Kit Inventory

An airplane kit contains thousands of parts. No matter who the kit manufacturer is, it is vital that you take a thorough inventory of all the parts. Lancair gives you detailed Parts Requisition lists that can be used as a reference in taking inventory. Each part has a unique part number, and the part that are listed in the Parts Requisition lists are sorted by part number. My inventory went smoothly, and very few parts were missing. However, with the aid of 20/20 hindsight, I could do the job more quickly and efficiently if I had to do it over again by making only minor adjustments to the process.

Builder Note:

Inventory

I have actually received some e-mail questions from builders that have encountered certain difficulties completing the inventory process. So... I thought posting additional detail might help.

The Process I Used

For the main kit, there are three requisition lists. The first is the “Composite Base Kit” which lists the composite parts that should be in the kit. The second list is the “Base Kit” which itemizes everything else that is not in the hardware kit. The third is the “Hardware Base Kit”, which itemizes the hardware that come in two plastic bins that have drawers that are subdivided for the different nuts, bolts, washers, rivets, nut plates, etc. that are included in the kit. Then there are some sub-kits (most are options that you added in your order) that have their own requisition lists.

Initially all of the kit items should be kept in the boxes or bags they came in. If you mix the parts, inventory will become incredibly difficult. In some of my college Computer Science classes, they stressed the importance of using a “Divide and Conquer” strategy to problem solving. That strategy can be very helpful for the aircraft kit inventory process. With this in mind, I suggest treating each box of the kit as separate small inventory project. For example, one box at a time, I put a box or bag in front of me, with list in hand. I got out one part at a time. I found each part in the appropriate requisition list (they are sorted by part number), and then I checked it off with a color coded highlight marker (Green = Completely Present, Yellow = Partially Present and I noted the shortage quantity, Red = Completely Missing or Back Ordered). I then put the part in the inventoried pile. Once I was done with each box, I put the parts back into the box or bag, and marked the box or bag as Inventory Completed.

I kept the contents of all boxes stored in the original boxes through the entire inventory process until I had marked all of the boxes Inventory Completed. This made it easy to determine when everything had been inventoried. At that point, I was able to compile a list of items that were missing, parts that where short, and parts that were on back order.

Process Improvements

Maintaining the grouping created by the Lancair requisition lists, I would organize and hang the parts from the kits on the poles that I describe later on this page first. Then I would execute the inventory process using most of the methodology described above.

It seemed to me that taking inventory was the first step, and then putting all the parts in some form of organized storage system was the second step. Lancair gives you 30 days to report missing items, which is why I felt that inventory needed to come first. I now know that, given the way I chose to organize the parts, if I had done that first, the inventory process would have been completed in literally half the time.

The method I used to organize my parts was borrowed from an EAA friend of mine Royce McKinney, who is building an Questair Spirit. As pictured above, I used wood poles, like the ones you would find in a closet for hanging cloths. I suspended the poles from the ceiling in my garage. Royce used shower rings to hang binder clips from the poles. I used electrical zip ties to hang binder clips from the poles (for those that know me too well... “YES!!! Yet another use for electrical zip ties!!!!). Each clip suspended one small plastic bag worth of parts. Any part bag that was too big or heavy to hang in this manner was placed elsewhere. A 3”x5” card was hung in place with the part number written on the card with a note regarding where the part was stored. Most of the parts were placed in one of a few boxes. Each box was labeled “Box 1”, “Box 2”, “Box 3”, etc. The card for a part that was stored in Box 1 has “Box 1” written on it. Parts that were put in offsite storage have “Offsite Storage” written on the card representing that part.

When I need to find a part, I always go to the poles. If the part is not there, I get exact information where to go to find the part. Generally the construction manual gives the part number, so finding each part is quick and easy. There occasional situations where the manual does not give part number, so it helps that this method makes all parts easy to spot visually.

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