Aircraft IT MRO V9.1, March-April 2020

CASE STUDY: COPA AIRLINES • JAL ENGINEERING • FL TECHNICS • AMP • SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE: CLOUDCARDS

MARCH-APRIL 2020 • V9.1

Zero delays and 100% on time operations are the goals at JAL

Mobile and paperless M&E to achieve the ultimate in reliability

Copa Airlines harnesses the power of M&E mobility A successful transition to the Cloud

Virtual Reality training at FL Technics Mechanics readied for the future

NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY UPDATES • VENDOR JOB CARDS • HOW I SEE IT • MRO SOFTWARE DIRECTORY

AMOS. AGAIN.

Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo take off with AMOS, the world-class M&E software solution.

Both carriers will implement AMOS including AMOSmobile, enabling paperless maintenance operations from the beginning.

The close cooperation of the Lufthansa group members will be further promoted by AMOScentral, which enables the exchange of data between AMOS instances while nevertheless allowing each group member to keep control over their individual AMOS environments. “AMOS, which is already used as a standard tool by many LH group airlines, will also help us at Lufthansa to make our Technical Fleet Management processes even more transparent and, above all, even more efficient. Among other things, we are relying on the already very broad AMOS know-how of our sister companies. We chose AMOS because of its 30 years of success in the industry, but also because of its continuous product innovations, which help us to establish state-of-the-art processes in Technical Fleet Management at Lufthansa as well.� says CEO Lufthansa German Airlines Hub Frankfurt

SWISS-AS.COM

AIRCRAFT IT MRO: WELCOME

COMMENT Aircraft IT MRO: business needs come first, technology is the tool to meet those needs

AIRCRAFT IT MRO Publisher/Editor Ed Haskey E-mail: ed.haskey@aircraftit.com Telephone: +44 1273 454 235 Website: www.aircraftIT.com Chief Operating Officer Scott Leslie E-mail: scott.leslie@aircraftit.com Copy Editor/Contributor John Hancock E-mail: john@aircraftit.com Magazine Production Dean Cook E-mail: deancook@magazineproduction.com AircraftIT MRO is published bi-monthly and is an affiliate of Aircraft Commerce and part of the AviationNextGen Ltd group. The entire contents within this publication © Copyright 2020 AviationNextGen Ltd an independent publication and not affiliated with any of the IT vendors or suppliers. Content may not be reproduced without the strict written agreement of the publisher.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of their companies or of the publisher. The publisher does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.

T

here is no doubt that the technology available to us today is capable beyond what, even ten years ago, most would have thought possible. We are fortunate to be living and working through the fourth Industrial Revolution whose capability and potential are nowhere near fully realized yet. Digital processes, data and analytics are the drivers of this revolution and, given the huge opportunities that they have made available; it is all too easy to think that they and their accompanying technologies are the answer in and of themselves. But they’re not; they are just the latest tools with which, in our case, aircraft engineers can do their job. There still has to be a business purpose to which they are applied and there still need to be well trained and skilled engineers to use the tools.

In this issue, we have articles that address both of those realities and more: celebrating the quality and capability of technology but also tying its application firmly to a business case. Our cover story tells how JAL adopted a mobile and paperless M&E solution as a powerful tool with which they could compete with the world’s most reliable transport system. Read how JAL set their engineers the task of zero engineering related delays and how those engineers met the challenge. The case study from Copa Airlines shows how a modern, mobile and cloud-based MRO solution will provide a sound foundation on which to realize their ambitious future growth plans. Considering those future skills

requirements, FL Technics’ article looks at making use of virtual reality technology to enable engineers to train on a range of situations without having to wait until a particular maintenance or repair scenario comes into the MRO hangar. And looking at another key MRO business requirement, supply chain and ensuring that the right parts are in the right place at the right time, Airline MRO Parts (AMP) shares the story of their ambitious move to an integrated solution for a business with distinct sourcing channels and a global customer base who depend on AMP’s reliability to supply. ‘Solutions in Practice’ this issue is about how Titan Airways has used a cloud-based data-driven asset management solution to improve the induction, management and disposal of aircraft.

Allan Bachan’s column ‘How I see IT’ looks at two technologies which themselves will make the application of technology more relevant. Digital threads and digital twins will enable users to better understand the activities, processes and assets to which they are applying digital technology and data driven solutions. Plus, we have a great Vendor Job Card from ATP CaseBank.

As always, we also have our regular round-up of news and technology developments with regular features such as ‘MRO Software Directory’. Aircraft IT MRO: the latest technology and using it to improve the delivery of business purposes.

Ed Haskey

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 3

A EROSPACE & D EFENSE W EB E NABLED B UILDING B LOCKS

Technical Data Management

Maintenance Planification

Fleet Management

Maintenance Execution And many more...

Human Resources

Logistics

Mobility

Reporting

AIRCRAFT IT MRO: V9.1

CONTENTS 06 Latest News and Technology updates Keeping up with what is happening in a complex and evolving business world is a challenge. At Aircraft IT MRO or here in the Aircraft IT MRO e-journal the latest developments are sorted and ready to read.

28 CASE STUDY: Moving to a Cloud-based M&E System at Copa Airlines Pablo Rousselin Avendaño, MRO Director, Copa Airlines How Copa Airlines made a successful transition to a modern, mobile Cloud-enabled Maintenance & Engineering platform, with plans afoot to further improve their MRO best practices harnessing the power of latest advances in e-signatures and supply chain optimization.

34 CASE STUDY: The journey to perfection at JAL Engineering Yuki Nakai, Director IT Planning, JAL Engineering JAL Engineering walks us through their Mobile and Paperless M&E Solutions project, focusing on the need for change, on time performance goals, the approach, achieving Regulatory approval and the benefits gained.

42 VENDOR JOB CARD: ATP CaseBank In the latest of our Q&A pieces, Dr Mike Profit, Chief Product Officer, ATP CaseBank, completes his ‘Job Card’ for Aircraft IT.

44 CASE STUDY: FL Technics steps into the future of training

52 SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE: Titan Airways uses CARDS® cloud based aircraft transition solution to manage aircraft sales, returns and purchases Dave Bunker, Engineering Director, Titan Airways The value in an aircraft can be best realized with proper records; so, Titan Airways has adopted the CARDS® system from Cloudcards to ensure it always knows and can communicate the status of its aircraft.

56 CASE STUDY: Achieving Zero Inventory with HyperConnected and Automated Supply Chain David Rieth, Director Business Development, Airline MRO Parts (AMP) and Manoj Singh, Sr VP & Head of Aviation in Americas, Ramco Aviation An integrated solution across various product lines with a strong support platform and continued adaptability are the key components of a system needed to support AMP’s rapidly-growing and evolving business model.

62 COLUMN: How I see IT Digital threads and twins in MRO Allan Bachan, VP, Managing Director, MRO Operations, ICF While aircraft generate much more data these days, that data will be most useful if we standardize the tools that we can apply to the data. Digital twins and digital threads take us part of the way there.

66 MRO Software directory A detailed look at the world’s leading MRO IT systems.

Ramunas Paškevičius, Head of IT and Innovations, FL Technics With the demand for professional mechanics in aviation constantly growing, FL Technics is implementing training VR modules to make the training process shorter and faster with no loss in quality.

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 5

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Aircraft IT welcomes three new vendors to the expert panel It’s always a pleasure to welcome new vendors to the Aircraft IT panel of experts. It is our close connection with aviation IT vendors that ensures users and readers benefit from the best and most up-to-date information available in the sector.

Welcoming eTT Aviation, Yonder and TrustFlight, Aircraft IT COO, Scott Leslie said: “Every one of the vendors who support Aircraft IT brings tremendous value to the website and eJournals. Their span of expertise not only ensures that every step in the aircraft operations process is well served with a range of IT solutions but also that users and readers of Aircraft IT can keep right up to speed simply by using the website and reading the eJournals. eTT Aviation, Yonder and TrustFlight will bring their own expertise to further enhance our service that is so appreciated by professionals in the sector.”

eTT Aviation

The Management Information System for Aviation (MISA), is a fully integrated, and expertly supported product that provides extensive tools for an aviation company to manage all aspects of their business, including accounting, maintenance, inventory management, purchasing, flight operations, employee training, human resources, payroll, labor collection, government contracting, and flight school management.

It is a common practice for aviation companies to use multiple applications to manage their operations.

Often, such applications have limited interfaces necessitating duplicate data entry – a recipe for inducing errors and decreasing efficiency. And even when interfaces exist, they can be difficult to manage and require resources to build, maintain, and support them.

MISA provides the solution for these issues by standardizing, streamlining, and integrating business processes across all the various departments and

functional areas within the company; and this integration improves the bottom line while providing employees a user-friendly and consistent application experience across the whole organization and access to real-time, comprehensive, and relevant information from a single system rather than from disparate sources.

MISA boasts impressive customer loyalty evidence from a number of aviation companies who have used MISA as their ERP system for more than two decades.

Yonder

Yonder helps users find relevant information by providing shorter documents and manageable revisions. A workflowbased approval tool allows different users to collaborate without being physically in the same location. This workflow is configured to customer specific needs and can include regulatory authorities and external stakeholders.

Yonder has over 15 years of experience with electronic documentation in aviation that business can leverage to customers’ benefit. The team has a diverse background ranging from a former EFB administrator for a large international airline to a long-haul captain knowing from his own experience what crews need.

Yonder software adds meta-information to the content to allow re-using of the same information in different contexts (filtering, versions, revisions, etc.).

Differentiating software features include: • Dynamic content filtering • Revision task lists • Workflow-based approval tool Services consist of converting lengthy manuals into small information units (modules) and keeping these modules up-to-date. Differentiating service features include: AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 6

• Yonder does the hard work for you: converting lengthy manuals into modules

• Yonder can keep your information up-to-date,

you stay in control through workflow-based approval • Yonder delivers precision work, proudly made in Switzerland

TrustFlight

From inception, TrustFlight has been ingrained in the aviation industry. Founded by two commercial pilots with a proven track record at the intersection of technology and business, the business has grown considerably and with stability, having recently celebrated the opening of a fourth office.

Throughout, TrustFlight gained an incredible team with backgrounds spanning different areas of aviation and technology, ensuring a solid presence in the industry. Now offering a range of products and services within the sector, TrustFlight helps to remove costly paperwork and associated errors, preserve aircraft value, and increase efficiency and safety in aircraft operations.

Five values shape TrustFlight’s culture, guide the business’s work and the way it grows.

Integrity. Transparent and open: offering trust to partners and assuming it from them.

Responsibility. Owning the work they do and taking responsibility for it: striving to make it the best possible.

Leadership. Leading from within: providing support for the team to do incredible work and drive the industry forwards.

Innovation. Products are crafted for the future needs of the industry, going beyond what exists in the market.

Excellence. Every one of TrustFlight’s values contributes towards the excellence in their products.

Products • DigiMAINT • DigiDOC • WebPMI Integration Solutions • DigiPLAN • DigiREPORTS Platforms • VM/Java • WebServer/Browser • MS Server/ SQL • Linux/ Oracle • iSeries/ DB2

Offering DigiPLAN and DigiREPORTS – common Logistics, Analytics and B2B tools for DigiMAINT and WebPMI MRO systems.

Our DigiDOC CMS is agnostic of MRO with proven integration with any competitors’ system, in addition to our own. iSPEC2200, S1000D, DITA, SPEC2000, SPEC2300

www.aerosoftsys.com

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

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Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo take off with AMOS In mid-November 2019, Swiss-AS officially announced that Lufthansa German Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo are joining the AMOS community with a scheduled first Go-Live in autumn 2020 followed by two later cut-overs in 2021. The initiative will see both airlines and their entire fleets adopting AMOS, which is at the forefront of the Maintenance and Engineering software market.

Lufthansa German Airlines and Lufthansa will both benefit from the vast experience gathered by the Lufthansa group member airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa CityLine, with some of them using AMOS for almost 20 years.

After completing the in-depth Definition Phase including AMOS business process/interface workshops and the specification of comprehensive business requirements, the Lufthansa Executive Board has now approved the start of the project’s Implementation Phase. A highly skilled and dedicated team of Lufthansa German Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo aviation experts supported by Swiss-AS Consultants and Project Managers will guide the flag carrier through this next project phase. Both carriers will implement AMOS including AMOSmobile for Line Maintenance and CAMO Operations, based on best practice processes already implemented within the group.

“With Lufthansa German Airlines we welcome a customer to our community which has decades of aviation experience and a strong focus on driving innovation for the entire group and industry”, said Ronald Schaeuffele, CEO of Swiss Aviation Software. From the moment of cut-over, the line maintenance operations will be fully paperless by using AMOSmobile. This will, in part, be realised by interfacing AMOS with Lufthansa’s Electronic Techlog Solution ensuring the status of the entire passenger fleet is live and fully accessible throughout AMOS at all times.

“AMOS, which is already used as a standard tool by many LH group airlines, will also help us at Lufthansa to make our Technical Fleet Management processes even more transparent and, above all, even more efficient. Among other things, we are relying on the already very broad AMOS know-how of our sister companies. We chose AMOS because of its 30 years of success in the industry, but also because of its continuous product innovations, which help us to establish state-of-the-art processes in Technical Fleet Management at Lufthansa as well.” said Klaus Froese, CEO Lufthansa German Airlines Hub Frankfurt.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 8

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NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Vistara takes off with AMOS In late November 2019, Swiss-AS was pleased to announce that Vistara, a joint venture of TATA and Singapore Airlines, has selected AMOS as their end-to-end MRO software solution for its entire fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The airline recently inaugurated its international operations and aims to expand into geographies across the world as it inducts new aircraft from Airbus as well as Boeing. The state-of-the-art AMOS software solution supports their ambitious growth plans.

Vistara’s newly phased-in Boeing B737-800NG aircraft will be directly managed in AMOS. This project has a very special, non-standard set-up in order to efficiently support the airline’s requirements. The implementation will be split into two main phases: Phase one will focus on the B737 fleet into AMOS with a planned go-live as early as autumn 2019. The next phase foresees the transfer of the complete fleet including Airbus and future Boeing 787 Dreamliner into AMOS.

In-house AMOS experience expediting the implementation process

Ronald Schaeuffele, CEO of Swiss-AS, said, ”Vistara is a strategic, high-profile Rusada HP Horizontal 220x68_Rusada HP Horiz 220x68 01/04/2019 17:24 Page 1

customer for us and we are honored to welcome them to the AMOS Community.

India is a very important market for Swiss-AS ever since the first Indian customer signed for AMOS in the nineties and now, with Vistara on board, we further increase our footprint in India.”

Ravinder Pal Singh, Chief Information & Innovation Officer, Vistara, said, ”We have always embraced and invested in meaningful technologies that enable our growth plan and enhance differentiation for Vistara. We’re committed to our approach of digitalization of processes and lead innovation in Indian aviation.

Our investment in AMOS will help us gain insights into our fleet’s engineering health, enhance productivity of resources and aircraft with greater mobility and information on fingertips. Overall, it will also be a key platform for continuous innovation in maintenance and overhaul of aircraft and its supply-chain.”

Sisira Kanta Dash, Senior Vice President — Engineering, Vistara, said, “AMOS will integrate our maintenance processes and provide us with the required commercial and operational flexibility across the fleet. We want to create a futurist engineering division of Vistara and this is one of the key steps in that direction.”

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 10

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Solenta Aviation now live with Rusada’s ENVISION

In late November 2019, Solenta Aviation, the South African aviation solution provider and ACMI specialist, went live with Rusada’s maintenance management software ENVISION. Solenta Aviation, founded in 2000, provides customised passenger and cargo solutions, aircraft charter and ACMI services to multiple industries. The airline operates and manages a fleet of almost 40 aircraft, including Beechcraft 1900’s,

ATR’s and Embraer ERJ’s, located at sites across the continent.

In addition to this Solenta has a sizeable MRO operation, conducting both base and line maintenance from its facilities across the globe and recently adding passenger-to-freight conversions to its growing list of capabilities.

Solenta has signed up for seven of ENVISION’s modules, which will ultimately be deployed across their network of 20 sites across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Central America and Europe.

Paul Hurst, Managing Director at Solenta Aviation said: “We are a complex organization, operating across multiple locations, so it was critical to have an experienced and knowledgeable partner such as Rusada engaged with this project. We can now roll-out ENVISION to the rest of our network knowing we are in safe hands. We are thrilled to finally get our hands on this versatile system.”

Julian Stourton, CEO at Rusada said: “Deploying seven modules across 20 sites is no mean feat. I am pleased to say the first stage of this implementation has been an outstanding success. Solenta needed a system that could successfully manage their diverse operations and combine information from numerous locations. As of today, ENVISION is that system.”

INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 11

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Aircamo selects OASES as their CAMO platform Aircamo Aviation Ltd (Aircamo) announced in mid-November 2019 that it has selected OASES to support its established CAMO and technical management operations.

Aircamo is an aircraft asset management and airworthiness company, providing transition and heavy maintenance support to airlines, leasing companies and operators worldwide. Based out of Manchester Airport Business Park (UK), they specialise in Private/Commercial Aircraft and Engine Technical and CAMO Management advisory services.

Aircamo’s technical approvals include: EASA Part M — UK.MG.0697, Guernsey 2-REG.39.34, Bermuda BDA/CAMO/166, and Cayman Islands 081-CAYCAMO-2019.

The Aircamo team consists of very experienced senior technical managers, many of whom previously worked with a variety of large airlines,

MRO’s and leasing companies. Aircamo has chosen the Core, Airworthiness and Planning OASES modules, which will be implemented in Commsoft’s Private Cloud.

Discussions are well underway between Commsoft and the Aircamo team, where data migration consultancy and support will be key components of the project plan. Due to uncertainty within the market Aircamo is providing ‘Shadow CAMO’ services for several lessors who want to react quickly in the event of a default or collapse.

