Global Aerospace Manufacturer Case Study

Project Background

This global aerospace company with a factory in Devon was previously having their LEV tests completed by a SW England based LEV company as well as by the aerospace insurance company (a stipulation of their insurance). The other LEV company was found both to be not achieving their service contract and also not managing to provide adequate LEV reports and solutions to ongoing problems.

In regards to the insurance company, at Vent-Tech we have found that a lot of ‘LEV testing’ performed by UKAS accredited companies purely for the insurance requirements fall short of a Thorough Examination and Test (TExT) as is required by the HSE (HSG258). This company was no exception.

Following a visit from a Vent-Tech representative in 2015, they agreed to us completing one LEV test, which follows the HSE format, so they could understand the difference between the tests undertaken.

The Result

The TExTs we undertook were both more detailed and importantly more actionable for the Aerospace company, which led to them signing an LEV testing contract. Within 6 months the Aerospace company had also awarded Vent-Tech a servicing contract for their LEV equipment, as we had demonstrated that our expertise was much greater than the previous incumbent, who were missing some issues with the machines that had actually led to them failing the TExTs.

Although the aerospace company still has to keep an insurance approved LEV tester performing their annual testing, they continue to employ Vent-Tech to perform their LEV testing as well as carry out the servicing.

This servicing contract required a representative from Vent-Tech onsite 2 days a week, and recently this has increased to an average of 3 days per week as the Aerospace company have asked us to both repair or modify existing LEV systems, as well as to undertake new LEV installation work for them.

The main benefit to this Aerospace company has been that we have been able to work together to produce a servicing schedule, enabling us to work around the company’s requirements – for example the fact that some machines cannot be turned off during production. Three years later, the trust established between the aerospace company and us means that our representative is able to go in day or night to undertake the work required, with the Aerospace company being confident that their equipment is being serviced and tested thoroughly and that any concerns are picked up and dealt with quickly before they become major issues.