Case Study: Avoiding Future Equipment Damage at GK Aerospace

The Challenge

GKN Aerospace is a world-renowned tier-one supplier of airframe and engine structures, electrical interconnection systems, landing gear, and other aftermarket services. While transporting a highly valuable jet engine from outside the facility for service an overhead door failed while raised. The heavy steel door fell and slammed into the jet engine destroying the component. Thankfully, no employees were injured as a result of the failing door however this preventable door failure led to a significant financial loss and facility downtime at GKN Aerospace. Protecting the valuable metals, craftsmanship, and technology of GKN Aerospace products and equipment is paramount to the company’s standing within the industry. To prevent this type of incident from occurring again and further impacting relationships with customers, GKN Aerospace made the call to Safe-T Support for help installing overhead door protection throughout their facility.

The Solution

To address the somewhat complex design and structure of the GKN Aerospace facility, Safe-T Support completed a comprehensive review of their needs, door locations, and door heights. After consideration, Safe-T Support determined that using a combination of available products should be implemented for GKN Aerospace to provide the optimal level of protection within the customer’s budget. Safe-T Support decided to install an assortment of Manual Safety Arms with LED Lights and Automatic Safety Arms with LED Lights throughout the GKN Aerospace facility. 

The Automatic Safety Arms with LED Lights were prioritized at high-traffic overhead doors that saw an increased number of openings during normal business operations. This included the failed door that damaged the jet engine and any others that saw increasingly expensive aerospace components frequently traverse underneath. The Automatic Safety Arms with LED Lights indicate with red or green lights when the Automatic Safety Arms are engaged and the door is properly secure. This provided the necessary level of comfort and security that employees prioritized after the initial incident.  

For the remaining facility doors at GKN Aerospace, Safe-T Support decided on Manual Safety Arms with LED Lights. While these do require some operator intervention to properly engage the overhead garage door stops, the LED Lights still indicate whether or not the arms are engaged. The experienced technicians from Safe-T Support installed these Manual Safety Arms on overhead doors that did not experience the safe level of foot traffic as other locations or did not have expensive aerospace components traveling underneath. 

The Results

The results Safe-T Support delivered to GKN Aerospace were both immediate and comprehensive. All overhead doors throughout the facility gained additional protection from falling and damaging equipment, products, and personnel. This then improved employee safety and trust in the facility. Not only that but the installation of Safe-T Support Automatic and Manual Safety Arms with LED Lights helped to improve customer relationships as they were now confident that their investments in GKN technology and equipment were protected throughout the initial fabrication and continued maintenance phases. 

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