Nick Godwin, Commsoft’s Managing Director, said: “The Aircamo contract is Commsoft’s sixth OASES contract in 2019. We have extensive capabilities in the areas of data migration, training and interfacing to external systems, and are confident that OASES will add considerable value to Aircamo’s operations.”

INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 12

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

FLYdocs Appoints CTIO to lead innovation efforts Leading aviation software company, FLYdocs, was pleased to announce at the start of December 2019 that it has taken another step forward in its investment towards a digital technology-enabled future with the appointment of Carl Davis as the company’s new Chief Technology Innovation Officer (CTIO).

Carl brings more than 10 years of experience as a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and was recently nominated for the Digital Innovation Award 2019 by The Federation of Small Businesses. His previous roles include the digitisation of leasing and lending platforms, delivering data-driven process automation and upscaling analytics teams. In addition to that he also ran the risk and fraud programme at Santander Bank, was CTO of Bibby Financial Services (Verus360 division) and CTO for analytics company DC-Storm (a Rakuten

acquisition).

Speaking on Carl’s appointment to the business, FLYdocs CEO Andre Fischer said: “Earlier in the year, we committed to a new strategy which requires us to make smart investments to ensure that we profitably grow market share, enhance our customers’ experience and, ultimately, deliver on our mission to be the Company of Choice. Technology and innovation are vital enablers for this journey and, as we are a software company, Carl is the perfect candidate to further strengthen our leadership team and lead the change across these functional areas.

With his impressive resume and his personality, we are certain he will contribute strategic acumen, relevant and unique experience, and a proven ability to execute in an agile and lean manner. Everyone at FLYdocs is excited and eager to work alongside him as we propel the company forward.”

Commenting on his appointment, Carl added: “I am excited to be joining FLYdocs at such a pivotal time. They are taking the aviation industry to a new level and I am impressed by how they have sealed their position as a strong, global company. This is a great opportunity for me to lead the transformation journey by building new digital technology capabilities and solutions to further accelerate FLYdocs’ growth.”

Carl is also a regular technology panellist and hosts data science meetups at Twitter’s London HQ as well as being a guest tech writer for Asset Finance International, writing on technological innovation and data automation.

He holds a first-class master’s degree in Information Systems from Keele University and an Executive MBA degree from the University of Cambridge.

INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 13

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Aero K to adopt Rusada’s ENVISION

INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

Next Generation Base Planning

In early December 2019, South Korean start-up, Aero K Airlines, signed up for Rusada’s MRO and Flight Operations software, ENVISION. Aero K is scheduled to commence passenger flights as of March 2020 serving destinations across Asia, including China, Japan and Vietnam.

The airline will use ENVISION to manage the airworthiness of their fleet and line maintenance activities as well as their human resources, finance & accounting and more, adopting seven modules in total. Rusada will begin the implementation project immediately so that everything is in place for Aero K’s launch next year.

Mike Byungho Kang, CEO at Aero K said: “Operating under a low-cost model means we require a solution that provides a comprehensive level of functionality and an easy-to-use interface whilst remaining cost-effective. We were very impressed with ENVISION’s capabilities and the knowledge of the Rusada team. Their extensive experience with start-up airlines will be a great asset to us.”

Julian Stourton, CEO at Rusada said: “I am delighted to be welcoming yet another exciting operator to the Rusada family. This agreement is further testament to the versatility and scalability of ENVISION, as Aero K looks to grow from zero to ten aircraft in just three years. We will gladly provide them with all the help and support they need to ensure a successful launch.”

Aircraft Fleet View now available as a Cloud Web App Since switching to Aerros, our customers have:

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As announced in early December 2019, Aircraft Fleet View from CrossConsense is now availabl;e as a cloud solution.

What does that mean for you as a customer? It gives us the opportunity to offer the Aircraft Fleet View App without having to build up a hardware environment and so the preparatory process to get the App running with your data can be shortened.

Why should you use CrossConsense’s Aircraft Fleet View? This progressive Web App gives you an always up-to-date view on your airline’s fleet status on your mobile phone, e.g. it indicates AOGs, delays and other important information. It provides the right level of detail to be useful but not crowded with information. The Aircraft Fleet View is meant e.g. for the management of an airline as well as for pilots who want to get a general overview over the status of their fleet or their aircraft. But it could also be used by mechanics who want to have a quick glance first but then also want to have a detailed look at the problem in AMOS to which Aircraft Fleet View is linked.

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 14

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Virgin Atlantic announces eMRO by Trax as its new maintenance management system In early December 2019, Virgin Atlantic’s Engineering & Maintenance team announced eMRO by TRAX as their selected IT system for future maintenance management. This is a milestone moment for the Engineering & Maintenance team who have made the multimillion-pound investment to provide a platform for simpler, smarter maintenance. This will support the airline’s travel experience for its customers, ensuring aircraft are available on time through ground time optimization.

Phil Wardlaw, VP Engineering & Maintenance commented, “The selection of eMRO by TRAX forms part of our Engineering Transformation Programme which will see us relaunch our Engineering & Maintenance digital capabilities. Transitioning to eMRO offers a huge range of benefits; a simple, automated, accessible, paperless

platform centered around control and compliance of our fleet maintenance. It will be a great new tool for our people and will ensure that the ground time of our aircraft will be better optimized and even more efficient. Ultimately this will lead to reduced disruption for our customers and will support our ambitions to become the most loved travel company.”

Jose Almeida, President & CEO stated, “It is with great pleasure that TRAX partners with Virgin Atlantic to mobilize their maintenance operation.

TRAX plans to aid Virgin Atlantic with its stellar service by offering the right tools for their paperless processes and real-time data that will enhance the efficiency of the maintenance operation.”

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 15

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Exclusive interface connecting AMOS and FLYdocs

Aero-Webb® officially certified by Airbus Helicopters

FLYdocs and Swiss-AS have been working collaboratively to develop a unique customised FLYdocs API feed interface in AMOS exclusively for all FLYdocs customers. The interface, announced in mid-December 2019, is a further commitment to supporting the digital transformation journey of the two vendors’ common clients by empowering users with the ability to seamlessly feed their maintenance data from AMOS into FLYdocs® using a flick switch functionality. After seeking expert advice with a number of clients, the companies identified a variety of use-cases and scenarios of the data feed capabilities between AMOS and FLYdocs®. The consultation also highlighted the complexity involved in exporting and importing the data required to suit client requirements and processes. The feedback received has helped FLYdocs and Swiss-AS to identify several product improvements which they are actively working on and are confident that these improvements can be realized in the shortest possible time frame so that customers can further enjoy and take advantage of the benefits this close integration brings.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

From 28th to 30th January 2020 in Anaheim, California, the Helicopter Association International (HAI) organised the last Heli-Expo. Airbus Helicopters took the opportunity to make official the entry of the software Aero-Webb® into their Maintenance Information System (MIS) labeling program.

This partnership now allows 2MoRO’s customers using Aero-Webb® to be connected to theAirbus Helicopters database. All flight and maintenance data will be inspected by Airbus analysis tools, and will allow, for example, users to benefit from their predictive maintenance tools.

“As a European company, being recognized by Airbus and its “connected helicopters ecosystem” is very important and meaningful for us.” said Pierre Dagois, CEO of 2MoRO To ensure that their software complies with Airbus Helicopters’ demanding specifications, 2MoRO’s teams have done a lot of work upstream. The business would like to take this opportunity to thank them for this, as well as the Airbus contacts who guided them in obtaining this certification.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 16

13/02/2020 17:20

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

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SUBSCRIBE HERE FOR FREE… AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 17

T:181 mm

S:171 mm

In mid-December 2019, one of the largest third party MRO providers, and a joint venture company among CNAC(G), UAL, CAL & Gama Aviation, China Aircraft Services Limited announced that it has signed an agreement with the global aviation software provider Ramco Systems to implement its Aviation Suite V5.8 for end-to-end base and line maintenance operations.

Through this collaboration, Ramco will provide its integrated Aviation Suite with modules for Maintenance & Engineering, MRO Contracts, Supply Chain, and Finance to help CASL manage their end-to-end line and base maintenance, ground handling and cabin services.

The mobile-enabled application will also offer real-time processing for work order, thereby reducing the overall turnaround time. Hosted on cloud with mobility and optimization features, the solution will replace disintegrated systems across various departments and seamlessly interface with other third-party airline, flight following and HR systems.

Commenting on the association, Andreas Meisel, Chief Executive Officer, China Aircraft Services Limited (CASL), said, “At CASL, we have always aimed to provide a higher level of aircraft maintenance services which in turn demands effective utilization of resources and manpower. By leveraging the power of Ramco Aviation, we are confident that we will now be able to optimize our resources and automate business processes, thereby reducing overhead costs.

Ramco’s intelligent platform with in-built analytics will also enable us with real-time decision making. We look forward to our digital journey with Ramco.”

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

B:142.5 mm

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

2019: FLYdocs Year in Review “This year was full of growth across every facet of our organisation.” Was how FLYdocs summed up 2019 in their late December announcement. Before diving into the excitement of 2020, they took a look back on all they had accomplished together in 2019.

“It has been a successful year for us in our bid to become the Supplier of Choice. We acquired new clients across the globe, continued to enhance our product offering with the launch of the Asset Management Platform and ongoing development of an MRO digital solution. The visibility and strength of our brand is also evident in our growing online community.

“That’s not all, FLYdocs continued to strengthen its relationship with leading industry partners, particularly with technology partnerships. In 2019, we began empowering users with the ability to seamlessly feed their maintenance data from AMOS

into FLYdocs® through an exclusive interface developed alongside Swiss-AS. Everything we do is aligned to the best interests of the industry and that is also why we have maintained our partnerships with the aviation industry bodies IATA and the ATA.” “All the success of 2019 has been underpinned by our great teams globally. We underwent a process of organisational transformation that involved adopting Peakon as an employee engagement platform to help us better identify employee needs and areas of improvement. Our team has grown tremendously this year as we hired new expertise but also improved our internal job market to drive forward professional development opportunities for our existing teams. We introduced the OKR process too which will give full transparency about FLYdocs objectives and how every individual employee contributes to the success of the organisation.

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Create, Manage and prove prove employee andfor operational Collect and compliance employees & compliance in one integrated, end-to-end manuals in one integrated, end-to-end platform. platform.

info@comply365.com AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 18

“Thank you to all our customers, partners and employees for making 2019 a terrific year! Let’s make next year even better — we are very excited to enter a new decade with an established strategy that will drive us to become the Customer of Choice across a three-pronged approach as a Supplier, Employer and Industry Partner of Choice.”

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Leading Aviation MRO, HAECO extends partnership with Ramco In late December 2019, Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO Group), a leading Aviation Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) specialist, announced it will continue to work with Ramco Systems to bring the global software specialist’s advanced Aviation solutions to four more business units in Hong Kong, Xiamen and Jinjiang.

HAECO’s partnership with Ramco began last year when HAECO ITM Ltd, a HAECO Group company which provides Inventory Technical Management solutions, adopted Ramco’s Aviation Suite. The proprietary platform is equipped with advanced supply chain planning and

optimisation, covering Customer Contract Management, Supply Chain Management, Inventory Management, Financial Management, and Component Engineering including Reliability Management.

Following the successful collaboration, the group will now implement Ramco Aviation Suite, integrated with a new HR and Finance solution, at its Component, Repair and Overhaul (CRO) services facilities in Hong Kong and Xiamen; Landing Gear Services facility in Xiamen; and Composite Services facility in Jinjiang.

Implementation of the Ramco Aviation Suite will serve to integrate and streamline HAECO’s various

departments and units into a unified whole to maximise operational efficiencies. The integrated system will also give HAECO complete visibility of resources, materials and financials across units to enable faster decisionmaking based on real-time analytics.

Ramco will further support the larger ecosystem through a collaboration with third party software providers in Customs, Freight Forwarding and

SPEC 2000 EDI. Christopher Gibbs, Group Director Components & Engine Services at HAECO, said: “We are glad to have chosen Ramco’s solutions to help bring our digital enterprise vision to life right across our components businesses. Ramco’s software solution will help us seamlessly integrate within our group companies, will improve overall process efficiency, and will lead to increased asset and inventory utilisation. We look forward to optimising our workforce utility and boosting productivity and efficiency, thanks to this digital programme.”

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 19

05/08/2015 14:46

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

FLYdocs Clients among the World’s Safest Airlines

FLYdocs welcomes new General Manager

In mid-January 2020, AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only airline safety and product rating website, published the results for the Top 20 Safest Airlines 2020.

Australia’s flagship carrier and longtime FLYdocs client Qantas topped the list once again. FLYdocs was proud to see a number of its clients represented in the list of airlines spearheading the drive to put the safety of customers first.

Congratulations were extended to all FLYdocs clients including Cathay Pacific Airways (9), Hawaiian Airlines (11), Virgin Atlantic Airlines (12), Swiss (16) and Aer Lingus (19).

The products rating website compiled the list for using a wide range of metrics in its safety rating criteria which include audits by the government and industry bodies, crash and serious incident record, profitability, safety initiatives and fleet age. The 20 airlines listed (see Aircraft IT MRO Website for full list) are viewed by AirlineRatings.com as “standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft”.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

In late January 2020, FLYdocs named Suresh Ananthasubramanian as its General Manager for the FLYdocs India organisation. On 20 January 2020, Suresh joins the leading aviation software company, bringing over 20 years’ diversified IT experience across various industrial domains. Suresh is a seasoned senior executive with over 14 years of strategic leadership at an international level including roles in Singapore, UAE and India. In his new role, Suresh will spearhead the planning and implementation of the strategic country objectives, ensuring excellence in operational performance and delivering projects in line with FLYdocs’ growth strategy.

FLYdocs CEO André Fischer commented: “With Suresh, we have attracted a high calibre General Manager with strong credentials and remarkable. Suresh’s diverse experience in global operations management, as well as IT, project management and client-facing roles make him a great fit to oversee FLYdocs in India.”

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 20

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Etihad Airways the First Middle Eastern Airline to choose Comply365 Platform to host technical documents In mid-January 2020, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, became the first airline in the Middle East to introduce Comply365, a new state-of-the-art technology platform to host the extensive technical documentation of its Flight Operations Department.

More than 6,000 employees will benefit from the replacement of multiple existing documentation systems with Comply365’s single ProAuthor platform, which will be used to manage and distribute company manuals and all documentation from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), making compliance-related documentation and tracking much easier.

“Etihad Airways is committed to expanding its

sustainable practices and broadening the use of simplifying technology is a key element of our strategy,” said Captain Sulaiman Yaqoobi, Etihad’s Vice President of Flight Operations. “The airline needed a single place to author and manage all of our documentation, which is extensive, as well as a reliable mobile app for our flight crew,” he added, continuing… “Comply365’s solutions are the best fit for our requirements, not just to manage our documentation in one place, but also to have a cloud-based solution hosted in a data center in the UAE. The automated standards tracing feature of this system will also save time and improve accuracy over our previous manual process, as well as boosting our visibility over a document’s revision status, and

automating workflow and standards tracing.”

As the first Middle Eastern client for this advanced system, Etihad Airways is a significant addition to the base of airlines across the globe that rely daily on Comply365’s platform for authoring and digital delivery of operational (manufacturer and company) manuals via mobile apps.

Comply365 CEO Tom Samuel said: “I am pleased to welcome Etihad Airways into our client community. It is exciting to be partnering with such an innovative and global brand. Our team is looking forward to working with Etihad to simplify and automate its compliance management environment, and to help deliver higher value operational content to pilots and other operational staff.”

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 21

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

EmpowerMX rolls out transformative core MRO platform for Joramco EmpowerMX announced, in mid-January 2020, the full roll-out of its transformative core MRO platform in the Middle East region. Joramco, has transitioned to Empower MX’s core platform for digital MRO transformation, replacing the legacy Maintenix suite of point solutions.

The EmpowerMX solution will be Joramco’s core system, allowing it to go paperless for numerous processes, including project management and timesheets, reduce turnaround times and quality escapes while improving velocity, efficiency and forecasting. This transition was achieved in record time.

Established in the early 1960s, Joramco, based in Amman, Jordan, is a leading independent commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility serving a wide range of customers in the Middle East, Europe, South Asia, Africa, Russia and the CIS countries, offering services on several aircraft models from the Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer fleets. With recent investments from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise and a newly appointed CEO, Jeff Wilkinson, the company embarked on a massive transformation journey in 2017 to expand, modernize, and gain new customers. The year 2020 is marked as the Year of Efficiency, and EmpowerMX is a key partner in helping Joramco achieve this.

“We are delighted to welcome Joramco to the EmpowerMX family, and have

worked hard to help the company smoothly transition to a complete paperless office in record time,” said Dinakara Nagalla, CEO of EmpowerMX. “With Mr. Wilkinson’s vision to transform Joramco into the leading hub for aircraft services for both Europe and Middle East, it was critical that our product experience and core capabilities worked for all business units. We are proud to have delivered transformative outcomes to Joramco.”

“When I came on-board at Joramco, the DAE vision was to start small and support existing aircraft and slowly acquire more regional MROs if the Joramco transformation became successful,” recalled Jeff Wilkinson. “But that was too slow for me, and Joramco screamed untapped potential. Two years into the business, we were looking for a partner who could share our vision for transformation, bring in the right platforms, and onboard our team without friction. EmpowerMX checked off all boxes.”

