Case Studies
DRIVING CHANGE AT TSA WITH DATA
TechFlow’s Advanced Data Analysis helps TSA improve equipment maintenance across 300+ federal airports, keeping millions of travelers safe
Fast Facts
- Since 2018, TechFlow has serviced 300+ federal airports in the United States and its territories.
- TechFlow’s approach to date has already significantly lowered the cost of services and increased the overall reliability of equipment, making air travel safer and smoother.
- TechFlow’s employee-owners continue to proudly serve TSA, both through technical innovation and a mindset to stay Always Ahead.
The Problem
Created in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks that forever changed the travel industry, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is charged with protecting the nation’s transportation systems and ensuring freedom of movement for both people and commerce. As part of its mission, TSA must scan each of the millions of pieces of luggage and cargo that travel through the 300+ federal airports in the United States each year.
The agency had seen little innovation applied to the maintenance and running of this environment since beginning operations. In 2018, TSA identified a need to rethink and modernize its approach to equipment maintenance in order to better achieve its overall mission.
The Solution
TSA hired TechFlow in 2018 to overhaul the way it maintains equipment, with the goal to enhance the safety and efficiency of the country’s travel industry. Since 2018, TechFlow has worked closely with the TSA to deliver forward-leaning solutions that not only address critical and important issues with current system, but also enable TSA to stay ahead of important equipment maintenance and prevent components from ever breaking. Taking a cue from the aviation industry, which uses predictive technology to assess machinery so that parts can be replaced before an issue arises, TechFlow and TSA are currently implementing a number of innovations that will dramatically decrease failures of TSA equipment. TechFlow’s innovations allow TSA to continually assess how scanning equipment is operating in order to identify potential problems in the noise before they arise. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is applied and trained, the TechFlow solution will allow TSA to analyze usage factors holistically to provide recommendations on maintenance timing so that potential issues can be addressed before they turn into problems – shifting the model from reactive, to proactive, and then to predictive.
But this is not all that the TechFlow team is doing for TSA and the traveling public. At least once every month, a TechFlow field quality manager visits, surveys and scans equipment at every major airport the TSA protects. TechFlow’s 24/7 call center is always open, always ready, and Always Ahead. From JFK in New York City to Pago Pago in American Samoa, as soon as a piece of equipment is flagged as needing repair or replacement, a member of the TechFlow team shows up on-site next to the equipment immediately. All these processes are optimized by innovations TechFlow designed and applied to enhance the repair and maintenance procedures TSA had developed to ensure Americans can safely travel after 9/11.
The TechFlow/TSA partnership continues. TechFlow is constantly improving its solution, working to make it not only predictive but prescriptive, utilizing AI and machine learning to alert handlers to even the most minor repairs or adjustments – even down to a specific bolt. This technology, combined with the Always Ahead mindset of TechFlow’s employee-owned team, assures scanning equipment functions at the highest level so we can all fly more safely.
Impacts
- TechFlow achieved Authority to Operate (ATO) for its innovative IT system just four months after beginning its partnership with TSA – three to four times faster than the industry average.
- In the first year of its partnership with TSA, TechFlow decreased critical failures of the agency’s equipment in the field by more than 40%.
- The program has significantly improved airport operations, by reducing non-equipment related incidents such as power outages by 25%.