We have just concluded our latest series of "Inside Cirrus Events" that covered more than 30 cities over the past four months along the entire East coast of Canada and the U.S. Without question, coming out to the field from Duluth Headquarters and engaging Cirrus owners, prospects, and partners through these special events is very rewarding. The passion for Cirrus is clearly growing as we averaged nearly a 100 people at every stop!
At each event we have on hand our newest airplanes including the Vision Jet, members of the executive team, colleagues from Garmin and Bose and more. After a brief multi-media "insider's view" of Cirrus, we open the floor to questions and comments. Because the conversations at these events are so important, we want to share some of them with everyone. So over the coming weeks, we will post several of the more common topics we chatted with you about.
Feel free to contact us with additional questions and comments and be looking for information in early 2011 about the next "Inside Cirrus" Tour on the West Coast in the U.S. and in Latin America.
Happy New Year and Safe Flying from all of us at Cirrus Aircraft.
What is the current focus for customer service and support? Has anything changed?
Parts Support and Availability
Our highest priority for customer support in 2010 was to enhance many processes to significantly improve overall service and support. As we passed our first year of partnership with Aerospace Products International (API) and our Cirrus Parts by API program, it is important to recognize our transition to parts support from Memphis, Tennessee, and reiterate the continuous improvement that this partnership has provided to Cirrus Aircraft and our owners. While a transition of this magnitude presented challenges, we are very pleased with progress in the program along with the many assets it brings to support our aircraft owners. More specifically, we entered the year with larger than desired back orders and unacceptable lead times for parts out-of-stock. By mid-year, that backlog was reduced by 90% and new systems implemented to replenish orders. We closely track the handful of AOG orders that we receive every day and have been able to ship more than 50% of the non-stocked parts next day.
This outside distributor model supports Cirrus Aircraft long-term goals of improving support to our owners through increased inventory, forecasting tools, coordination with Teledyne Continental Motors and export market part depots. With parts inventory now at API, orders are filled at greater than 95% same day fill-rate for frequently ordered parts and an additional million dollars of inventory has been added since the inception of the Cirrus Parts by API program.
Cost of Ownership
As we refine parts support, a focus area for improvement is cost of ownership related to parts pricing, parts reliability and maintenance items defined by required inspection or replacement.
We are currently reviewing our internal pricing practices for the aftermarket parts business and how we support our owners after delivery. We have found that some overly simplistic assumptions and rules are being used for cost and pricing models. Our network cross-functional team has mapped out a future state that is being implemented over the coming months that will enhance cost of ownership.
At the same time we understand that a mission capable and reliable aircraft is critical and can play a significant role in the cost of ownership in terms of paying for additional parts and the added expense that can come with downtime. Our engineering department monitors component and system level reliability to understand where improvements can be introduced and is continually working on initiatives that measure and support the highest mean time between failure (MTBF) and system redundancy.
Additionally, we are reviewing Chapter 5 of the Aircraft Maintenance Manual for the manufacturers recommended intervals for overhaul and replacement of components, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, Annual, 100 Hour and Progressive Inspections. We believe it is important to look for opportunities to give additional service life and evaluate ways to reduce inspection intervals or time to service.
Expanded Assistance and Support
In 2010 we made a number of positive changes to improve customer assistance and support. The most visible of these is expanded support hours, increasing the former 8:00am to 5:00pm CDT business hours to 7:00am to 7:00pm CDT expanded hours. This change allows support through the business hours of the US time zones and offers enhanced support to our export markets for questions and troubleshooting assistance. Additionally, we now offer after-hours emergency or aircraft on ground (AOG) assistance directly to a Cirrus employee rather than an outside company as before. Our knowledgeable staff is now your on-call professional to support your needs.
Authorized Service Center Network
Today's network has 190 Cirrus Authorized Service Centers around the world committed to providing our owners with the best maintenance facilities in the business. Cirrus service centers must meet the top-most standards for service excellence, facilities and training. In 2010, we also introduced the Cirrus Platinum Partner Program for our authorized service centers. "Platinum" is an exclusive designation reserved for those partners that embody the highest specific service and support standards, ranging from inventory requirements to facilities. With the program now fully underway, Cirrus Aircraft will be using the framework to raise standards and expectations for the entire partner network.
Communication
To keep our service providers informed, we reach out through a variety of formats including weekly e-mail updates, bi-weekly service manager check-up calls, quarterly webinars, on-site visits and an annual Partner Symposium in Duluth. We have invested a lot of effort into communication with our service providers since they are the face of Cirrus in the field. In the coming year, we will maintain this system and we will add direct communication to our customers in formats like this - Cirrus Aircraft News.
Our field support group implemented numerous changes toward standardizing communication and service standards within our Authorized Service Center network. However, we acknowledge that we still have work to do to get that same level of outreach and communication that we have with the ASC's directly with and to our owners. I am pleased to say that in 2011, Cirrus owners can expect more frequent and diverse types of communication related to general service activities.
Aging Aircraft Support
As we look back on the first year of 10-year service requirements for the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS™), we are pleased to have 36 Cirrus Authorized Service Centers trained with the authority to support the growing need of aircraft requiring this service. As we prepared there were many items that went into the planning to support this project including: ATF licensing logistics, shipping and hazardous materials logistics, Cirrus training on repack process, and repack process validation. This year we begin our SR22 airframe 10-year service requirement and are continuing to monitor this program closely.
Training
Cirrus is the strongest advocate for ongoing training for pilots and our maintenance technicians. Within the service network, Cirrus has invested in new computer-based training materials, hands-on training courses and we recently added a recurring training requirement for Cirrus technicians. Owners and operators will see the difference by using the Cirrus Authorized Training Center network.
Finally, our export business has been steadily growing for several years. And while our service infrastructure is not as mature in every unique location around the world as it is in the U.S., we are making significant and expedited investments in those locations toward the larger goal of a single service and support standard globally. These include improving distance to Cirrus service, expert trained technicians and time to get parts as a few examples. Having joined Cirrus all the way back in 1990, I can say confidently how far we have come and how many strides we have made in our overall owner support capabilities.
Gary Poelma
Executive Director of Customer Support.
Joined Cirrus Aircraft 1990
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