By transforming the supply chain and operations into an all-digital platform, Joramco is able to drive real-time transparency, accountability, and safety measures across the organization. “We are truly state-of-art, and EmpowerMX has given us a core system that is future ready,” concluded Wilkinson.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

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CORENA Insight Mobile helps flight operations and maintenance staff replace PDF, Word, and paper-based forms with off-line for uses cases that include:

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 22

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Titan Airways chooses eTechLog8 from Conduce to replace paper logbooks

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BIG DATA INSIGHTS FOR YOUR OPERATIONS Introducing Honeywell Forge: aviation’s most intelligent data-driven platform

In late January 2020, Conduce Group was delighted to announce that Titan Airways has chosen its eTechLog8 mobile software solution as an integral element to ongoing progress to greater digitalisation of processes and procedures. eTechLog8 will completely replace the airline’s current paper-based aircraft technical logbooks including its deferred defect logbook and cabin logs.

The Conduce eTechLog8 application will also be fully integrated into Titan’s CAMO solution — Commsoft OASES — to enable real time aircraft status data to be available 24/7.

Dave Bunker, Engineering Director, Titan Airways commented that “This is an exciting step forward for Titan as it moves toward an all Airbus fleet and looks for greater digitisation of the Airline. As an ACMI provider it is critical that the business has real time aircraft status data in order to be able to provide excellent operational service to our client base around the world. Following a review of the market for ETL solutions Conduce Group was selected due to several factors, including a proven track record with many airworthiness authorities, total integration capability with back-office systems, and a unique and intuitive interface that will both minimise training requirements but also allow for a rapid implementation and acceptance of the solution.”

Conduce MD Paul Boyd commented: “We are extremely pleased to welcome Titan Airways to the growing community of airlines that have chosen eTechLog8.

The adoption of eTechLog8 allows an ACMI providers’ fleet to be totally ‘base’ independent, operating anywhere in the world ensuring full visibility and integrity of the aircraft technical status. Implementation will commence this month with full rollout planned for mid-2020.”

Honeywell Forge breaks down data silos to create powerful insights with actionable information for flight efficiency, maintenance, safety, block time analysis, ground turn optimization, and many more. Make decisions with confidence and execute them faster with Honeywell Forge!

For more information, visit pages3.honeywell.com/Honeywell_Forge_Airlines

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 23

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

K2 Airways opts for Rusada’s ENVISION In late January 2020, Pakistani start-up, K2 Airways, signed an agreement for Rusada’s MRO and Flight Operations software, ENVISION. K2 Airways will begin scheduled passenger flights later this year from its base at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. It will serve numerous destinations across Pakistan including Islamabad, Skardu and Chitral. The airline also plans to fly to international destinations in the near future.

Rusada will begin implementing six of ENVISION’s modules immediately so that the system is fully live in time for the airline’s maiden flight. Modules selected include Fleet Management, Line Maintenance, Flight Operations and Human Resources.

Tariq Raja, Chief Executive Officer at K2 Airways said: “We are looking to be as streamlined as possible when it comes to our operations, so we wanted to adopt one all-inclusive solution rather than several. This being said, there will always be the need to integrate with some form of external system, and ENVISION’s modern architecture makes this simple and painless, allowing our team to focus on other things.”

Julian Stourton, CEO at Rusada said: “We are seeing more and more the desire to move away from multiple disconnected systems and adopt a one-stop-solution. This is especially true with up-and-coming organizations such as K2 Airways. I am excited that we now get to play a significant part in their upcoming launch and future growth.”

Always growing — expansion in North America As Seabury Solutions presence continues to expand globally, they were proud at the beginning of December 2019 to announce the opening of a new office in Ottawa, Canada. Bruce Gowling — Senior Vice-President, is a prominent business adviser with more than 20 years of global aviation industry experience. Through that time, Bruce has assisted large enterprises in applying advanced technology to enhance their business performance and competitiveness. Mr. Gowling is a leading authority on the design and use of enterprise software systems and processes that are used to operate, manage and maintain large aircraft fleets and MRO operations.

In addition to his business acumen and industry experience, Mr. Gowling is a PMI — (CAPM)®, pilot and a trained flight dispatcher.

Bruce will be primarily focused on Alkym and eAuthority within Seabury Solutions’ Digital Transformation Platform.

KEEP UP WITH MRO IT DEVELOPMENTS

SUBSCRIBE HERE FOR FREE… IT TAKES A FEW MOMENTS AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 24

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

Vistair introduces DocuNet forms enhancement Vistair Systems, a leader in the development of aviation management software, released, in late January 202, a major upgrade to its document management solution, DocuNet, with the introduction of its new dynamic forms builder.

Available online and offline on all platforms including iOS, Windows and Android, DocuNet Forms has been developed to deliver an entire Form life-cycle within DocuNet, enabling users to create, customise and publish forms, in a matter of minutes.

This new development delivers additional time and operational efficiencies to users and facilitates streamlined and efficient processes that enhance safety and improve communication between departments. As part of the upgrade, users can now benefit from a flexible and intuitive form builder that offers a rich feature-set to create forms across all operational needs, without the requirement for any technical expertise. DocuNet Forms can replicate data collection processes, whether currently conducted on paper or digitally.

While currently being rolled out to Vistair’s existing global client base, including British Airways, easyjet, Qantas and Emirates, feedback has been consistently positive.

Additional features such as drag and drop functionality, branching logic and conditional sections, makes it easy and simple to create forms that are tailored specifically to operational needs. Of importance, there is the additional ability to demonstrate a real time audit trail to ensure all procedures are transparent and auditable.

David Hedley, CTO at Vistair commented: “The functionality of our DocuNet technology continues to advance at a rapid pace. Innovation and developments are key, and we are driven by both customer and industry requirements which ensures that the system is continually refined to perfectly meet operational needs. This latest development allows airlines to streamline data collection processes with ease to drive digital transformation even further”.

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YOUR TIME IS PRECIOUS SO IS YOUR CABIN

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 25

Cabin App Software

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NEWS & TECHNOLOGY

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FAA selects TRAX eMRO software for its fleet FAA Flight Program Operations operates a fleet of aircraft to provide Aviation Safety Training; Flight Inspection; Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E); Critical Event Response and Transportation Services. At the beginning of February 2020, TRAX eMRO was selected to replace the existing MRO and fleet operations software as the FAA has its eyes on incorporating advanced technology and providing web-based and mobile solutions to its users.

The FAA is a U.S. governmental body responsible for the safety of civil aviation. In addition, its activities include airspace and air traffic management, civil aviation abroad, commercial space transportation, aircraft registration, and research, engineering and development. The Flight Program Operations missions include: • The Aviation Safety Training provides training services to Office of Aviation Safety personnel to maintain a staff of current and proficient pilots required for operator oversight.

• Flight Inspection ensures the integrity of instrument approaches and airway procedures that constitute the National Aerospace System infrastructure and the Agency’s international commitments. Flight Program Operations accomplishes this mission through the airborne inspection of all space and ground-based Instrument Flight Procedures and the validation of electronic signals in space transmitted from ground navigation systems.

• The FAA RDT&E mission conducts flights directly related to research, development, test, and evaluation of new electronic aids, air traffic procedures, and aircraft improvement, under established Agency projects.

• The Critical Event Response and Transportation mission provides routine transportation and critical transportation in times of emergency or disaster, as well as support of the National Transportation Safety Board response.

TRAX provides comprehensive software solutions designed to cater to all aspect of aircraft maintenance management. With over 185 customers, TRAX is the best-of-breed global provider of aviation maintenance mobile and cloud products in the market today. TRAX products support digital signatures, paperless Work-packs and manuals, RFID-capability for logistics, Biometric security, offline capability for mobile apps, web-based applications and the ability for users to work anywhere with easy access to real-time information.

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 26

WHAT’S IN THE OPERATIONS ISSUE? CASE STUDY: Airline Case Study — Qantas

Mike Riegler, Manager Business Innovation and Support Flight Operations, Qantas How an innovative flight planning and route optimizing solution was developed, the ways in which it has enhanced Qantas operations and how it has been applied to support the longest ever non-stop service.

CASE STUDY: Big data improves operations and fuel performance at Cebu Pacific

Francesc Torres, Director Operational Support, Cebu Pacific In this case study Cebu Pacific outlines how it uses Big Data technology to improve Flight Operations and Fuel Efficiency performance, plus some internal actions set up to develop a fuel efficiency program throughout the company.

WHITE PAPER: The arrival of the electronic technical logbook for aircraft

Kirk Strutt, Aerospace & Defense Product Manager, IFS The next generation of electronic technical logbooks can strike a balance between pilot engagement, maintenance readiness and aircraft safety; spanning the maintenance control center, mechanics, supervisors, engineers and pilots.

SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE

Real life essential five minute case studies The importance of a regulator approved device fixed mount in the cockpit and how Southwest Airlines got the mount they wanted in the way they wanted it. The evolution of the ASG fixed mount, the requirements for a safe mounting solution, and how Southwest Airlines installed device mounts on its fleet with minimum disruption and maximum conformity with its own requirements.

Plus News and Operations Software Directory

Click here to read

AIRCRAFT IT Operations

CASE STUDY: COPA AIRLINES

Moving to a Cloud-based M&E System at Copa Airlines Pablo Rousselin Avendaño, MRO Director at Copa Airlines describes a transition to a modern, mobile cloud-enabled Maintenance & Engineering platform

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 28

CASE STUDY: COPA AIRLINES

W

e have succeeded with a rather important MRO system transition at Copa Airlines and, in this article, I’d like to share that story with readers in the hope that some useful insights will come out of it.

This particular journey started in 2014 and there are a few updates that we have managed since then. Previous to this transition there were two systems that we used: one for the Embraers and the other for the Boeings, which we piggybacked on Continental/United systems. A decision was made to select a system that would unify both requirements under one, which ultimately helped us to become independent. Additionally, this independence facilitated a better control on our maintenance programs. The decision was to embark on that endeavor, and we ended up selecting IFS’s Maintenix to meet our requirements.

WHAT HAPPENED

It was decided to go for a full implementation; engineering, planning, supply chain, maintenance, the entire thing. At the time, Copa’s fleet stood at one hundred aircraft and there were 1,300 users; more critically, there were only 15 months allowed to complete the project. That was already a challenging task and Copa knew that it would require a partner who would commit to the project.

Right from the start, the new system was in the Cloud which, as far as we know, was the first time that a monolithic MRO software was put into the Cloud. For that we used Amazon Web Services.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

Since those first steps, IFS Maintenix has been upgraded twice at Copa Airlines in order to maintain access to the latest features introduced to the system. It was also recognized that a records management system that was in-line with the MRO system was needed. AirVault from GE Aviation was selected and implemented. Furthermore, an additional six Boeing 737MAX aircraft had been added to the fleet that required a new maintenance program, a project in its own right. In addition to this, there are now another one hundred users taking the total to 1,400.

WHAT WAS WANTED AND NOT WANTED?

It all started with a review of where we stood: that was very important, and it has been a rule for project implementation in Copa Technical Operations to take that

step first. We next sat down with our SMEs (subject matter experts) to consider what our functions and processes were: then we had discussions to make the necessary changes. I thought that everything would be good because Copa was already digital, and yet it turned out that there were some duplicated processes with some people doing the same things. As a result, some of the ‘as is’ processes had to be revised and summarized.

Of course, the other side of the coin was that we also needed to know what Copa Technical Operations wanted to be. So the ‘to be’ processes had to be defined. That was the point where Copa went to IFS to explain what was wanted and to ask whether IFS could commit to it. Only then the planning was actually started.

“…if you commit to something, you really need to complete it. But none of this was imposed on people, it was part of our Change Acceleration Process methodology which included taking a snapshot and the team was held accountable to that commitment to the end.”

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 29

CASE STUDY: COPA AIRLINES

ESTABLISHING RULES

Secondly, we needed rules as part of our methodology. Together with the stakeholders we established the following guidelines: 1. Avoid customization; 2. Put the common benefit over the individual one; 3. Adopt industry practices (processes); 4. We are Copa Holdings (so we include all the areas and stations involved); 5. We make decisions in a timely manner; 6. Do not assume — when in doubt, ask; 7. Fulfill our commitments.

Basically, this established what needed to be done and that was then properly enforced. ‘Fulfill our commitments’ was especially important for Copa Technical Operations if you commit to something, you really need to complete it. But none of this was imposed on people, it was part of our Change Acceleration Process methodology which included taking a snapshot and the team was held accountable to that commitment to the end. And, of course, nothing was assumed, and everyone put their trust in the rest of the team and had the freedom to comment at every point.

That ‘team’ (above) is not just Copa but is the RAMS team, the project implementation team which included the IFS team.

Another key rule was that we didn’t want to get involved with costly customizations. This goes hand-in-hand with putting the common benefit over the individual one. With the exception of one customization that was deemed critical, Copa eliminated more than a dozen other customization requests which were deemed non-essential.

MANAGING THE CHANGE

…and rulers.

Figure 1

Rules were necessary as were the rule enforcers in the organization (figure 1) One very important person in there is the Change Manager but while it seemed a bulky structure at the outset, by the end of the project, we were very pleased. My own role of Business Manager had one lead subject matter expert from each of the airline’s divisions as well as the current system administrator who had been in charge of the two legacy systems for Copa Holdings. This new system is also integrated with SAP, the Enterprise Resource Planning System at Copa Airlines, and with the Operation Control System, and it was decided that it was necessary to have a manager to manage those changes. Not giving that person the chance to also be in charge of the project would have been counterproductive.

But we had to admit that there were things along the way that we didn’t know. Most importantly, we often didn’t know that we didn’t know it! So, we were flexible when it really mattered. For instance, at the very beginning it was necessary to compare whether to do the whole thing on premises or in the

Cloud. Trying to do this in the Cloud had not previously been tried so there was an element of risk along with the usual time and financial constraints. Because we were committed to it, we spent a lot of time in working with the vendors and senior management to ensure this was possible. Admittedly, there were things that changed after we visited some other operators involved with Maintenix. We also realized that maybe we were not thinking the right way, which meant going back on our tracks to accept that something needed to be changed. All of this was done meticulously and was well thought through with change requests that went to management. We didn’t move at all, in terms of general strategy, without doing so.

As soon as we knew what was needed, we had to let all the stakeholders know. That was a change management program in its own right (figure 2) and, without it, the project would have failed because we didn’t know at the beginning how many people were for or against change.

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 30

As soon as we knew, we had to let them know…

As soon as we knew, we had to let them know…

AsManage soon as we knew, we had to letof them know…

Lots

Manage the Change the Change Manage the Change

Lots of Communication Communication Lots of Communication

CASE STUDY: COPA AIRLINES

Transfer Transfer Know-how Know-how Transfer Know-how

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WHAT DOES REAL AVIATION MRO OPTIMIZATION LOOK LIKE?

Figure 2

We just thought that, because everyone said that they disliked the previous systems, they would like the change for a new one. We had to determine who really wanted to be on-board, who didn’t and then see where we wanted that matrix of stakeholders to be. That was really important and we never run a project now without change management.

Also, figure 2 highlights the important need of communication often and consistently. It wasn’t a case of sending everybody an email every day nor making presentations to the upper management every other week but we had a RAMS team breakfast meeting every Friday to keep everyone up to date on status. I would present to my boss every two weeks. The result was excellent because, as a result of the Change Management program, people got on-board quickly, and remained on-board.

TRAINING

Training was another program deeply rooted in the Change Management team.

One of the first things we did was set up a website for remote training. Our goal was to train at least ninety percent of the people twice over. We also realized that with the regular population, the mechanics, if they were trained three months before the go-live, they will have forgotten that training by the time of the go-live. That had to be changed. So, the Change Manager created a website called ‘RAMS U’ where a user could review everything that they had been taught, get exercises and communicate on a platform that looks a lot like Facebook. But, again, we undertook a change management exercise and realized that that population needed to be taught again. That’s why Change Management had to be in charge of training.

Another really good take-away from the project is that, while we wanted there to be a lot of communication we didn’t want to include any miscommunications. At some point, there was huge pressure from the very top

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER http://ifs.biz/kgqny

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 31

CASE STUDY: COPA AIRLINES

of the business. At another point we were having commercial discussions with the provider. But we shielded off the SMEs from all of that and kept them focused with the task at hand. They needed to undertake their technical contribution, but they didn’t need to know how much the project was costing or who was doing the catering. The management team needed to be the shield for pressure, for all of them. That’s downstream.

But upstream, there was exactly the same thing. At some point a couple team members seemed to be discouraged but we resolved it within the team and ironed it out. It’s important to choose what to communicate on all levels.

GENERATING A TEAM SPIRIT

People normally don’t like uniforms. At Copa, not everyone needs to wear a uniform. However, as soon as this project started, we decided on a logo on which the whole team voted and people actually asked to have a shirt so that they could be identified with the project. And the interesting thing is once you put on the shirt, you could not tell who is from IFS, Copa, and or others. You can’t tell who is a senior manager or who is an SME. Interestingly, when we analyzed this picture, taken at the end of one of the routine change management meetings, the leaders of the project are blended with the team. In the project, everybody was treated the same way. That made a great difference for team morale: they were treated well because we were asking them to deliver and that meant that the productivity was higher than it might have otherwise been.

Now, whatever project that we are undertaking at Copa Technical Operations, we have a logo competition after which, everyone wants a shirt, mouse mat, stickers, whatever… they want to be identified and that’s very important to them.

HARNESSING ENERGY TO EXPERIENCE

Our team was composed of people with a lot of experience but also some very young people. We were able to consult with two other operators on how they had done things. If it weren’t because of having people with a combination of skills the project would not have been successful. It was a good blend of experience and energy and the team did a fantastic job to fill any voids which brought to mind a quote from Isaac Newton ‘… and we could see further because we were standing on the shoulders of giants.’

From time to time team members would make unusual requests such as asking for a more flexible work schedule. It wasn’t how we worked but their response would be to commit to us that they’d finish the current task on time. So, in the spirit of flexibility, we agreed to try it and it worked out really well: in fact, productivity increased and we caught up with any shortfall there might have been.

