The shift from paper logs to tablets on heavy checks changed everything for me

I worked at a shop in Phoenix for 5 years, and we did a bunch of C-checks on 737s. Back in 2019, everyone still carried a clipboard with paper sign-offs and those flimsy carbon copies that would tear if you looked at them wrong. Then around 2020, management switched us to these ruggedized Samsung tablets with a digital sign-off system. At first I hated it, figuring it would just be more screen time and less actually working on the plane. But after about 3 months, I noticed my turn times dropped because I didn't have to walk back to the office to look up a torque value or find a log on a shelf. The real before-and-after for me came when we pulled off a heavy check 2 days ahead of schedule compared to the year before. Made me wonder if other guys here have seen the same kind of change at their shops, or if some places still swear by paper?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_martinez4416d ago

2 days ahead of schedule? That's insane for a heavy check. We're talking what, like a 20 day check or something? I remember C-checks always running at least a day or two late back when we had paper, and that was just the standard. The tablet thing sounds like a game changer for sure but I never would have guessed it would cut that much time off.

grant_cooper16d ago

Right, because nothing says "efficiency" like watching a grown man flip through a 3 inch binder while balancing on a creeper. The tablets are great and all but I'd argue the real time saver is not having 4 mechanics standing around waiting for someone to find page 47B. If they start getting the GSE on board with tablets maybe we could actually have a hangar that's not a museum of lost paperwork. Just saying, 2 days ahead with paper would have required a miracle and a case of Red Bull.