Shadow Boards in Aviation Maintenance

Providing Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) with Foreign Object Damage (FOD) solutions.

Aviation maintenance is a time-sensitive process, especially in aircraft on ground (AOG) situations, and technicians need to complete work quickly and accurately. Utilizing 5S methodology and shadow boards enables streamlined maintenance operations, which gets aircrafts back to flying condition in a shorter amount of time, without compromising quality of work.

Understanding 5S
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One of the biggest competitive advantages that any repair or maintenance service can have, is eliminating waste. Waste refers to much more than wear-and-tear or replacement of damaged tools; it refers to all actions and resources that are not value-added or required. 5S organization and shadow boards for aviation maintenance can help MROs and FBOs decrease waste by reducing time spent on non-essential activities.

Proper tool organization has the greatest effect on wasted motion, therefore decreasing wasted time. Wasted motion refers to any action that does not directly contribute to job completion. While the amount of wasted time is highly variable due to differences in facility size, tooling procedures, and workforce, many MROs and FBOs find that searching for tools can add nearly an hour of time to aviation maintenance.

Shadow Board Effects on Time Reduction
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Unsure how much time searching for tools actually takes? Observe AMTs performing maintenance processes, and note how often progress was stalled to find the right tool. Shadow boards for aviation maintenance eliminate the time spent searching for tools by providing a designated space for tooling, with a system that is simple, sustainable, visual, and free of guesswork.

Shadow boards can also be conveniently placed on tool crib walls, in high-traffic areas on the hangar, or in each AMTs tool chest.

Sort, Set, Sustain
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Shadow boards are clearly aligned with 3 of the 5 key principles of the 5S methodology: sort, set, and sustain.

Sort: Shadow boards eliminate clutter by only including space for necessary tools and equipment, and leaving no room to place additional items.


Set: “A place for everything and everything in its place” is the motto. By “setting” a place for tools and equipment, each item has a designated location, eliminating the need for AMTs to waste time searching.


Sustain: Shadow boards create an easily sustainable system and process for AMTs to continue using.

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