PROBLEMS ARE THE BASIS FOR OPPORTUNITIES

So, combining different talent sets as well as benchmarking is highly critical and it reminded me of another quote that I really like: “Every problem is an opportunity in disguise”- John Adams. We started with a problem, that we didn’t have control over the maintenance program: at the end we had reduced costs, improved

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 32

CASE STUDY: COPA AIRLINES

efficiency and we were proud of what we had achieved. And interestingly enough, at the end of this project, we were able to consolidate a team that is eager to undertake other projects together. That was very important because, normally, after such an exhausting project the SMEs do not want to come back for more. Six months after this project, we told the team that we needed to upgrade in order to incorporate a couple of features. So we needed to do it all over again. The good thing was that they all smiled, recognized that it would be tough but as long as it was going to be run in the same way as the original project, they were all on board. In that way we have undertaken two upgrades.

One thing that we have really adopted at Copa Airlines is to seek out opportunities in problems: how can we do this, how can we solve this but, at the same time, reduce costs. That mentality was an important component in our success.

KEEP UP WITH MRO IT DEVELOPMENTS

PABLO ROUSSELIN AVENDAÑO

After starting his airline industry career in Engineering, Pablo also held multiple managerial positions at major airlines in Line & Heavy Maintenance, Maintenance Planning, and Fleet Management before moving to Technical Operations Projects. It was only natural, due to the nature of the current industry trend, to be given the responsibility His current position is now MRO Director. Pablo holds a Masters in Aerospace Engineering and a Masters in Applied Economics & Business Administration

COPA AIRLINES

Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A. (Copa), is the flag carrier of Panama. Headquartered in Panama City with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport, Copa is a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, S.A. as well as a member of Star Alliance. Copa Airlines has one of the youngest and most modern fleets in the region with 84 narrow body aircraft consisting of 6 Boeing 737 MAX 9, 14 Boeing 737-700, 64 Boeing 737-800 and 14 Embraer 190 regional aircraft with a further 4 Boeing 737-800 operated by Wingo.

IFS

IFS develops and delivers enterprise software for customers around the world.

The industry expertise of its people and solutions, together with a commitment to delivering value to every one of our customers, has made IFS a recognized leader in the sector. The team of 3,700 employees and growing ecosystem of partners support more than 10,000 customers around the world to challenge the status quo and realize their competitive advantage.

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 33

CASE STUDY: JAL

The journey to perfection at JAL Engineering Yuki Nakai, Director IT Planning, JAL Engineering shares the secrets of achieving 100% on time performance through mobility and paperless solutions

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 34

CASE STUDY: JAL

SKYTRAX 5 Star

“JAL’s domestic market competition is not other airlines but, especially in the domestic market, it is the Shinkansen train, sometimes known as the Bullet train, because their average delay time is just 24 seconds.”

Trip Advisor – Japan’s Best Airlines

T

his theme of this article will be to share with readers our experience at JAL Engineering of moving to a paperless and mobile M&E solution as the route to achieving a challenging efficiency objective. But first a few lines to tell you about JAL. Japan’s Flag Carrier flies more than 34 million domestic and more that 8.5 million international passengers between 56 Japanese and 350 global cities (figure 1).

CIRIUM winner – On Time Performance

Figure 2

At the time of writing, JAL was also introducing the Airbus A350 XWB to the fleet. JAL Engineering looks after those aircraft in the JAL fleet and its subsidiaries’ fleets.

OUR ULTIMATE GOAL — 0-0-100

INT : 350 Cities DOM : 56 Cities

Figure 1

The fleet (figure 2) reflects the varied scope of JAL’s operations with large aircraft, Boeing 777, and medium size aircraft, Boeing 767 and 787 types as well as Boeing 737s and regional jets.

In the Japanese domestic market, what matters most to users is efficiency, so we are very proud that JAL achieves 98.6 percent operational rate for flights in the combined domestic and international markets as well as 85.1 percent on-time arrival rates, i.e. with zero minutes of delay. The reason that I mention this in because JAL’s domestic market competition is not other airlines but, especially in the domestic market, it is the Shinkansen train, sometimes known as the Bullet train, because their average delay time is just 24 seconds. JAL’s aircraft have to compete with those trains. We are proud of our 5 Star status with SKYTRAX and to have been voted Trip Advisor Travelers’ Choice as Japan’s Best Airline in three years, including 2018 and 2019 as well as Cirium’s On-Time Performance Award in 2018. But readers will know the complexity of modern aircraft making it really tough to achieve those kinds of performance rates (zero to 24 seconds delay) that the train manages, and we have to contend with weather and high traffic levels around the main airports at peak times.

All the above is the reason we have decided to concentrate on our ultimate goal of Zero–Zero–100 percent and the challenge that it generates. The key words in JAL are Zero–Zero–Hyaku (Hyaku means one hundred in Japanese) (figure 3). Let me explain.

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 35

CASE STUDY: JAL

Maintenance to repair when aircraft fail

Maintenance to create fail-proof aircraft

on-ground delays. Today, the fleet includes the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 which are very stable; so that, renewing the fleet with new generation aircraft has been one part of our solution (figure 4).

Aircraft Quality

Zero • Irregular Operations • In Flight Shut Down

Zero

100%

• Replacing with New Gen Aircraft • Predictive Maintenance

• Flight Defect (PIREP) • On Time Departure

*Find every defect at Ground

*Eliminate delay caused by Technical Issue

• Improve - Actual maint.

Quality • Improve – Quality of Documents • Eliminate – Work Load to make documents

Mobile and Paperless Solutions

Figure 3: Our ulimtate goal — ‘0-0-100’

In the past, maintenance was focused on undertaking repairs when the aircraft failed. We have had to change that to maintenance focusing on creating fail-proof aircraft. For that to happen, we have to find any defects while the aircraft is on the ground and before it can fail; that is our ultimate target, to which end we have created a logo. The first ‘Zero’ means zero irregular operations or in-flight shut downs; the next ‘Zero’ means zero flight defects such as might appear in the pilot report (PIREP) — while there will always be defects, we aim to find every defect while the aircraft is on the ground, before take-off. The One Hundred (Hyaku) is for 100 percent on-time departures — of course, there can be other reasons for delays outside of JAL’s control but we aim to eliminate delays caused by technical issues within our control.

JAL’s management Board established this goal and my first thought, on hearing it, was that it’s a crazy idea. Zero irregular operations, zero in-flight defects, 100 percent on time departures seemed impossible. However, once that target of Zero-Zero-100/Hyaku had been set, the workforce really concentrated on how we might achieve it. It’s sometimes difficult to get JAL’s four thousand engineers to all face in one direction but this very strong objective to achieve Zero-Zero-100 was a clear goal on which the whole engineering team was able to focus.

One solution was digitalization. It is easy to improve aircraft quality and one way to do that is to replace the fleet with new generation aircraft. Ten years ago, Japan Airlines fleet mainstays were the Boeing 747 and the 737 classic plus we had DC10, and defects often manifested themselves during flights, causing

Work Quality

Figure 4: To Archive ‘0-0-100’

Another part of the solution has been that JAL is now undertaking predictive maintenance such as with the 787 Air Cycle Machine where we’re using sensor data with algorithms to find defects before they happen. That works well and we had, at the time of writing, 40 or 50 types of predictive algorithms. That means that there is now a high probability that we’ll identify potential trouble before an actual failure occurs. However, to improve identification of potential problems is one thing; to improve our work quality is more difficult. The challenge was: how to improve the quality of work, mechanics and maintenance, plus improve the quality of the recording documents and eliminate the workload to create those documents? The reason why it is important to eliminate the workload in document creation is that it is not a core function for the engineers. Engineers have to maintain and repair the aircraft, and improve the quality of the aircraft but document creation does not create value in terms of the engineer’s job. As much as possible, we wanted to make time for the engineer to appraise the aircraft and make the analysis such as predictive maintenance or to better understand the details about that aircraft’s condition. So mobile and paperless solutions were, we believed, the best route to achieve the Zero-Zero-100.

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CASE STUDY: JAL

THE SMART PROJECT — A FIVE YEAR JOURNEY ‘SMART’ is the name Project, of JAL’sthemobile and paperless In figure 5, you will project see the SMART name for JAL’s mobile and paperless solution which started in 2016-2017 with Phase 1. solutions 2016-2017 Phase 1 • • • •

Flight Info Viewer Connected SAP ERP Reporting Functions Assign - Engine

2018 Phase 2 1

• Input Functions • Connected “AMOS” • Parts Orders

• 37 Domestic Airports Assign - Engineers • 37 International Stations • over 900 devices • over 1,500 Engineers

2019 Phase 3 1

• Electronic Tech Log and Cabin Logs • Crew Comm.

• Electrical Sign - Service Check - Non-Routine Record

INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

NOW - 2020 Phase 4 1

• Heavy Maint • Routine Cards • Modification Orders

to

Simple Mobile Paperless

Figure 5: ‘SMART’ is the project name of JAL’s mobile and paperless solutions

Phase 1 included the Flight Information Viewer and the connected SAP ERP plus reporting functions were implemented as well as the assigned engineer function.

JAL worked with IBM (bottom left on figure) in creating the necessary Apps for the engineering manager to assign the aircraft (Assign Tech) while on the right is the Inspect and Turn, an iPhone Application to let each engineer know on which aircraft he has to work and which jobs are still remaining for the day plus details about the defect or the fuel or the departure time all in the one App. That was all created in 2016-2017 and implemented in April 2017 starting at Tokyo Narita Airport and the following week to Tokyo Haneda Airport. After another week, the system was rolled out to 37 domestic airports in one process before, one month later, expanding it to 37 international stations. At the time of writing, there were over 900 devices using the App and more than 1,500 engineers using the solution. The App doesn’t require too much training: not only is the IBM App good but it was also created with input from our engineers who are not IT specialists but understand repairing aircraft, know what information is required on the App. They co-operated with IBM and our internal system integrators, JAL Infotech Technology, as well as IT specialists, who supported the creation of the Apps. Every kind of information that the maintenance engineers require is on those Apps making it easy to understand.

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CASE STUDY: JAL

In 2018, Phase 2, saw us getting involved with input functions to SAP ERP and getting the project connected with the AMOS system for smaller aircraft in the fleet plus the parts order function was also implemented. 2019 saw a giant leap with Phase 3 in which we collaborated with Ultramain Systems to implement Electronic Tech Logs and Cabin Logs as well as the Crew Communication System — one button for the cockpit crew to use. If they need the assistance of a mechanic, they just push that one button and the iPhone Facetime Application enables easy communication with the engineer. This phase also included the implementation of Electronic signatures for the Service Check and for NonRoutine Records.

Now, in 2020, Phase 4 will see the solution expanded to the heavy Maintenance Check, the Routine Cards and the Modification Orders as well as the other aspects of maintenance. The SMART Project is a five year journey; it isn’t easy going to a paperless and mobile solution but year by year people are learning how digitalization works, how we can go paperless, how to achieve Zero-Zero-100 with digital weapons.

Scope of Phase 3

As we’ve just completed it, I want to share with readers some more details about Phase 3. The paper items on the left of figure 6 are familiar for all airlines. In JAL now, the Tech Log form and the Cabin Log form will be using ULTRAMAIN® ELB™ and iPad Applications to be used by flight crews, cabin crews and maintenance crews.

Tech Log From

FROM A PAPER-BASED TO A PAPERLESS SOLUTION The traditional paper-based workflow was as in figure 7.

Transfer

Can’t find Right records!

Flight crew

Cabin Log Form

WRITE

Tech Log

Cabin Log Check QA Inspector

Cabin Crew

Storage

Engineer

Defect Cards

Missed signs Non-Qualified Signs

Turn Around Check

Turn Around CK RTN Job Card Defect Card Mod. Order

I don’t want to Input again!

SAP ERP Engineer

Figure 6: Scope of Phase 3

There are also records such as defect cards and turn around checks for which we use a mobile App and the Mobile Mechanic™ from the ULTRAMAIN® system which JAL has introduced and merged with the existing IBM system.

Figure 7: Paper-based work flow

Flight crew and cabin crew were writing entries into the Tech Log and Cabin Log. Engineers were writing up the turnaround checks, routine job cards,

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 38

CASE STUDY: JAL

modification orders and defect cards. So many people were involved and, in some cases they missed signing or, with so many different qualifications in the group, sometimes a signature would not be qualified because the wrong person had signed for a particular job or aircraft type. Sometimes there were cases where material that should have gone into the cabin log went to the tech log or the tech log and cabin log information was wrongly transferred to the defect cards… Finally, engineers had to input to the SAP ERP the same data in order to send it back to the office. People did not want to have to keep putting the same information into different parts of the system. That was a pain point in the past. Also, those documents after checking by the QA (Quality Assurance) Inspectors had to be stored in huge numbers of boxes (bottom right of figure). So, if it was necessary to find something, that entailed searching in the boxes, but sometimes we missed the records or could not find what we wanted, that was a problem.

The paperless solution, at the time of writing, looks like the plan in figure 8.

ELB

V9/Mobile Mechanic

eLog (CPT)

eRecord

P2P (Bluetooth) Flight crew

INPUT Cabin Crew

4G/LTE

Paperless in 2020

RTN Job Card Mod. Order

eLog (CBN)

QA Inspector Q

Engineer

CheckedCompletion and Qualification

Ground Server

V9 Server

Sync – Real Time

“…two iPads on the aircraft are being used for inputs by cockpit crew and cabin crew for their respective eLogs. The devices can also back each other up so that, if for some reason, the cockpit eLog device fails it is possible to use the cabin log device to accept inputs from the cockpit. ” on the flight. After landing, a 4G LTE connection connects the devices to the ground server in a simultaneous real-time connection with the SAP ERP. Also, the data is transferred to the V9 server of the Ultramain system for transfer to the eRecord which is used for turnaround check cards. So, if the engineers find some defects while the aircraft is on the ground, those will be inputted to the eRecord system on an iPhone and is automatically transferred to the SAP ERP to complete. At the time of writing, in 2019, the Job cards and Modification cards were still on paper but the will be paperless in 2020. So, for the moment we remained on the routine job cards which were scanned into GE’s Airvault system to be finally archived. A QA Inspector also checked the quality of the record. But in the paperless system, it can be on the screen and can be easily found with just one click which will dramatically change the process of finding records should they be needed.

In figure 9 is a photo from the first day of the new system on 10th August 2019.

PDF

AirVault SAP ERP

Figure 8: Paperless work flow

Of course, flight crews and cabin crews, and engineers are still in the system and the two iPads on the aircraft are being used for inputs by cockpit crew and cabin crew for their respective eLogs. The devices can also back each other up so that, if for some reason, the cockpit eLog device fails it is possible to use the cabin log device to accept inputs from the cockpit. The devices are connected peer-topeer with Bluetooth so can be easily adapted even when Wi-Fi is not available

Figure 9: The first day — 10th August 2019

The writing is in Japanese but it says, ‘This is a first in Japan’ when the cockpit eLog and the cabin eLog started operation. In figure 10, we show the first record from the A350 aircraft created on the new eLog and being confirmed in JAL’s Operations office.

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CASE STUDY: JAL

… flight status (which aircraft is going to which location), how many open defects are live for that aircraft and what is the expiry date of those defects; with all of that information available at a glance. In the past, we had to communicate with phones or by emails or fax to know what kind of defects were live for each aircraft and the target date by which they should be fixed.

Now we can see the one table to know what aircraft has defects that are more important to have the resources assigned to them. These are interesting things.

Cabin crew can report just either before arrival or just after landing so that we can prepare the resources to deal with any problem or defect that needs to be dealt with.

Figure 12 has some screenshots for eRecords.

Figure 10

This is a photo of the A350 TechLog which was originally paper with a screenshot of the paperless version. There are three colors: black for Journey Logs; green for correction of technical records; and pink for fuel records. It’s now easy to find the aircraft history and what has happened with that aircraft while on the ground.

There is also a more detailed record for malfunctions that have occurred on the aircraft and a signature space. It is not a mandatory requirement from the regulator to have an electronic signature on these records but we decided to add this function for handwriting on the records because, in the past, on the paper logs, we signed our names to release the aircraft. Changing to the electronic system, engineers wanted to keep the signature so that they would have the confidence to release the aircraft. That they wanted to retain that aspect of the legacy culture was interesting.

Another function in the eLog is the ground Dashboard through which office Flight at status a glance, from workersStatus can alsoand see Defect the aircraft (figure 11)… office.

Figure 12

This is an IBM App, on the left, from which we can know what defects are on which aircraft and the task cards for the turnaround check. On the right are the cards for the defect records using the same design as the paper system so as not to confuse people between the digital and paper versions because some aircraft are still flying with paper. Common designs and input methods are being carried in to digitalization.

Flight Status

Open DD

Figure 11: Flight Status and Defect at a glance, from the office.

Expiry Date

WORKING WITH THE REGULATOR

The final part of this article deals with working with the local regulator (figure 13) which, in Japan, is the JCAB (Japan Civil Aviation Bureau).

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Working with Local Regulator (JCAB)

CASE STUDY: JAL

Lessons learned

2016-2017

The first lesson was to start communications with the regulator as early as possible; that is the most important thing, to establish an approval process to work with them. Also, actual demonstrations and simulations work better than tons of papers. Of course, there is a place for explanatory papers but demonstration is most powerful.

• Working Group – JCAB and major Japanese Careers • How to Change Japanese Regulations?

• Study – FAA/EASA/ICAO regulations • WG issued the repot 2018

8 July, 2019 – Final Inspection with JCAB

• JAL started to work with JCAB to make new regulations and approval process based on the WG’s report.

