software solutions for the aviation industry, offers a comprehensive suite of solutions to manage everything from maintenance tracking to guided troubleshooting and defect analysis —helping aircraft operators bridge labor shortages and address critical needs.
How does Veryon help bridge the technician gap?
Simplified, User-Friendly Diagnostics and Troubleshooting
Tools within Veryon Diagnostics are designed to be easy to use, even for technicians who are newer to the field. The goal is to reduce the learning curve so that they can get up to speed quickly without compromising on the quality of their work. The system walks users through each troubleshooting step with clear, straightforward instructions, making diagnosing and fixing issues faster and easier. It works for all aircraft types—commercial, military, business, and general aviation. Technicians can choose an aircraft and tail number, then dive into ATA chapters, subchapters, and specific messages tailored to the situation. This approach simplifies troubleshooting and keeps things flowing smoothly, allowing less experienced technicians to play an essential role in keeping fleets running.
Knowledge Sharing and Enhanced Collaboration
In environments where knowledge transfer is critical, Veryon offers collaboration features that allow technicians to work together seamlessly. Senior technicians can use Veryon Guided Troubleshooting to share insights and guide newer team members in real time, ensuring that the knowledge gap doesn't lead to operational downtime. With features like notes and assistance requests, they can share real-time progress and updates. Plus, tracking troubleshooting sessions means that if something gets interrupted, technicians can pick up exactly where they left off. Field experience input allows technicians to document and share solutions, including photos and references, helping build a valuable database that improves team efficiency. This approach fosters a collaborative environment where technicians can support each other, share knowledge, and tackle challenges together, ultimately making fleet maintenance more effective and efficient.
"By collecting and sharing best practices and field experiences, we provide an unprecedented level of diagnostic capability for operators."
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer
Airline
Advanced reporting and data insights
Veryon's advanced reporting tools provide operators with insights into maintenance trends, common defects, and recurring issues. By identifying these patterns, managers can proactively address problems, allocate resources, and predict maintenance needs. This proactive approach means that even with a shortage of experienced technicians, operators can maintain high standards and avoid unexpected disruptions. By analyzing over 765,000 monthly maintenance events, operators can spot failure patterns, track part performance, and plan maintenance more effectively. This data, combined with Veryon's AI-driven troubleshooting tools, boosts first-time fix rates and helps reduce costly downtime by prioritizing solutions based on past performance. Technicians also have easy access to the latest OEM documentation and service bulletins, making certain that every troubleshooting step is backed by the most current information available.
Mobile access for ground technicians
The mobile apps give technicians on the ground quick access to crucial information, no matter where they are. Built for non-routine maintenance situations like overnight checks, a mobile app offers the same functionality as the web version, providing real-time issue resolution. Technicians can research, troubleshoot, and document problems directly from the field, making sure the maintenance process continues smoothly, even if the aircraft is off-site. This flexibility is essential for keeping fleets running, especially when dealing with unexpected maintenance events.
Simply put, without experienced technicians, maintenance teams are struggling to keep up. With solutions like the AI-powered Guided Troubleshooting, a comprehensive fault isolation solution providing interactive and collaborative aircraft troubleshooting while capturing new field experience, teams can tackle these challenges head-on, allowing technicians to quickly diagnose issues by leveraging historical data and predicting the most likely causes.
How does Veryon optimize the troubleshooting process to keep fleets operational?
Veryon Guided Troubleshooting uses a smart diagnostic reasoning engine that continually optimizes the aviation troubleshooting process. It's packed with features designed to help operators and maintenance technicians stay on top of their game, reduce downtime, and meet operational demands—even when staffing is tight. Here's how:
Guided diagnostics
Step-by-step aviation troubleshooting walks technicians through each troubleshooting stage with dynamic questions that help pinpoint and solve issues, no matter the complexity. This structured process makes it easy for even less experienced technicians to follow along, reducing downtime and boosting first-time fix rates.
Just-in-time training
When technicians encounter unfamiliar equipment or symptoms, Veryon provides real-time access to custom documentation, videos, and visual guides. This allows them to troubleshoot effectively without hunting through multiple resources, giving them the knowledge they need, right when they need it.
Centralized collaboration
Teamwork is easy with platform messaging and session-sharing features. Technicians can connect and collaborate, no matter where they are, keeping everyone on the same page and making sure help is always within reach—whether or not experts are on-site.
Flexible authoring
Every fleet operates differently, and Veryon's system allows technicians to customize troubleshooting steps to fit the fleet's unique needs. It adapts over time, incorporating real-world experience and insights, so solutions stay relevant and effective.
Cross-platform access
No matter where technicians are—whether in the hangar, on the runway, or in the field—Veryon keeps them connected. The system works seamlessly across desktop, web, or mobile apps, online or offline, so maintenance never has to stop.
Fleet view
Managing a fleet's maintenance can be a challenge, but the fleet view feature gives technicians a real-time, centralized look at all active troubleshooting sessions. This helps to quickly prioritize and track urgent issues, making sure critical tasks are handled efficiently.
"With Veryon Guided Troubleshooting, we can diagnose equipment problems 2-4X faster than with other methods, with almost no variation in elapsed time between rookies and experts."
Field Service Technician
Major OEM
Watch our on-demand webinar
See how Veryon's AI-powered Guided Troubleshooting solution helps teams overcome the shortage of experienced technicians by helping them diagnose and fix aircraft faster and more accurately with the industry's most comprehensive dataset of maintenance events.
Conclusion
Despite the technician shortage, solutions like Veryon Guided Troubleshooting are helping operators maintain aircraft performance and optimize turnaround times. With our suite of solutions, operators can empower their teams, reduce reliance on highly experienced personnel, and equip every technician with the resources needed to succeed. As the industry adapts, Veryon is here to help close the technician gap and keep operations running smoothly. Contact our team today for a free demo!