Achieving World-Class Reliability in General Aviation's Supply Chain

Cessna Aircraft Company has traditionally been a pioneer in implementing reliability practices and has developed many processes and procedures to evaluate the reliability performance of components installed on its aircrafts. However, there is more that can be done to ensure that the reliability of the aircraft is not only meeting but also exceeding the customer expectations. This task is especially important and more difficult to achieve when realizing that most of the components installed by the aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are purchased components that are obtained from different suppliers. This paper presents a fresh look at what corporations in general need to do to establish a comprehensive reliability program that aims at achieving world-class reliability through focusing the reliability improvement efforts thorough-out the entire life cycle of each component's. This comprehensive program starts at the OEM level and drives the reliability focus not only to the first tier supplier level, but also to the sub-tier supplier level as well. This new approach looks at all aspects that can impact reliability of components during its entire life cycle, establishes a road map that can lead to achieving world-class reliability practices.