Our target was not in and of itself to go paperless but to achieve that Zero-ZeroHyaku (0-0-100) goal as our ultimate target Paperless was the means to achieve our objective, not the end in itself. Working with the regulator, from the beginning we realized that seeing is believing plus, although the cockpit crew and engineering do different things, with good communication they can easily understand each other and work together. Digital transformation makes people happy; our engineers are happy to use the devices and the solutions. A paperless solution works best if the engineers are involved with creating the Applications because, having been involved in the transformation, they will then easily accept the new system.

2019 • APR : Issued - JCAB’s new circular • May- July : JCAB’s approval process including full day demonstration/simulations to show how system works Lessons & Learns • Start communications with regulatory as earlier as possible!

• Make the approval process with them!

• Actual demonstrations (simulation ) worked really well (than tons of papers)!

Figure 13

CONCLUSION

YUKI NAKAI

©Japan Airlines, ALL rights reserved.

Starting from 2016-17, a working group (WG) was established with JCAB and the major Japanese carriers to consider how to change Japanese regulations. At that time, we didn’t have regulations of the sort that FAA, EASA, ICAO had to cover the latest technology developments so we wanted to create our own regulations but started with the FAA/EASA/ICAO regulations from which the working group issued a report. Then, in 2018, JAL started to work with JCAB to make new regulations and approval process based on the WG’s report. The most important things to show were the devices and the actual design of the system — seeing is believing. At first the group from JCAB didn’t understand these developments (what is digitalization, what is the goal in digitalization) but once they knew about that (‘this is the application’, ‘this is the concept of the software’) they could easily understand and we could negotiate the approval process.

In April 2019, JCAB issued a new local circular to cover the use of digital applications for data records then, in May to July of that year, rolled out its approval process which includes a full day demonstration/simulations to show how system works (JAL’s final approval day is in the photograph at top right of the figure). We had to show how engineers behave with digital records using a parallel run of an actual aircraft operation with a 45 minutes turnaround plus what involvement there would be from the cockpit crew and cabin crew as well as the maintenance crew; showing how they do the jobs with paper and then using the new records system.

Yuki joined JAL in 2002 as an Aircraft Engineer then, in 2007-2008 joined the migration team implementing JAL’s 1st ERP system. In 2008 he was appointed Project Manager — Aircraft Cabin Interior and, in 2013, Director — Fleet Transaction /Procurement. Since 2017 Yuki has been Senior Director — IT Planning, leading 30 staff to achieve 24/7 Operations of the M&E System and digital transformation of aircraft maintenance including predictive maintenance and AI.

JAL ENGINEERING

JAL Engineering is the wholly owned Maintenance and Engineering Division of Japan Airlines (JAL), managing 100% of JAL aircraft and providing MRO services to more than 50 global operators.

ULTRAMAIN

Ultramain Systems delivers simple mobile paperless electronic logbook ELB software along with a comprehensive suite of MRO / M&E software. A proven aviation software provider, Ultramain has aircraft M&E / MRO customers running paperless, end-to-end solutions, from the cockpit to the ground, with solutions covering the aircraft logbook, line and base maintenance operations, and MRO operations.

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 41

AIRCRAFT MRO: VENDOR JOB CARD

VENDOR JOB CARD: ATP CASEBANK

Dr. Mike Profit explains how ATP CaseBank’s SpotLight troubleshooting solution is helping the industry’s workhorse aircraft, the Boeing 737NG Mike joined ATP CaseBank in 2019, from WorkWave, prior to which, he was VP of Product Development at Systech. He was a General Manager for Symantec and has also held senior roles in the US and the UK where he focused on operational efficiencies, product management processes, and taking software concepts to commercial solutions. Mike holds a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology, both from the University of London.

Aircraft IT: Your name, your job, and the name of the business?

Mike Profit: Mike Profit, Chief Product Officer, ATP CaseBank Aircraft IT: How did SpotLight for the Boeing 737NG get started?

MP: In 1998, our software division developed a technology to improve fault isolation and capture field experience, and it grew to what is known today as SpotLight®. Originally designed for OEMs, the SpotLight solution has guided troubleshooting and promoted knowledge sharing amongst mechanics on the Airbus A220, Gulfstream corporate aircraft,

and off-board troubleshooting for Lockheed Martin’s F35 Lightning II. It was at one of our user conferences where a major US-based airline client of our ChronicX® repetitive defect analysis solution asked about SpotLight’s capabilities for a specific fleet of their aircraft. With one of the largest fleets of Boeing 737NG in operation globally, they wanted the ability to streamline troubleshooting as well as share knowledge amongst their various teams of technicians. So, we got to work in building a SpotLight database with every possible solution for fixing a Boeing 737NG. The result was a curated and sophisticated off-the-shelf diagnostic AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 42

troubleshooting solution for this workhouse aircraft, with essentially zero implementation time for customers.

Aircraft IT: What is SpotLight and what makes this new version unique?

MP: SpotLight is a guided troubleshooting application that helps technicians diagnose the right problem more accurately and presents the right solution to ensure a first-time fix. It consists of a diagnostic reasoning engine which sits on top of a series of solution databases. For our OEM clients, these databases were curated specifically for their specific engine, frame, and more. The reasoning

AIRCRAFT MRO: VENDOR JOB CARD

“For the Boeing 737NG version of SpotLight, the reasoning engine is the same, but the solution database comes pre-configured with all of the solution options for this specific aircraft. This allows it to be implemented faster than a custom-built database, which was traditional for other SpotLight configurations in the past.” engine guides the technician through the process to diagnose the problem while the dedicated solution database presents the right option to fix or resolve the issue.

For the Boeing 737NG version of SpotLight, the reasoning engine is the same, but the solution database comes pre-configured with all of the solution options for this specific aircraft. This allows it to be implemented faster than a custom-built database, which was traditional for other SpotLight configurations in the past.

Aircraft IT: What has the greatest achievement been to date for clients, and why?

MP: It is definitely the ability for the application to bring fleet-wide experience directly into the troubleshooting process. The result is increased first-time fix success, decreased no-fault-found parts replacements, and a reduced mean-time-torepair. For airlines relying on their Boeing 737NG fleet to be safe, profitable, and always on-time, the return on investment from these three elements was easy for our launch client to achieve in a short period of time.

Aircraft IT: What are some disappointments and what have you learned from them?

MP: Certainly, the amount of time it took for our team to build this first version for an airline’s specific fleet need. This was a new venture for us, and we took a significant amount of time to build, test, and

work with our launch client so that future airlines could receive an out-of-the-box solution. Our team worked many long hours and we are very proud of the end result!

Aircraft IT: In a sentence, how would you summarize what this new offering does for aircraft maintenance customers?

MP: In the past, aircraft maintenance had to rely on traditional static fault isolation decision trees which pull a mechanic through the same procedure regardless of known conditions. The SpotLight solution uses a case-based reasoning engine to guide the troubleshooting process in a more effective and efficient manner. By incorporating time, cost and the frequency of all potential root causes, the Spotlight solution presents mechanics with the most logical troubleshooting path through an easy to use question and answer interface.

SpotLight also includes expert tips on how to perform tests and links to the airline’s FIM, AMM, and wiring documents to ensure a mechanic has everything needed to complete the troubleshooting

quickly and accurately.

Aircraft IT: What will be the next big thing in maintenance Aviation IT? MP: Expectations from maintenance professionals on an improved user experience. This is something we continue to work on and will be making great strides with over the coming year. The industry isn’t used to simple and easy-to-use technology. We believe there is an immense opportunity to make aviation software more enjoyable for the end user and this is the focus of our team here.

Aircraft IT: What do you want your customers to say about SpotLight 737 NG? MP: That SpotLight 737 NG helps them keep their passengers safe, their aircraft departing on time, and the resulting impact this has on their service. We’d like to hear that they are thrilled with the competitive advantage given by SpotLight 737 NG, and its impact on the bottom line.

Aircraft IT: Dr Mike Profit, thank you for your time.

“The SpotLight solution uses a case-based reasoning engine to guide the troubleshooting process in a more effective and efficient manner.”

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 43

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

FL Technics steps into the future of training Ramunas Paškevičius, Head of IT and Innovations at FL Technics explains the Implementation of Next Generation Mechanics Training using Virtual Reality (VR)

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 44

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

I

n this article, I want to share our experience at FL Technics with using Virtual Reality (VR) as part of our training process, something quite new to MROs. FL Technics is still at a very early stage in understanding how this technology can help us but, with what we know already we strongly believe that it will work.

One thing that led us to this conclusion is the expected future requirement for technical staff as illustrated in figure Technical staff 1.forecast

Russia & Central Asia

Europe

North America

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America

52 000

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380 000*

69 000 Africa 27 000

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266 000

Source: Boeing, 2019 *FLT projection

Figure 1: Technical staff forecast

The map predicts that, in the next ten or twenty years, there will be a dramatic increase in demand for MRO mechanics. What that means for an MRO organization like FL Technics is that we’ll need to prepare increasing numbers of mechanics with the need to attract people from different industries who will need to be retrained. Readers will understand that training or even retraining an engineer or skilled mechanic takes a lot of time. In FL Technics’ case, in order to get what we call a level 1 mechanic authorized to work in our hangars takes up to six months. However, while customers might not wish to have a trainee working on their aircraft for those six months, we will still need to be paying their salary.

So our objective was to find a way to reduce the training period to weeks rather than months but with no loss of quality and we believe that virtual reality will help with that.

FL Technics is expanding very fast from its origins in Lithuania; not just in numbers but also with its growing global presence (figure 2).

Click on the image above to find out how FL Technics is implementing next generation mechanics training using VR

“…our objective was to find a way to reduce the training Our infrastructure period to weeks rather than months but with no loss of quality and we believe that virtual reality will help with that.”

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Vilnius International Airport, Edit Master text styles Lithuania

Kaunas International Airport, Lithuania

Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level 4 x narrow-body a/c 4 x narrow-body a/c Or 2 x A330

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Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia

3 x narrow-body a/c

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FL ARI Taiping International Airport, Harbin, China

4 x narrow-body a/c

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Figure 2: Our infrastructure

Established in 2013 with just one hangar at Vilnius International Airport in Lithuania, in 2014, FL Technics opened a second hangar in Kaunas, also

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 45

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

Lithuania. By 2016, realizing the potential of the Asian market, we established a facility in Indonesia with the view to transferring our knowledge, experience, quality and standards to the Asian market. One of the biggest obstacles was how to work with the local people maintaining our very high standards. We know it’s a different culture but we needed to achieve the same results as in Europe. The most recent project, which has been very successful, is to open a hangar in China at Taiping International Airport. We see these steps as just the beginning for the expansion of FL Technics but it further reinforces that we’ll need to standardize training for mechanics; maintaining the same quality and reducing the training period.

In all this, our focus is notsatisfaction only on maintaining Customer results aircraft but to aim for the highest quality as can be seen from our customer satisfaction results in figure 3.

77

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instead of using their own facilities. That tells us that we’re doing the right things in the right way. To maintain that in the future we’ll need to find ways and opportunities for utilizing new technologies. It’s no longer enough to work in old-school ways including with training. Plus we also have a Part-147 organization as our training organization where instructors still go into the classrooms where there are still old paper training posters. That has to change and we need to move forward; but the first consideration when looking at the virtual environment is its availability.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR USING VR IN TRAINING

Whether we have 20 or 50 instructors, they can support only 20 classrooms at a particular time which is limiting on the space available for training and limiting on the number of students who can trained.

The first thing that comes to mind is Opportunities VRbefor training how to show students what can happen in a real environment in risky places. For instance, working on the emergency doors or something like that, there is a risk that if things are done in the wrong sequence, an explosion of the escape slide can be triggered within the hangar (figure 4).

Click to edit Master title style Ability to train mechanics for various scenarios and imitate any error like in real life

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24/7 Availability for practical training and improving skills Collected data give insights how to improve training material Dramatic reduction of time needed for on job training Automated testing to measure accuracy

Figure 3: Customer satisfaction results

We monitor our customer satisfaction index each year and it’s increasing. The standard in Europe is for 60% to 70% customer satisfaction but we have now lifted our rating to around 80%. Customers choose to work with us for the quality of communication and innovative solutions, bearing in mind that FL Technics is an independent MRO so with no base load of aircraft from a parent airline. We need to compete for each customer and to retain those customers; there is only one way to do that, deliver the highest quality.

Our latest achievement in the last couple of years has been that tier 1 customers like the Lufthansa Group bring aircraft to FL Technics for maintenance

Figure 4: Opportunities VR for training

At best, that will be a financial loss, at worst it will injure the mechanic and other mechanics. We have not had any such cases in our hangars so, while all of our staff know theoretically that there is a risk, they have not seen how that explosion and deployment of the escape slide would look if it happened in the real world. Virtual reality is able to show mechanics that event and for them even to feel it.

The procedure in the demo video at the start of this article was selected for a couple of reasons one of them being the big risk: if the thrust reverser is opened

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 46

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

in the wrong configuration, you can damage the reverser, which will cost something like €100,000. So, our mechanics know that there is a risk but they have never seen how it would look in real life. A virtual environment allows us, during the training, to show the consequences of that mistake.

Next, if mechanics are able to be available for training 24/7, it means that there is no need for an instructor sitting next to the trainee and explaining the steps and procedures. The trainee can go inside the virtual environment and undertake training processes. Again, the example in the video is a real case in FL Technics’ hangars. The procedure shown is performed only ten or 15 times a year in a hangar, so if there is a need to get some real experience, then the trainee will need to wait until a customer orders that task, then go to his or her supervisor to request to see how this procedure looks. However, the trainee won’t be allowed to do a physical execution of the procedure. It takes time. In a virtual environment, the trainee can put on the headset and practice the procedure or task hundreds of times.

During the time when people are training, a lot of data can be collected.

Current technologies in a virtual environment allow the tracking of many things.

The individual trainee’s movement, their reactions, their decisions, exactly where they are looking… This information can then be used to, for example, increase the quality of training material. So, if you, say, get data showing, or can see, that a trainee is looking for a particular tool but doesn’t know what it looks like, then the training provider might make a decision to add material to that specific training to show what the required tool looks like or where to look for it. It gives insights which would not be possible in a traditional learning environment because, as an instructor or training designer, you’ll never get feedback from the mechanics you trained and are now working in the hangars.

The main goal that we were seeking at FL Technics was to reduce the time of on-the-job training or even to eliminate it. That’s an ambitious goal because there are authorities who are not keen to look at these technologies to replace on-the-job training with a virtual reality environment where the person who’ll get the experience will not actually touch a real aircraft.

In that context, the latest thing with this technology is automated testing. The

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 47

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

system or artificial intelligence (AI) can look at a trainee’s behavior in a particular situation and address that because virtual reality can simulate some things. Now we’re working on one new topic for the general visual inspection where dents will appear randomly on the aircraft: the trainee, if they’re new and have never before done that, needs to find them and identify what they look like. The system will be able to analyze how the mechanic looks for the dents, where their attention point is, how they perform, what tools they use and so on, and will provide a result. We believe that this technology will work because there is Edgar Dale’s Learning Pyramid nothing new in how it operates (figure 5).

5%

era Av

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20%

Practice by doing Teaching others

50%

24

Discussion group

30%

Click to edit Master title style All in one solutions Mobile platforms (ARM))

er af t

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Wireless devices 6 DoF

s ate nr t io en urs ret ho ge

Audio visual

Returning to the technologies and the main items that are available or coming to market, we did some research at FL Technics which revealed some ideas that I VR 6) about how the technology will evolve would like to share withTrends readersin (figure over, probably, the next two years.

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TRENDS IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Increase of comfort Very precise tracking

75% 90%

Figure 5: Edgar Dale’s Learning Pyramid

Most readers will be familiar with the pyramid in figure 5, which tells us that, when using just lectures or training materials, the retention rate for what has been learned will only be between 10% and 20% maximum. But using VR fits into the level of ‘Practice by doing’ which has retention rates of 70% to 80%. This is based on standard material but a couple of MROs are doing experiments, testing and measuring how this will all work in the real world and say they have already achieved retention rates between 70% and 75%.

What does it mean for training procedures? It’s possible to reduce the time spent in the classroom to a third or less. It means that you can get very small theoretical subjects covered in a classroom then spend hours in a virtual reality environment to get the same results

Figure 6: Trends in VR

First of all, from our experience, if you want to use virtual reality based training, the main requirement is wireless technology and devices. We tried a headset with a wired connection and found that it limited the user’s movement. After that, we switched to wireless headsets which offered many more opportunities.

So, we have tried in one case to use a simulation in a place that was about 30-40m2 and where the user can move freely. So, if the VR user is standing next to an aircraft, it’s possible to go around the engine or around different parts without the need for, what is called in virtual reality ‘teleporting’; the user can just find and feel the scale and characteristics of a real object. I think that all simulations, all the training in the future will happen only on wireless devices.

The next thing is what we discovered from our experience and from the people who are using VR: that if you have used VR at home for entertainment simulation, it usually includes a couple of things. First of all, there will be sensors; there will also be a quite large and powerful computer and transmitting devices which, together, make up the full infrastructure. And it’s not very mobile: if you

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 48

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

want to move the classroom to another place, it takes time to do that. In light of that, we strongly believe that the device used should be completely mobile, i.e. no need for a workstation, no need for sensors, everything is in one place, one device.

The other point is that to achieve a good feeling in a virtual environment there needs to be at least six degrees of freedom so that users can move forward, backwards, left, right, can tilt and can make other movements which will all be reflected in the VR image. This will ensure that the experience is as realistic as possible. Feedback from FL Technics’ mechanics was that, if it is like a game with fixed pixels and limited movement, it will not deliver a realistic environment. There are now some evolving technologies using not mobile phones but a platform based on the mobile phone platform and, I think, in the future that will be a common thing for one overriding reason, the price. For example, good virtual environment equipment will cost around €3,000 to €5,000 a set. So if you need ten or a hundred sets, the cost will be high which, in turn, will become an obstacle to adoption. Oculus Quest (figure 6 above) costs just €300 while offering almost the same quality and the likelihood it will improve with time. So, it is likely that all virtual environments will be mobile and very cost effective.

