Large sim shop tech assignment question

[andy]

Okay.... this may seem like an odd question to some of us, but I wanted to open it up for discussion:

For those who have experience in larger shops where there are various types of aircraft and multiple manufacturers of equipment, how did your shop typically split up the equipment for the most productive maintenance?

Has a larger shop of 20+ sims (with at least 10+ different designs and 5+ different aircraft types) ever been tried and successfully maintained on a single team concept? Two teams? Four?

This kind of falls into the "how many techs per sim" question as well, but as of right now the main concern is the history of the mega-team concept.

[Luke]

sadwavey: Nope..Nope...nope...everyone is 'suppose' to be responsible enough to work on every sim and system . If system knowledge is weak in a particular area help is phone call away .

[Woody]

I don't know, for EVERY person to know EVERYTHING on EVERY sim seems to be a bit off. I can see your point, but if you have a sim that is down and a crew waiting, wouldn't be better to have someone there who has extensive knowledge on that particular device then to have someone else who has to "make a call" to get it up and running again?

[Luke]

I don't know, for EVERY person to know EVERYTHING on EVERY sim seems to be a bit off. I can see your point, but if you have a sim that is down and a crew waiting, wouldn't be better to have someone there who has extensive knowledge on that particular device then to have someone else who has to "make a call" to get it up and running again?

I agree with what you are saying, but the way companies are 'cutting costs ' this is what we see. Somtimes the bean counters don't see past their noses to justify a qualified technician staff and the monies lost when a sim is down for lack of parts or just plain broken.

[SimGuru]

I have worked at a shop like that.

We had a sim maint. mngr. that was the best I ever worked for.

We used the USAF model.

We had one tech that was assigned to each sim as a "Crew Chief".

This guy was responsible for all aspects of his sim from cleanliness to maintenance. It made no difference the shift he was on - it was his job to keep track of his device and know it's status at all times. Great efforts were made to insure that the daily maintenance period was on this guys shift but that could not always be done.

Of course this meant that there must be a lot of written records and daily logs that would let other techs know what was going on. All of the other techs would chip in and help. We would flow into what was happening with the sim. He knew his sim very well and we acted as system tech assistants. For example one guy was great at visuals, one on comm systems, one on avioncis, etc. And at the same time we all were crew chiefs on our own sims calling on the other crew chiefs as needed to work our device.

The problem is one of teamwork. It takes a team effort to make this work. It takes a supervisor of sim maintence who is willing to be "hands off". In other words - not a micro manager. Someone who is willing to lay out the requirements and then await progress reports on device status. This person also must be able to chip in as a technician as required.

In today's corporate world where the corporate management mindset is the predominate view -----Well, good luck.

If you have a corporate manager as oposed to a team manager you are in for a nightmare. Good luck.

Every center I have talked to who has used the crew chief approach has worked out well. Every center I have talked to who has used the "corporate approach" has dealt with daily nightmares.

Unfortunately in the current world we deal with pilot types as managers. You know the mindset --- The airplane does not exist until my ass hits the seat.

If your supervisor is an old Navy or USAF line chief then you will be able to assign crews to keep the sims running. In other words you will live in a good world where the job is the best you ever had.

If you have a pilot/engineer/corporate manager (to read ass kisser trying to get promotion) then you will deal with a situation in which techs are thrown willy nilly at a problem until a solution is reached and then the tech will never be acknowledged for getting the job done while the supervisor takes credit and earns promotions while the sims spend more down time than needed and you will have a job that is not enjoyable and you will find it hard to get out of bed to go to work in the morning.

In short -- it all depends on your supervisor and how much corporate stays out of the way.

Good luck!

[The Pirate]

hey, bus of the air, does this sound familiar?????huh4:

[mbushaw]

Great post, SimGuru. The fact that it lines up with my beliefs has nothing to do with it!
I think that any manager who has not worked in the crew cheif environment would be scared to relegate that much control, while those that have know that it works. Once you see how well it can work it is hard to imagine running any size shop differently.

[fakeplanefixer]

I have worked in a shop with multiple manufactured simulators. The shop was broke up into teams. There was a Thales team, a CAE team, a Link Miles team, and a visual team.

When there are enough people this concept is not too much of a problem. Basically the shift rotation was set up so there was always a person from each team on shift and usually 2 people on mids from each team.

[Justarius]

I agree with SimGuru,

I have also worked in this type of shop and seen it work. I believe a few more details need to be addressed to get a full picture but it would take pages to outline. Better yet that would be the way to do it, set forth an outline with all the areas that need to be addressed (identify issue areas).

