The BOC helped Joe McPherson, Maintenance Manager at Pease International Tradeport Airport in Portsmouth, NN, plan for the maintenance of such an extensive facility instead of having to react to problems. For example, it helped him in the task of maintaining such an extensive number of runway lights by scheduling planned replacements. This not only reduced maintenance labor costs, but also improved the safety of the runways. More over, the concept of scheduled lighting replacements is now also implemented in the Portsmouth Development Authority (PDA) facilities. This allows Joe to more effectively employ his additional winter staff by assigning scheduled replacements and fixture cleaning during mild winter days when the seasonal staff is not involved in snow removal operations. Since implementing this planned replacement schedule, Joe notes that calls related to burned-out lamps have significantly decreases.

Joe also attributes to the BOC course a more comprehensive inspection schedule of the PDA’s transformers and emergency generators, which total 1.1 megawatts. The BOC course provided Joe with a breakdown of the facility into small components to better understand how the facility functions. One example that Joe noted was the relationship between a dirty air filter and the power consumption of the ventilation fan motor, the examination of which allowed the facility staff to determine the quality of the air filter by monitoring the amperage draw on the fan motor. This process proved significantly less complicated than measuring airflow to determine the status of the air filters. Joe notes that this gave him and his staff an increased level of sophistication in monitoring facility system’s without purchasing additional equipment and, more importantly, without having to train personnel on how to appropriately use the new equipment.

“The BOC course was the best training that I have attended in my career… I benefited not just from the facilities aspect but in all areas of maintenance work we perform… I have been able to take some thoughts and ideas from BOC and put then to use in other areas such as pavements, runway lighting and other structures. It gave me a renewed interest in the work that I’m doing, and I’ve tried to pass this on to my crew. It’s at the forefront of the individuals’ minds when they come back from the course, encouraging them to dig further into the specifics of their facilities. You develop a new relationship with your facilities.”