Another issue is that the headsets are not comfortable for use over extended times during a day and can be painful at touch points. Most vendors are working hard to improve comfort so that, in future, helmets will be so ergonomic that users will not feel them and will not, even after up to six hours in that virtual environment, suffer any backache or headache. The last but very important point for collecting data and conducting examinations, is tracking. I have been surprised by a couple of new technologies that are in the pipeline or already existing for headsets that they can track not only where the users moves but also how fast and with what force, plus track a user’s eyeballs to see where they are looking. So, if the material is improving, or

giving a mechanic a situation where they need to do troubleshooting, the system can track where he or she pays attention, i.e. looking at the right point or how they find an issue in a particular situation.

Collecting the data and doing the right analysis will be essential for training, especially to convince the authorities that the entire life cycle of the training is correct.

CHALLENGES IN VIRTUAL TRAINING

Looking at the challenges that FL Technics faced; the first one concerned quality. When we asked the quality team for a path by which we could deal with the authorities because we wanted to replace the on job training for the mechanics, unfortunately, they did not really understand what was wanted. This is a big issue but there are a couple of other MROs working to get approvals not only from their local authorities but AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 49

from a wider group. For instance, we are speaking with EASA to ask them what to do to get approval, what do we need to provide or what evidence would we need to produce in order for them to have confidence in VR-based training. This was the first challenge on our journey to virtual reality: the second was FL Technics’ management. When we first put the proposal to senior management, having completed a pilot project and having a training scheme mapped out, their first question was ‘how much will this cost?’

And when we explained that the pilot cost around €20,000-30,000, for one task when just one aircraft type can require 800 tasks, they did their calculations and replied in the negative. They did not wish to build another hangar in virtual reality, it would be too expensive. So, there are a couple of approaches on which we have been working to try to provide the right numbers.

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

The first one is probably to find ways to cooperate with OEMs which can seem impossible but we need to talk as well as creating alliances with other MROs on developing content because the 3D and interactive content is the most expensive part of this. In FL Technics’ case, we built a very precise copy of the hangar so that users feel that the virtual environment is the same as the real world environment that they’re used to. Content sharing might be a way to achieve lower costs plus there are a couple of things we discovered. It is not necessary to have all tasks in the VR solution but it is important to find particular tasks with which there is a high degree of risk, such as the already mentioned deployment of escape slides, or thrust reverser or other tasks which can damage the aircraft. In such cases, money for VR is not a problem because, if an aircraft is damaged during maintenance, it will be necessary to delay work until it is fixed and customers will not be happy to be told that delivery will be two days late because we made a mistake. In

a case like that, it’s not just about the money but about our reputation.

The second thing is how often a particular task will appear in the hangar. For instance, if it will be a year before the mechanic will get the chance to work with and gain experience of a particular task, the MRO will need to continue to pay him or her until they get the chance which will be a significant cost for the business. So, these will be key points in discussions with management on how to overcome the concerns about cost.

The main challenge that we faced, though, was to engage people to use this technology. In FL Technics’ hangars, there are two types of people: the older and experienced ones who have been working for twenty years or more in MRO, and the younger ones who have only just been certified. The young ones are keen to use the technology and actually enjoy it. The older ones are more resistant to VR, wanted to continue to gain their experience on actual aircraft: they did not care about the cost but AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 50

simply wanted to do their job, maintain aircraft. So, without engagement, nothing will be achieved because when you build a realistic VR model, you need feedback from users.

In the case of FL Technics for this pilot project, there were three certifying staff people, one person from Quality Control and around ten mechanics to collect the feedback from them. The Quality people pointed out those virtual elements that didn’t look very realistic; the mechanics said that some actions such as how they held their fingers to open latches were wrong or the device’s feedback was not in the right place on the screen. As a result of those feedbacks, we addressed all of the concerns raised.

Without involving the users and others around the business in any creation of training material, it will be impossible: even IT experts and training instructors will not be able to create material without these feedbacks.

Finally, about the technology: there are a number of businesses involved in the virtual reality and gaming market. We had to choose between the 3D engines and our idea was to go as realistic as possible. In that, we went with Unreal Engine which, at a certain point, was the best at recreating 3D images. As a result, we have an 8000m² hangar in virtual reality even with marks of wear and tear on the walls and on the floor… everything is copied as in the real hangar. It is important to have something this realistic so that people feel it’s nothing special, everything is what they would commonly see in real life.

Our experience also suggests that it’s best to carefully choose the partners who are producing your content. We had two opportunities to go with cheaper ones, students, or to go with professionals who have been in VR for a couple of years or more.

We sent them the same task to create and the students did it much cheaper and faster but it was really like Minecraft, not as realistic as we wanted.

Against that, the professionals delivered something that was 95 percent realistic.

CASE STUDY: FL TECHNICS

LESSONS LEARNED

If readers are planning to do something in their shops, hangars or even training for airline personnel, the first thing is not to start programming things but contact your local regulatory authorities and quality regulators at the very beginning. Tell them that you plan to implement VR-based training and ask them what they need to know before even the start. If you include them in the team, it will run much faster.

Also, when we involved quality managers only at the end of a process, we found ourselves having to redo 50 percent of the work after they pointed out what was wrong, what went against our procedures; and that extra work cost a lot.

Another lesson is to search for repeatable processes which make sense of moving to a virtual environment plus you need the right people. It’s important to attract to the project people who are willing to make organizational changes and who are innovative and passionate — they want to change the world. They’ll be engaged and prepared to work as much as is needed because they’ll enjoy participating in the project instead of being pushed into the work. Finally, it is important to select the right partner, a good partner is essential, not only as the supplier of a virtual reality solution but also who is committed to the success of your project. The partnership should be one of equals: when we had a supplier customer relationship, the supplier would finish the job when they had completed what was in the specification notwithstanding any problems that had emerged during the process. But, when dealing with virtual reality, nobody knows how to correctly specify the logic of the environment. There is no prior experience, especially in the aviation sector, how to do things correctly when specifying VR.

NEXT STEPS FOR VR IN FL TECHNICS

So, where do we plan to go from here? First of all, in Lithuania, FL Technics is building an engine repair shop and we think that an engine shop would be able to deliver a positive ROI from virtual reality training because, if you want to train a mechanic on engine repairs, you need to buy engines. And, with another shop planned in Asia, there will be the need to buy another engine because there needs to be a training facility next to the shop. We believe that VR will help us since we perform engine maintenance on a limited range of engines and engines are not as unique as aircraft so it’s easier to create standardized training for mechanics.

Also, thinking back to the start of this article we looked at future demand for people, and that, in future years, we’ll be attracting people from different industries. We’ll need to provide them with very basic training about simple things in the sector such as that some composite panels must be washed by hand, not with a pressure washer which will distort them. There are lots of examples like that and so we think there will need to be a three step program: 1. A newcomer attends a theoretical course; 2. Then they go to a practical level in order to become familiar with basic tools; 3. And finally they go to VR to go around an aircraft and perform very simple tasks.

That, we think, will be the beginning for a real life application for virtual reality. It will not cover heavy maintenance yet but will be a beginning.

Our goal is to replace some OJT (On the Job Training) with virtual reality so we’re working with the authorities to determine the acceptable path to what we want to achieve and I sense that even

“…in future years, we’ll be attracting people from different industries. We’ll need to provide them with very basic training about simple things in the sector…”

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 51

EASA is being supportive of this program, telling us what we need to change and what proofs will be needed. With this in mind, we found a local university with a scientist whose background is training so that we can undertake studies with a scientific background on real and virtual environments testing to get the results that will satisfy the authorities that the quality of training will be the same.

All of these things will enable us to move forward and be successful in this new style of training.

RAMUNAS PAŠKEVIČIUS

Prior to joining FL Technics, Ramunas Paškevičius worked with private and public sector IT projects. Since 2011, he has led FL Technics team in developing, integrating and supporting a wide range of IT solutions for MRO, sales and administration. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management as well as a Master’s Degree in International Trade, Ramunas understands what businesses expect from IT and how to ensure smooth integration of IT solutions and engagement of users.

FL TECHNICS

FL Technics is a global provider of aircraft MRO services. The company is a family member of Avia Solutions Group, the largest aerospace business group from Central and Eastern Europe with 67 offices and production stations. With over 20 years’ experience in the field, FL Technics specializes in base and line maintenance; parts and materials trading; engine, APU and LG management; full aircraft engineering and design, and technical training services.

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SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE: TITAN AIRWAYS

Real life essentials in five minute case studies Titan Airways uses CARDS® cloud based aircraft transition solution to manage aircraft sales, returns and purchases AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 52

SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE: TITAN AIRWAYS

T

his ‘Solutions in Practice’ article looks at cloudcards CARDS® software solution through the lens of a recent application with Titan Airways. So, before diving into the asset delivery project in which CARDS® has been so useful, let’s take a brief look at the subject of this case study, Titan Airways. Titan is a UK based independent airline supplying ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance), cargo and specialized flights for corporate businesses or personal needs.

The fleet includes Boeing B737/B757 and Airbus A320 family with an Airbus A330 to join shortly. The majority of this fleet is owned and as such, dependent on business needs, could be sold with relatively short notice. But the value of these owned aircraft is within the records and so how those records can be maintained is a critical issue.

USING CARDS® AT TITAN AIRWAYS Titan has used the CARDS® system for the

introduction of the A320 and A321 aircraft over the last few years. As Titan has a small Technical department, use of CARDS® and the support team provided has allowed a level of remote oversight of aircraft records. The records are progressed from initial receipt, review and issues raised, and with all of that being within one site. Unlike basic Dropbox principles, once any member of the team logs onto CARDS® we are able to review any aircraft in work; it means that, through the Cloud processes, a range of projects can be reviewed and decisions on priorities made based upon that knowledge.

This month, at the time of writing, we achieved our first return to Lessor using the CARDS® system and through close project management we have been able to ensure that return conditions are being met and any queries raised by the Lessor were answered to ensure an on-time re-delivery.

Where CARDS® succeeds for us is that, at the point of delivery, the records have been fully

reviewed and issues either closed or resolved leaving only the unresolved items to be discussed and a solution agreed. Post-delivery, we have a full suite of records that can be reviewed and transferred onto our internal Part M Management system with confidence. These would include reviews of LLP (Life Limited Part) status, AMP (Aircraft Maintenance Program), OCCM (On Condition/Condition Monitored — components) statements plus certificates where required. As a single-entry point Titan’s technical team with support from the CARDS® team is able to work with the aircraft seller/ lessor ensuring each party understands where an issue might lay.

TRANSITION INTO OASES AND TRAINING FOR CARDS®

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Fly forward with us.

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 53

02/08/2019 21:45

SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE: TITAN AIRWAYS

As far as different regulators are concerned, to date most of our transitions have been within the EASA environment but considering how we have used it we do not consider other jurisdictions will pose an issue in the future. Overall, having used the CARDS® portal for the transition of eight aircraft to date, Titan Airways has found it to be an excellent tool for project management and oversight of progress allowing day to day business continuity and keeping the operation flying.

SUMMARY

on the transition into the OASES Part M management system. The data has been reviewed, checked and reaffirmed as correct whilst held in the CARDS® portal with incorrect data having been sanitized prior to loading into a live system.

As far as training the Titan team was concerned, the cloudcards CARDS® team provided sufficient training through the Cloud to allow data to be loaded by both the seller/lessor and our own team meaning the system can be populated efficiently and quickly. It’s a fairly intuitive tool and navigable pretty quickly by all staff.

USING CARDS®

Having the records fully digitized on the CARDS® platform has given us enhanced oversight for the teams involved. It allows for easier review of records and also enables the drawdown of information the

team may require. Technical Services engineers are able to fairly quickly find AD (Airworthiness Directive) and SB (Service Bulletin) statuses whilst planners delve into AMP’s and scheduled maintenance activities. The use of the standard bible helps this process along.

For most of the aircraft we have transitioned into Titan, Lessors or Sellers have respected our request to use the CARDS® portal and whilst in the past there was an element of pushback we are finding they are more willing to use the system when requested. Moreover, we have successfully used CARDS® on different aircraft types. Considering the nature of the Titan fleet profile most use has been for the A320 family although as previously mentioned we are returning our B767 to the Lessor and bringing an A330 into the fleet through the CARDS® portal.

“Titan Airways has found it to be an excellent tool for project management and oversight of progress allowing day to day business continuity and keeping the operation flying. ” AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 54

A key consideration for Titan was platform security and reliability and the CARDS® platform met all our requirements here. The system is built on Salesforce and the records within the system sit on Box.com so the cloudcards team have built a best in class platform when it comes to security and usability. The support from the cloudcards team is excellent from initial project set up to training and we find them very responsive with regard to any day to day queries.

DAVE BUNKER, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, TITAN AIRWAYS

Having 40 years’ experience in the aviation industry mainly between British Midlands Airways and Titan Airways, Dave has been exposed to a wide variety of roles in line maintenance, Maintenance Control, aircraft transitions and management positions driving a keenness for safety improvements and introduction of new technologies where possible to ensure both certifying engineers and technical support staff have the best level of data available.

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CASE STUDY: AMP and RAMCO

AMP MRO Parts replacing Inventory with data David Rieth, Airline MRO Parts (AMP) and Manoj Singh, Ramco Aviation explain how a state-of-the-art system supports the management inventory, purchases and more

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 56

CASE STUDY: AMP and RAMCO

R

eplacing inventory with data, speed, and automation is the nirvana that many have tried to attain rather unsuccessfully, until now. In this article, we’re going to look at how this concept has been implemented in a hyper-connected mode at AMP. Below is a brief introduction to AMP, their business model, challenges, and key requirements.

ENABLING ZERO INVENTORY AT AMP

AIRLINE MRO PARTS (AMP)

Zero Inventory Models Enabled at AMP

AMP is the purchasing agent and onsite consignment partner for MRO Holdings which includes Aeroman in El Salvador, TechOps Mexico, and Flightstar Aircraft Services in Jacksonville, Florida. Aeroman makes up 35 of the 60 lines of maintenance that MRO Holdings offers. AMP’s operation required a unique business model to help support MRO Holdings and its components repair shops, specifically their requirement for consumables and expendables. AMP provides on-site on consignment, purchasing consolidation, and inventory disposition for MRO Holdings, while automating these processes.

The business model that AMP was striving to achieve was to move towards the concept of Zero Inventory, i.e., either move the inventory to the customer location in terms of consignment, or keep it back at the supplier location and still be able to meet the demand and the lead time requirements from the customer, MRO Holdings.

PO to Procurement Model – Ship to AMP and Direct Ship to Customer (primary model)

Bulk Buy with Consignment at Customer

AMP’s Business Model

The business model is built around automation and consignment. With AMP’s consignment model, users pay for materials when they need it; so they don’t have to order large volumes of material in advance; it is AMP’s responsibility to make sure that the material is available when the customer needs it. That material is located on-site and available for MRO Holdings users to use. This prevents slowdowns and stoppages in the operation.

What AMP needed from a software solution was to streamline the whole consignment process where AMP had to flip thousands of purchase orders (POs) coming from MRO Holdings to PO for hundreds of suppliers, carrying out transactions every few seconds. MRO Holding users would order material from AMP and AMP, in turn, would flip those POs to its suppliers. AMP decided to use Aeroxchange to help integrate with MRO Holdings on one end and suppliers on the other. The missing piece was the automation of PO flip in the middle, and that is where Ramco’s enterprise aviation software came into picture.

“The business model is built around automation and consignment. With AMP’s consignment model, users pay for materials when they need it; so they don’t have to order large volumes of material in advance”

Speculative Buy with Consignment at Customer

Zero Inventory Supplier

Customer

Inventory owned by and at Supplier

Customer

Supplier

Inventory owned by AMP, but at Customer

Customer

Supplier

Inventory owned by AMP, but at Customer

Figure 1

Figure 1 captures these different inventory positioning models that AMP adopted to meet the end goal of zero inventory. The first inventory model in figure 1 is the common PO to Procurement model, with the only difference in this case being that inventory is maintained at the supplier. The challenge with this model is the speed or lack thereof of communication and transaction, for thousands of orders to meet the lead time requirements of the customer. The second zero inventory model in figure 1 is Bulk Buy quantity based on customer’s forecast requirements, kept at customer’s facility to meet the demand. As and when customer pulls the material from the inventory, invoice is generated for the customer. Third model is the Speculative Buy where AMP buys surplus from the market and positions it at a third party for selling to any customer. The sale of the inventory in this case triggers invoice generation.

HOW THE NEW SOLUTION SUPPORTS THE BUSINESS

In this article, we have explained how Ramco solution was designed to meet the first inventory model — PO to procurement model — in a hyper-connected and automated manner. From a technology perspective, the requirement was to have a ‘zero touch’ experience, for order to cash process involving thousands of PO transactions, shipments, and invoicing – flowing from AMP’s customers to suppliers and back. Ramco solution was placed is at the core of this end-to-end

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 57

CASE STUDY: AMP and RAMCO

business process, in integration with Aeroxchange to connect with AMP’s customers and suppliers. Figure 2 and Figure 3 offer two views of this process.

For the implementation of Ramco solution, the suppliers selected were those they were already part of Aeroxchange network.