I. Sim shop
A. leadership
1. Shift leads
a. Days The guy that keeps in touch with the company to keep everyone up to date on what is going on at that level.
b. Swings The guy that checks on mods and implementation
c. Mids The guy that really makes it all work and come together.
B. crew chiefs (jack of all, Master of say 1) No body knows it all so help each take on an area to help others out with big problems.
1. Visual specialists
2. Host operations specialists
3. Hydrualic specialist
C. possibly test teams as needed for FAA and such. This gives a fresh look at what the crew chief has done over time. Checks and ballence
D. Supply
E. Repair shop lead and shift workers

Can anyone guess where I saw this in practice?
But it still had it's problems, mostly from wana be's that stayed long enough to show their bootyshak bootyshak

This also only works if the company can afford to fill all positions, work overload happens when not.

[bluesman]

I believe the shop will work OK when you can maintain/keep a senior technical staff around that has experience, have mid-level techs(not as senior) and experienced junior trainees who are working to be the next senior techs.
The senior techs would be familiar with all of the sims. <- NOTE the period!

Of course having an experienced supervisory staff is essential. They should be the senior of the senior.

A crack engineering team would be a plus.

Technical Management should come from experience in the simulation maintenance area with many, many years overall experience as well as leadership experience.

Oh, wow! I just woke up from a nap and was having a dream.

In reality...

The senior techs leave cause they're tired of the way things are going.

The mid level techs get promoted to senior.

And college interns get promoted to full time techs and leave when they get a better offer.

Even the best management and supervisory staff can't make this work efficiently.

Office politics also play a part in all of this. The "who you know" syndrom.

Solution:

Provide better incentives to keep senior technical staff.

End any manner of office politics or favoritism.

Quit hiring interns who are just looking to put a note on their resume.

Hire ONLY qualified techs.

Oh, I was dreaming again, forgive me.

[Justarius]

We see the same things going on and I totally agree. I started a post "who are we?" and this addressed many of these issues in just understanding the full spectrum of how things NEED to be to make all of our shops work.

BTW all I am still learning, and I am gathering a lot of information in our chats to take with me. With me meaning I have finished my BBM and working toward moving into projects or program management. Where I hope to make some improvements. We all know it will take time and one person can't do it all, but for me it's a start.

[Axeman]

We see the same things going on and I totally agree. I started a post "who are we?" and this addressed many of these issues in just understanding the full spectrum of how things NEED to be to make all of our shops work.

BTW all I am still learning, and I am gathering a lot of information in our chats to take with me. With me meaning I have finished my BBM and working toward moving into projects or program management. Where I hope to make some improvements. We all know it will take time and one person can't do it all, but for me it's a start.

That's very cool, Justarius. There are a few of us in management that do try to do what we can to make things better. The more the better, I think. biggthump

[mbushaw]

One thing I see being brought up in this type of discussion is the feeling that management should be the senior techs (or that senior techs should fill the management slots). This is just as stupid as having electronics techs filling Sim Tech 3 slots. Management, even first tier or front line management requires training and practice. It's not something you pick up by being a good technician. If a senior tech wants to be a manager, they should spend the time and take some management classes at the local community college (or university). I even go so far as to suggest shift leads should look into management training. This too is an idea well developed in the military, with management training starting when you get your NCO status and required for advancement.

[Luke]

There was alot of good info . Most companies I have seen promote their buddies or those that know absolutely nothing about the first thing of simulation or management period. So the company really does press ahead in these cases. Why not promote on merit and knowledge ?

[bluesman]

Mbushaw,

You are correct. But my point would be that you just can't have some BS/BM/EE/SOB from some company fill a management position because he has management experience.
The man/woman must come up from the "industry" ranks and have proven managerial and technical experience.

[Axeman]

Bluesman-

I totally agree with you. In all but the rarest cases, in order to be an effective manager of a sim shop, you must be up from the ranks.

The problem that I've seen in trying to locate and recruit such folks, though, is that most people who are good technically don't have very good people or administrative skills. I don't know why, but the tech/manager skillsets seem to be almost mutually exclusive in 95% of the people I see! And most good techs don't really WANT to get into management! In my experience, it is really rare to find somebody who has the ability to be successful at both.

What I have done over the years is to try to identify folks who I think could be good managers or supervisors, talk to them to see if they're interested, and then mentor them and try to develop their abilities. I've been blessed to grow some pretty decent managers and supervisors over the years. It's good for my growth, too, and adds to my job satisfaction.

Good managers are generally not found, they have to be grown. That's where most companies fall down, and they pay dearly for it even if they don't realize it.