Preventing FOD, Reducing Injury & Increasing Efficiency

Working in the aerospace or aviation industry is a job like no other, particularly with the intense level of health and safety checks needed in the role as aircrafts require regular servicing and maintenance.

Injury and foreign object damage (FOD) can cause significant long-term damage to equipment, employees or passengers, as well as have a knock-on effect with delays and safety violations. Common foreign object hazards are often natural, including hail, ice or sandstorms.

Pre-flight rigorous safety and security checks are required to make an aircraft as safe as possible for travellers to embark, which of course requires the servicing team to ensure that no tools or foreign objects and debris are left in any part of the machinery after servicing.

In this article, we explain how tool control foam can be used to assist aerospace and aviation professionals with preventing foreign object damage and injury whilst increasing efficiency throughout.

What is Tool Control?

You’ve most likely heard the term ‘tool control’ being thrown around before, but many people are unaware of what the term really means.

Tool control is a method used to check that all tools are accounted for after being used for servicing or maintenance, making it much easier and convenient when carrying out a tool inspection or inventory. Not only does this mean that no tools are lost and therefore having your company needing to replace tools, but it also means that no tools have been left behind in areas that can incur detrimental damage. 

It’s worth understanding that tool control can sometimes be complicated if a multitude of tools are used. An easy way of ensuring tool control is through using tool control foam which has slots for each of your handy tools. This makes it easier for quick identification if any tools are missing and are used to locate and control tools or instruments in critical environments. 

Some tools are likely to be very expensive and sometimes fragile, meaning that the correct level of care is needed to protect them. Tool control foam also protects equipment by cushioning your tools to prevent them from becoming damaged in-transit or from major drops and falls.

You can have bespoke tool control foam created which surrounds and cushions your tools, which are then placed in an aerospace custom tool case for maximum protection.

Creating Tool Control Foam Cases

As a designer, manufacturer and supplier of protective presentation cases and foam packaging, PottertonPacs enlists tool control foam within many of our products. We create bespoke Duel Colour Foam and shadow boards for our clients looking to increase their work efficiency through tool control foam. 

We stock a great selection of aerospace custom tool cases to store your tools. With this, you have the choice of choosing an ABS case which provides hard-wearing and impact-resistant protection, Peli Cases or Peli Storm Cases which provide total waterproof, crushproof and dust-proof protection in virtually any situation, or we can provide flight cases if tools need to be taken overseas.

The bespoke foam we create helps our clients to locate and control their tools which can be used in our cases.

Duel Colour Foam

Our Duel Colour Foam is custom cut using computer controlled (CNC) routing or water-jet cutting. These methods allow the foam to be cut to the desired shape and customised to fit any selection of your aerospace tools.

CNC Routing is used to create precise cuts at various depths in the foam, with complex shapes easily being precision cut at a high speed for a consistent and exact fit. CNC routed foam inserts provide a high-quality and precise finish for your equipment case.

Water jet cutting is an alternative to CNC routing and has since become the fastest growing precision method for cutting materials. A water jet cut works by using an ultra-high pressure jet of clean water to cut the foam. 

Both methods of CNC routing and water-jet cutting are effective ways of cutting and shaping foam, which is why these methods are favoured over others.

Shadow Boards

Shadow boards are wall-mountable boards which are printed with the shape of your tools. To make it easier to identify if (and when) tools are missing, this foam can be printed with product codes, if needed.

As shadow boards are wall-mounted, they can be fitted with mounting points to then hold your tools or equipment in place.

With duel colour foam and shadow boards providing instant control over locating your tools or equipment, it’s not only beneficial to safety, but it also optimises working efficiency by preventing equipment losses and precious time spent searching for tools.

Prevent FOD, Reduce Injury and Increase Efficiency Today

With one of the broadest ranges of bespoke interior solutions on the market, PottertonPacs are confident we will be able to provide a tool control foam solution to suit your needs.

We pride ourselves on being expert designers, manufacturers and suppliers. We provide expertly made protective presentation cases, padded soft bags and other heavy duty transit equipment cases for a wide range of industries.

If you’d like to talk to our experienced team regarding foam conversion or other custom interior options that could offer a solution to your requirement, we would be happy to answer any of your questions or recommend a possible solution for your consideration. Get in touch with us or call us at 0116 276 7562 with any queries or concerns you may have. 

Get started on protecting your valuables today!