Enabling a high volume, High Speed, Fully Automated, multi-enterprise Integrated Solution ZERO Touch – Order to Cash Process Customer

Supplier Ramco Solution

Purchase Order

Sale Order

Customer Part Contract

Customer Shipping Note

Shipping Notification Goods Receipt

Supplier Part Contract

PO Validation

Invoice Received

Automated Purchase Order Advance Shipping Note

Auto Goods Receipt Creation Customer Invoice after Auto MarkUp on Supplier Invoice

Invoice

Figure 2

Zero Touch – Order to Cash Process End Customer PO From AMP’s customer

End Supplier

Distributor Sale Order

Purchase Order

PO Flip – Zero Touch

Start

Customer Part contract

PO to End Supplier

Supplier Part contract

Automatic -Zero Touch

Customer Shi Shipping note

Automatic GR - Zero Touch

Goods Inward

PO Validator generates receipt data flat file

Advance Shipping Note

Advance Shipping Note GR

Flat file in SFTP Supplier Invoice

End

Customer Invoice Sent

Figure 3

The module from Aeroxchange to which Ramco connected, both on the customer side and supplier side, was AeroBuy. The purchase order is released by, in this case, MRO Holdings or Aeroman or Flightstar. It goes into the Ramco instance of AMP, where lot of checks happen and business rules get applied depending upon the MRO Holding entity from where the PO is received. This customer PO, is then automatically converted into Sale Order within Ramco, and then the ‘magic’ happens with a unique Ramco functionality called a PO flip, wherein, the business logic is applied to the Sale Order, along with all the terms and conditions of customers and suppliers, including supplier-part mapping, the choice of preferred supplier based on the past performance, etc. to determine the right supplier for that transaction and then flip it to create a PO for supplier, which then gets passed on to the supplier through Aeroxchange.

Once the supplier has made the shipment, the process is redirected to Ramco where a shipping note is created, to be sent to the customer based on the information gathered. Once the goods are received by the customer, the information comes back into Ramco where a goods receipt is automatically generated. This goods receipt is matched with the PO, a very important part of the business process enabled by the new Ramco solution. As a last step of the process, when the invoice is sent from the supplier to AMP, it enters into Ramco through Aeroxchange integration, and a three-way matching is performed. Also, AMP has the ability to apply a mark-up before invoicing back to the end customer All these are regular business processes that happen in any organization but the key differentiator here is the complete automation of the process. There is only a handful of people in the procurement organization, with the added challenge of thousands of POs flowing back and forth between AMP’s customers and suppliers, with almost zero inventory. This is the essence of the whole solution that has been deployed, enabling a high volume, high speed, fully automated transactions across multiple enterprises.

In addition to the happy path of the PO-Shipment-Invoice, is there are any changes to the PO by the customer or supplier, or any shipment delays, those are managed as exceptions in the system. These exceptions are captured as part of the process, and the relevant notifications are passed to customers or suppliers for further action.

Ramco Customer Invoice

Ramco Supplier Invoice

“…these are regular business processes that happen in any organization but the key differentiator here is the complete automation of the process.”

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 58

CASE STUDY: AMP and RAMCO

BENEFITS OF THE SOLUTION IN PRACTICE

This hyper-connected and automated supply chain has started providing significant and tangible business benefits to AMP which are listed below (figure 4).

AMP Order to Cash Procurement Lead Time Savings Time Consumption Pre Ramco Implementation

Time Consumption Post Ramco Implementation

Efficiency gain (%)

15 min

3 min

80%

CREATE SUPPLIER PO

2 min

Automatic

100 %

SEND SUPPLIER PO

2 min

Automatic

100%

RECEIVE PARTS

5 min per Goods Receipt

0 min (Bulk processing with PO Validator)

100%

CONFIRM ISSUE OF PARTS

1 min / Issue

Automatic (5 min /1000 records – once a month)

~100%

CUSTOMER INVOICING

5 min

5 min

Customer PO to SALE ORDER

Avg. Time Saved : 20 minutes per customer PO Figure 4

“After the new solution was implemented, it was possible to observe the complete PO to invoice process, by breaking it down into individual steps and identifying the time spent at each step — from PO to Sales Order generation, supplier purchase order creation, Parts receipt, and finally invoicing.”

After the new solution was implemented, it was possible to observe the complete PO to invoice process, by breaking it down into individual steps and identifying the time spent at each step — from PO to Sales Order generation, supplier purchase order creation, Parts receipt, and finally invoicing. It was found that on an average, 20 minutes could be saved for each customer PO through automation, which, considering the thousands of POs involved each month, amounted to a very large saving.

INTERACTIVE Click here for full product details

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 59

CASE STUDY: AMP and RAMCO

bottleneck identification in the process through continuous monitoring of operational metrics.

AMP and Ramco together achieved that elusive goal of near zero inventory through this implementation. If you would like to know more details about this solution, or in general how Ramco is empowering organizations through its digital technologies powered by AI/ML, please reach us at contact@ramco.com

DAVID RIETH

David Rieth is the Director of Business Development for Airline MRO Parts (AMP). With over a decade of business development and aviation experience, David has contributed to the aerospace industry through positions in sales, support, product development, and technical advisory. As Director of Business Development for AMP, he is currently responsible for the growth of that business’s supplier and customer relationships, sales, and marketing efforts.

MANOJ SINGH

It is important to note that the Ramco solution implemented at AMP is part of the larger digital transformation solution that Ramco has brought to the market.

Some of the key tenets of this framework are listed in figure 5.

5 key tenets of Ramco Intelligent Enterprise Application

Zero UI

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Frictionless Experience

Self Auditing Event-driven Enterprise Architecture (ANA) Systems

Figure 5

One of the tenets of digital transformation is Frictionless Experience. The hyper-connected and automation solution at AMP is one of the examples of frictionless experience which cuts across the boundary walls of organization. The other tactical example would be facial recognition for the sign-off by aviation users carrying out aircraft inspections. Zero UI, another tenet, is the concept which enables business transactions to be carried out without logging into a system. Transactions can be done through usual emails and notifications and mobile chatbots that Ramco has enabled. AI/ML is used for automating and predicting a lot of data entry in the processes. Self-auditing is the process of

Manoj Singh has two decades of experience in software, consulting, and business management. At Ramco, he heads the business for Ramco Systems Corporation in the US and Americas and has been instrumental in driving thought leadership and significant business growth in the US. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Masters in Industrial Engineering, and an MBA in Information Management.

AIRLINE MRO PARTS (AMP)

Airline MRO Parts (AMP) is an industry leader in purchasing consolidation, inventory disposition, and onsite inventory management. Focused on consumable and expendable inventories, AMP has built a strong foundation of long-lasting relationships with an extensive list of global suppliers. With a global footprint, AMP is able to service customers around the world, providing highquality inventory services which enable them to operate more effectively.

RAMCO AVIATION

Ramco Aviation software offers Maintenance solutions on cloud and on premise with multi-tenant capability and next-gen mobility, catering to the needs of Airlines, Heli-Operators, MROs and Charter operations. Next-gen mobility solutions for maintenance operations are available through an app ecosystem where MRO supervisors, mechanics, pilots, storekeepers and customers can seamlessly execute critical operations on the go, from anywhere, anytime.

INTERACTIVE GIVE US YOUR OPINION CLICK HERE TO POST YOUR COMMENT INTERACTIVE SUBSCRIBE HERE CLICK HERE TO READ ALL FUTURE EDITIONS

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 60

MISSED AN ISSUE OF MRO?

CLICK ON THE COVER TO FLY BACK IN TIME NOW… WHITE PAPERS: ICF • APSYS • IBM • CASE STUDY: FIRST AIR

CASE STUDY: AIR FRANCE-KLM GROUP • WHITE PAPER: LAMINAAR AVIATION INFOTECH • SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE: ATP CASEBANK CASE STUDIES: JAZZ AVIATION • COOPESA

JULY-AUGUST 2019 • V8.3

WINTER 2019-2020 • V8.5 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2019 • V8.4

eMobility and paperless solutions at First Air

In the eye of the digital storm

The experience of implementing a new solution and the benefits that followed

We’ve come a long way but there’s still many challenges to face beyond the digital eye-wall

Where are we today?

A smarter supply chain

The current state of play for new technologies, digital and big data solutions

PART 2: Changes in MRO make working together more important

NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY UPDATES • HOW I SEE IT • MRO SOFTWARE DIRECTORY

A digitally well-maintained cabin at KLM

Digital lease returns

Faster and better processes mean increased cabin quality

Jazz Aviation gains value from a new transaction tool

Coopesa benefits from a new system

Better MRO management lifts effective to efficient

Making the most of a system How I see IT

Identifying recurring faults

Teaching machines to see patterns

AI and advanced analytics solutions

A roadmap for development and delivery

NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY UPDATES • VENDOR JOB CARDS • HOW I SEE IT • MRO SOFTWARE DIRECTORY

NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY UPDATES • VENDOR JOB CARD • HOW I SEE IT • MRO SOFTWARE DIRECTORY

AIRCRAFT IT MRO V8.3 JULY-AUGUST 2019 CASE STUDY FIRST AIR WHITE PAPERS ICS • APSYS • IBM

AIRCRAFT IT MRO V8.4 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2019

CASE STUDY JAZZ AVIATION • COOPESA PLUS HOW I SEE IT • VENDOR JOB CARD

AIRCRAFT IT MRO V8.5 WINTER 2019-2020

CASE STUDY AIR FRANCE–KLM GROUP WHITE PAPERS LAMINAAR AVIATION INFOTECH

AIRCRAFT IT MRO: HOW I SEE IT

HOW I SEE IT:

Digital threads and twins in MRO Allan Bachan VP, Managing Director, MRO Operations, ICF.

I

n recent times, there has been a lot of discussion around digital threads and digital twins. Although this may give the perception of something new, the philosophies of the digital thread and twin have been in practice for some time. We will explore what these really mean, offer some perspectives, and reflect on how we can collectively better realize gains from their use.

Definitions

A digital twin is the virtual representation of a product, asset or system; which exactly mimics the physical object with current, as-built and operational data.

The digital thread refers to a communication and data flow framework that allows an integrated view of a product’s or asset’s data throughout its AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 62

complete lifecycle.

Together, the digital thread and digital twin include as-designed requirements (validation, certification and calibration records), as-built data, as-operated data, and as-maintained data.

Digital twin technology is commonly thought to have been developed in 2002 when the phrase was coined by Michael Grieves at the University of

AIRCRAFT IT MRO: HOW I SEE IT

Michigan. However, twinning has been a concept practiced by NASA since the 1960s. For example, this was how NASA was able to assess and simulate conditions on Apollo 13, which was over 200,000 miles away. Back then, the ‘twin’ was more of a physical rather than a virtual replica.

Arising from the development of the Internet of Things (IOT), from 2017 onwards, digital twins became even more pertinent and are prominently relevant today.

The phrase digital thread was coined at Lockheed Martin to describe using 3D CAD (computer-aided design) data to directly drive CNC (computer numerically controlled) milling or composite programming systems for carbon fiber placement. In both cases, the physical output is the result of an unbroken data link that originates from the original computer model of the respective part. The unbroken data path was the digital thread.

A consortium of aerospace and defense manufacturers gathered in 2011 to discuss the digital thread concept for the first time. The goal of their newly formed Computational Manufacturing Alliance (CMA) was to find common ground where both makers and users of the technology who needed to create a digital thread could work out data interchange issues.

The U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) is working with stakeholders in advancing the digital thread philosophy. It defines the digital thread as “a way for different machines in a manufacturing process to all follow the same set of digital instructions.” This is slightly different from Lockheed Martin’s original definition, but more holistic.

manufacture processes are more digitally mature than the operate, maintain and retire processes.

In fact, there is a noticeable drop in the digital thread maturity between the Manufacture and the Operate functions in the cycle and another between the Operate and the Maintain functions as shown below.

Applications

Needs

For simplicity in this context, we will specify the digital thread as that which is unbroken throughout the following cycle: • Ideate; • Design (or Engineer); • Manufacture (or Produce); • Operate; • Maintain (or Service); • Retire.

Aircraft design and manufacture has been paperless since the 1990s. For example, the Boeing 777 was conceptualized in 1990 and first rolled off the production line in 1995 using 100% digital blueprints.

A full digital thread from ideation through to the first flight and delivery of the B777 aircraft continues to be one of pride for Boeing. The B777 is also frequently dubbed the ‘most successful aircraft in aviation’. Throughout the protype production, and for all subsequent aircraft, digital twins with digital threads have existed — up to Boeing’s handover to operators.

One observation in the realm of civil aviation is that the ideate, design and

In a 2019 Cap Gemini survey of ‘Digital Aviation in MRO’ conducted through the Aircraft Commerce and AircraftIT community, three (3) measures stood out: • 87.4%: “Current MRO IT solutions are average or below average”; • 78.1%: “There is significant value from closing gaps in the digital thread”; • 76.9%: “Value would be received if OEMs close the digital thread gaps”.

We can therefore conclude: • There is a desire to improve current MRO IT solutions to ‘above average’; • Improvements will come from addressing the digital thread; • OEMs are seen as a key resource to the digital thread solution.

What we do note about surveys is that respondents may often state less than is actual either because they think achieving what’s real is improbable, or they do not know what they need until they see it.

A quick look over MRO IT system purchases over the past ten (10) years shows that there are more than 850 airlines globally which have made significant technology investments to modernize systems. Most of those airlines are hence now on systems that are still active in the marketplace which are still supported, enhanced and developed.

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 63

AIRCRAFT IT MRO: HOW I SEE IT

Are needs because those systems are still catching up to the digital thread or because the operators have not yet fully adopted such systems?

Is the perception that the OEMs are key contributors to closing the digital threads also the reality?

The OEMs are already very mature in making aircraft and engines. The real challenge is how can this translate to operations and maintenance.

So, is this not the key responsibility of the airlines, operators and MROs? Or, is it that it’s there — already provided by the OEMs — but they (airlines and MROs) do not yet see it?

Gaps

Digging further into the divide between Manufacture: Operate and Operate: Maintain, there are some things which are worth noting.

Operators have always focused on good Configuration Control and Maintenance Programs Management as important functionality when selecting MRO IT systems. We will confine our discussion here to just those two (2) aspects although there are numerous possible other gaps.

Aircraft Readiness Logs (ARLs) are now being produced automatically from RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture) data on components already assembled into the aircraft. A typical Airbus aircraft has 5000+ and a Boeing aircraft has 7000+ such parts. The ARL is a key document which is handed over from the OEM to the operator.

Enhanced data and new generation aircraft also include LSAPs (Loadable Software Aircraft Parts) information. These can be as many as 300 parts with 1400 software instances for a single B787 aircraft.

The ARL is vital to setting up an aircraft in any operator’s MRO IT system.

That said, how this is handed over and how it is ingested has many variations in practice across operators.

Operator standardization is lacking even with the same MRO IT system and the same aircraft type and model across organizations. For example, position assignments (or position codes) for the same part numbers on an Airbus A320 series aircraft configuration will differ between any two (2) operators with the same MRO system.

The current MPD and MRBR for any aircraft type are based on MSG-3 philosophy which is now 30 years old. The Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) and the Maintenance Review Board Report (MRBR) are key documents used to create the Operator’s Maintenance Programs (OMPs). Although ECM (Engine Condition Monitoring) and AHM (Aircraft Health Monitoring) have both been around for quite a while; none of the MPD tasks are of AHM or ECM type.

Inbuilt sensors and data now change the nature and value of the tasks in the MPD and consequently the OMP. Additional documentation and manuals delivered with aircraft, including the

AMM, IPC, WDM, SRM, etc. will also vary by operator or maintainer in the way they are ingested and processed into internal MRO IT systems. Keeping up with revisions is often lagging and tasks source content would vary for any OMP. Some may have seamless linkages between manuals (for example, MPD task linked to OMP and AMM which in turn is linked to the IPC) or some may have pure PDF execution documents only.

The above demonstrates how easily the digital thread may be broken on key handovers from manufacturing to operations and maintenance.

It is possible then that we are trying to manage digital assets using conventional and traditional methods and systems? Is there another way to look at this continuity issue?

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 64

AIRCRAFT IT MRO: HOW I SEE IT

Solutions

IP (Intellectual Property) between OEMs and the MROs is an ongoing discussion.

In February 2018, IATA and CFM signed a pro-competitive agreement which allows licenses to use CFM manuals and repair methodology content even if non-CFM parts are involved.

In September 2019 Airbus announced that it would charge the MROs a royalty fee on top of access fees for using its Technical Data. This was quickly retracted when it was met with resistance from the industry.

Owning and controlling the service, maintenance, and upgrades for aircraft and associated equipment is big business that can last more than 20 years, depending on the product. At stake are millions of dollars of annual maintenance — either revenue to be gained by manufacturers servicing what they build; or expenses to be re-captured by owner-operators or MROs by gaining information needed to maintain their assets themselves.

Until there is openness, collaboration and sharing, this will continue to be an area of conflict.

From a systems standpoint, there is

ALLAN BACHAN

merit to looking at digital assets management from PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and EAM (Enterprise Asset Management) standpoints since these have already been proven in the front-end processes. Inheriting the existing digital thread and twin for new aircraft deliveries may be faster and cleaner than re-creation in traditional MRO IT transactional systems. This is also related to how much IP the OEM will ‘share’ through the same IT systems.

The vendors that support the MRO IT systems should certainly also look at standardizing implementations for Configuration Control and Maintenance Programs. Perhaps it is time also for an MSG-4 which acknowledges the amount of sensors, data, IOT and connected nature of aircraft.

For now, that’s how I see IT. SIMPLIFY YOUR CHOICE BOOK A FREE CONSULTANCY SESSION WITH ALLAN TO DISCUSS THE ISSUES HERE, IN GREATER DETAIL AND IN THE CONTEXT OF YOUR BUSINESS AND CHALLENGES. INTERACTIVE GIVE US YOUR OPINION CLICK HERE TO POST YOUR COMMENT

Allan is a Vice President at ICF with 32 years of industry experience as an Aviation M&E, MRO and Supply Chain solutions and systems domain expert.

He is responsible for ICF’s MRO Operations and IT practice and he manages the Aircraft Commerce Consulting relationship with ICF. His experience includes managing application design, development, and full cycle implementation — from selection to go-live — for strategic clients in the MRO industry using different commercially available MRO IT products. In his career, Allan has fulfilled the following leadership roles: MRO IT practice and technical lead; MRO systems Product Principal; M&E and MRO Solutions Director and Manager of Technical Records, Maintenance Planning and Production Control.

Book a FREE one hour consultancy session with Allan Your chance to take advantage of expert and experienced advice. Allan is available for free one-to-one Skype consulting sessions.

These free consultancy sessions typically cover: • An overview of your current M&E / MRO Systems and processes.

• Particular problem areas unique to your company and best practice advice on how to overcome these problems.

• Expert advice on any new projects or systems you are looking to implement.

• An overview of industry M&E systems best practices and how these could benefit your company.

• Your chance to ask Allan any burning questions you may have or discuss particular projects.

How to book your FREE one hour consultancy session: contact Alllan on email: allan.bachan@icf.com or call: +1 469 467 4421 quoting ‘AircraftIT Free Consultancy Session’

M&E / MRO IT Adoption Study

The Aircraft Commerce Consulting and ICF Consulting M&E / MRO IT Adoption Study partners our experts with an airline’s or MRO’s key M&E systems team to provide additional resources and guidance, supporting the best results within the business’s processes and goals, and tailored to each company’s requirements. It can include: • How to optimize business processes and IT systems to drive greater efficiency • How to remove manual, labour intensive and paper-based tasks • Setting a framework for continuous adoption of processes and system changes • A benchmark comparison of current M&E / MRO processes systems usage versus best practice and industry standards • An evaluation of how emerging technologies (e.g.PdM and RxM) may be leveraged to improve efficiency CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 65

DIRECTORY

MRO Software Directory Key ‘at-a-glance’ information from the world’s leading MRO software providers.

IT is a powerful force but, to leverage its greatest value, it must be harnessed and directed. It must also be able to handle huge and growing data streams that record every aspect in the lives of aircraft and the processes by which they fly. This challenge has attracted the best brains and most innovative enterprises to create IT solutions for one of the most demanding working environments, Aircraft MRO and M&E. Inevitably, there are many such developers and vendors offering solutions ranging from single function `Specialist Point Solutions’ to complete `End-to-End’ solutions covering the whole process.

Only readers will know the specific requirements of their businesses but we have assembled a directory of the best MRO software providers and listed them alphabetically to make it easier for you to undertake a brief-ish (there are 35 providers and the number continues to grow) survey of the market, as a preliminary to starting on any specification and selection process. Or you might simply read it to keep up to date with what is available today.

2MoRO

ADSoftware

W: www.2moro.com T: +33 (0)559 013 005 E: sales@2moro.com

W: www.adsoftware.fr T: +33 (0)4.50.89.48.50 E: contact@adsoftware.fr

Locations: France (HQ), Canada and Malaysia

Location: France, Thailand, South Africa, Brazil

ADT: Applied Database Technology W: www.adbtech.com T: +1 (425) 466-5013 T: +1 (614) 377-9644 E: sales@adbtech.com

Location: Bellevue, Tampa USA; Istanbul, Turkey

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Aero One, Aero-Webb, BFly

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • AIRPACK

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Wings NG

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • MRO: Line, Base, Engine maintenance • Airworthiness and Fleet Management • Flight and Crew management • Material Management • ERP: Finance, Purchasing, Sales, HR

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • AIRTIME — Fleet management & CAMO • AIRSTOCK — Inventory control & Logistic • AIRDOC — Documentation management • AIRSTAT — Reliability and statistic reports • AIRWORK — Time Tracking Software

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Fleet Management • Maintenance Engineering • Material Management • Production Planning • Labor Collection, Billing

2MoRO is a software development company dedicated to the aviation market. Our teams are located in Europe, America and Asia. We work with partners and resellers worldwide and our software solutions are used in more than 20 countries.

We propose 3 different software solutions in order to fit every type and size of Aviation, Aerospace and Defense companies. Our solutions have been chosen by aircraft and engine manufacturers such as Airbus Helicopters, Dassault Aviation or Safran Group but also by aircraft operators, airlines or independent MROs. We also have a R&D department and can help you in data migration.

Aero One® and Aero-Webb® have been designed to complement your ERP solution regarding aviation and MRO specific needs. They are certified by SAP®, and Aero-Webb® can also be used as stand-alone. BFly®, our latest software, is a new way to create customized software for aviation and enables users to collaborate, design personalized screens, workflows and business processes.

ADSoftware has developed an integrated fleet management system and logistic package called AIRPACK. This 6 module system answers to the needs of aircraft and helicopters operators, as well as MRO and CAMO centres. It meets all requirements in terms of functionality, traceability, performance, aviation legislation and regulations. Today, ADSoftware counts more than 54 clients worldwide. The strength of ADSoftware is the simplicity of its products; they are Microsoft Windows® ready, Web-enabled, available in various languages and a complete training program can be done in just five days. The company also provides a 24/7 online technical support and extremely competitive pricing conditions.

APPLIED DATABASE TECHNOLOGY (ADT) is a professional services and software development firm that provides MRO software solutions for aircraft operators as well as aircraft repair and overhaul organizations. Our commitment to this business segment is proven with our software package, WINGS, designed specifically for aerospace companies. ADT has been in the software business since 1992 and has built an excellent customer reference base. Our first priority is always customer satisfaction; thus we have obtained 100% customer satisfaction since 1992. ADT has a proven record to develop reference accounts in the Aviation industry along with other high technology companies which are considered to be leaders in their fields.

At 2MoRO, we are proud to offer a very dedicated customer service, as reflected by our 95% retention rate. We work mainly on a fixed-price base and we are ISO 9001 certified for aviation software development, maintenance and support.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 66

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

DIRECTORY

AeroSoft Systems

Aerostrat

AirInt Services

AMC Aviation

W: www.aerosoftsys.com T: +1 905.678.9564 E: sales@aerosoftsys.com

W: www.aerostratsoftware.com T: +1-888-558-2860 E: info@aerostratsoftware.com

W: www.airintservices.com T: +33 6 14 39 81 55 E: mlopez@airintservices.com

W: www.amc-aviation.fr T: +33 6 33 27 80 38 E: contact@amc-aviation.fr

Location: Ontario, Canada; Miami, FL, USA; Austria

Location: Seattle, USA

Location: Bordeaux & Paris (France)

Location: France and Dubai

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • DigiMAINT, DigiDOC, WebPMI/DJM

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Aerros

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Cabin App, RFID App, Cargo App

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • iCare AMS, iCare SMS, iCare iTech

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Maintenance and Engineering Management • Digital Document Content Management • Business Intelligence Reporting • Business 2 Business transaction interface • Interface to Financials / Flight Operations

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Heavy/Base Maintenance Planning • Capacity/Workload Planning • Maintenance Schedule Optimization • Maintenace Event Performance Tracking • Heavy/Base Production Schedules

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Cabin Maintenance • Data Management & Analytics • Digital Solutions & Mobility • Safety Equipment Inventory (RFID)

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Full Operator / independent CAMO management • Full Operator / independent AMO/MRO management • Full Logistics / Purchase Management • QA Conformity and SMS management • Costs and invoicing management

AeroSoft Systems Inc. is unique in MRO IT, born in 1997 out of aircraft OEM digital document systems and the evolution of ATA iSPEC2200 and SPEC2000 standards.

AeroSoft has two distinct MRO IT products: DigiMAINT and WebPMI sharing a common set of optional modules for BI, B2B, Finance and Flight Operations, plus DigiDOC, a state of the art digital content management system. AeroSoft has the unique expertise to integrate DigiDOC with any competitive MRO IT system. Strategic partners include Hexaware Technologies Inc. who are jointly going to market internationally offering large IT capacity at competitive rates.

Aerostrat is based in Seattle, WA and offers one product called Aerros, a one-of-a-kind program that manages an airline’s or MRO’s aircraft maintenance schedule. Aerros enables users to optimize the maintenance program by managing various maintenance and operational constraints, which maximizes event yield, drives costs down, and enables the organization to plan proactively, not reactively.

Aerros provides robust ‘what-if’ scenario capabilities that allow users to see the effect of different variables. This aids in making sound business decisions concerning the maintenance and fleet plan. Some of these variables are maintenance programs limits, min/target/max yield, aircraft hr/cy utilization, track/requirement compatibility, and maintenance allocations. To forecast an optimal maintenance plan within an operation, Aerros also provides a Capacity Planning feature. This feature allows users to input and view vendor capacity available and labor hour demand to better manage the labor force.

Aerros also provides easy-to-navigate scenarios with drag and drop event movement and manipulation. Scenarios can be published so others (including vendors or operators) can view the plan. Aerros provides excellent system stability and reliability with standard IT practices. It is also integrationready and designed to work as an extension of a user’s existing information systems.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

AirInt Services is a French aviation software provider created in 2011 and specialized in developing digital maintenance solutions for Airlines & MROs. Our headquarters are located in Bordeaux in the South of France, and we do also have sales offices in Paris to easily connect with all our customers.

We exclusively work in the aerospace industry because our background and our DNA is cabin maintenance. Indeed, we have accumulated decades of experience in: • Equipment removal, installation, modification and overhaul

With 20 years of experience, AMC Aviation is an EASA CAMO PART-M, EASA PART-145 and Cosulting company.

We offer an important range of services to airlines and leasing companies such as Maintenance support, engineering services, airworthiness management, civil aviation trainings, software solutions and flight operation services.

Our Moto is “Your sucess is our comitment”

• Spare part logistics, purchase and supply • Shift for A & C checks in MROs, daily & weekly checks with airlines • EASA Form 1 issue in PART 145 workshop At AirInt Services, we strongly believe that, in a challenging environment where competitivity and performance are always more important, having the modern and adequate tools to perform your missions are key to success.

This is why we are here. This is why we developed our softwares. And this is why we have several Airlines, MROs and OEMs trusting our solutions and daily using them to facilitate their maintenance activities.

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 67

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

DIRECTORY

APSYS

Aviation Intertec Services

The Boeing Company

CaseBank Technologies

W: www.apsys-airbus.com T: +33 (0) 5 61 30 99 00 E: gesine.varfis@apsys-airbus.com

W: www.aviationintertec.com T: +1 807-625-9260 E: info@aviationintertec.com

W: www.boeing.com/supportandservices T: +1 206-655-2121 E: BoeingSupportandServices@Boeing.com

W: www.casebank.com T: +1 (905) 364-3604 E: slightstone@casebank.com

Location: France

Location: Canada, Thailand, India, Greece

Location: Over 65 locations around the world

Location: Brisbane, California; Toronto, Canada; Austin, Texas; Brussels, Belguim

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • AMASIS, IBIS, Simfia and Simlog

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • RAAS & RAAS Express

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Consulting Services • Enterprise Risk Management • Digitalization and Analytics • Airline and MRO Excellence • Maintenance and Risk Management Solutions

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Production Planning and Management • Inventory and Procurement • Inspection Document Management • Reliabiliity and Performance Analysis • Financial and Flight Operations Integration

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Airplane Health Management • Business Consulting • Maintenance Performance Toolbox • Optimized Maintenance Program

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • ChronicX, Spotlight • ATP Maintenance • ATP Operation Manuals • ATP Libraries

As an Airbus subsidiary APSYS serves customers worldwide in determining leading risk management standards in close cooperation with our customers.

AIS’s RAAS system is a best-of-breed M&E solution for the evolving operator, MRO and CAMO. Our solution is 100% browser-based and tablet friendly, compatible with all major browsers including Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. RAAS includes industry-leading paperless functionality such as task-step level signature, parallel inspection program management per type, digital part certification handling, iPAD/Android /Windows tabletbased EML, electronic maintenance status board, centralized document library, wireless barcode scanning, and much more.

RAAS offers flexible pricing and system hosting options making it suitable for a wide range of customer types and sizes.

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Technical Content Management • Vehicle Health Mana gement • Maintenance Optimization Consulting

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Maintenance Operations Solutions • Reliability Tools • Aircraft Troubleshooting • Business Intelligence for Aircraft • Recurring Defect Analysis

Deeply rooted in aerospace engineering, the company’s experts are involved throughout the entire lifecycle of an aircraft from design to in-service operations guaranteeing reliable and safe aircraft operations (Product Assurance & Safety). APSYS supports its customers in achieving highest security standards for their operational and Information Technology to reduce vulnerability, making sure that clients have state of the art tools and processes established to manage attacks and threats (Product Security). On behalf of customers, APSYS has defined and implemented processes and tools for controlling technical, human and operational risks. With more than 450 employees APSYS supports the aerospace industry, but also the defense, transportation and energy sectors.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. Boeing Support and Services combines airplane design and manufacturing expertise with unique access to fleet-wide operational data to offer optimization solutions.

With these offerings, Boeing addresses the evolving need for integration and optimization of data and information across the aviation ecosystem to empower smart decision-making.

The portfolio includes services and solutions for flight operations, maintenance & engineering and procurement organizations to optimize the operational efficiency of airplanes and operations.

Boeing has more than 250 customers for its optimization solutions. The portfolio draws on solutions from a family of Boeing companies: AerData, Inventory Locator Services and Jeppesen, serving operators of Boeing and non-Boeing airplanes.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 68

CaseBank Technologies Inc., a Division of ATP provides troubleshooting, reliability and defect trend analysis, so engineering and service teams can accelerate equipment repair, increase uptime, reduce warranty costs and enhance product support and performance.

ATP is focused on maximizing the value of aircraft and aviation operations by providing tools, information and insight that optimize aircraft availability and operational compliance.

Over 40+ years in the aviation industry ATP has developed expertise in managing and analyzing content for maintenance, operations, and compliance. ATP adds value through smarter reference content and historical documentation, integrated into decision support, productivity and advisory services to deliver efficient operations.

The ChronicX® innovative solution for detecting and managing recurring aircraft defects, identifies, consolidates, and ranks recurring/chronic defects to uncover hidden trends.

It employs advanced NLP and fuzzy logic to analyze PIREPS and MAREPS and generate ‘clusters’ of potential recurring defects to help prioritize costly and critical problems.

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DIRECTORY

CloudCARDS

Comply365

Commsoft

Conduce

W: www.cloudcards.ie T: +353 (0) 61748767 E: sales@cloudcards.ie

W: www.comply365.com T: +1 (800) 206-2004 E: info@comply365.com

W: www.commsoft.aero T: +44 (0) 1621 817 425 E: nsg@commsoft.aero

W: www.conduce.net T: +44 333 888 4044 E: info@conduce.net

Location: USA

Location: Tiptree, Derby, Norwich, Gatwick, UK; Australia; India

Location: Nuneaton, Warwickshire

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED ProAuthor (XML-Based Authoring Solution) Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Digital Briefing Document & Communication Manager Training Solution (LMS Learning Manager)

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • OASES

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • eTechLog8 • eCabinLog8 • eTraining8 • eCentral8

Location: Limerick, Ireland

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • CARDS (Civil Aviation Remote Delivery System) • AMS (Asset Management System) KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Aircraft Asset Management • Aircraft Delivery and Re-delivery Management • Aircraft Annual Inspection Management • Aircraft Project Management • Aircraft Technical Services CloudCARDS Ltd. an aircraft delivery and asset management software provider, formed in Ireland April 2013, has an experienced team of aviation experts working together to seamlessly deliver its exceptional software products to both Airlines and Leasing Companies around the globe.

The long-term objective in CloudCARDS Ltd. is to dramatically reduce the cost of aircraft asset management and improve the oversight the owner and operator has on the asset.

CARDS® — Civil Aircraft Remote Delivery System is a software platform designed to financially manage the asset and fully project manage the technical review, aircraft physical & records audit.

AMS — Asset Management System is designed to manage the day-to-day management of the asset including utilization, maintenance reserves, alerts, forecasting, invoicing and reporting. All CloudCARDS Ltd. products are securely built using the latest cloud based technology.

After all, your aircraft operate in the clouds, so why not manage them there too?

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KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS XML-Based Authoring Solution (ProAuthor) Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Digital Briefing Flight Release Document Mgmt. and Distribution Platform Targeted Distribution w/ Compliance Tracking Comply365 delivers secure, cloud-based solutions, focusing on Authoring, EFB and Digital Briefing Solutions, as well as Targeted Distribution of Mobile Manuals.

The Authoring Solution, features ProAuthor: the aviation industry’s first and only XML-based solution for authoring, revising and distributing publications.

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • User Friendly: for all levels of expertise • Excellent Support: full support throughout the product life cycle • Scalability: can grow with your business • Cost: low ‘cost of ownership’ • Security: proven security OASES from Commsoft covers all aspects of aircraft maintenance for airlines and third-party maintainers including: inventory control; rotable tracking; demand handling; requirements planning; PO and RO processing; component and aircraft technical records; maintenance forecasting; aircraft check planning and documentation. Also, check accomplishment analysis; aircraft technical log recording; shop floor data collection; work in progress; time and attendance monitoring, and system and component reliability analysis, plus repetitive defects, sales order processing, full quotation management, invoice passing, advanced scheduling, line maintenance control, AD/SB evaluation and deferred defect management. The company provides electronic AMMs and IPCs linked electronically to, and accessible by, the system.

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Electronic Tech Log • Cabin Log • Document Viewer Conduce specializes in producing mobile applications for the aviation industry, writing native Win8/10 and IOS tablet “Touch” solutions and integrating these with responsive modern connected websites. The current flagship product eTechLog8 enables an airline to eliminate the traditional paper based tech log/cabin log and deferred defect books and is currently in differing stages of contract, trial & acceptance with various airlines. Several NAA’s are also now involved with respect to monitoring these projects, enabling the necessary approval for the eventual roll out of paperless tech log systems with multiple EASA approved airline fleets.

Comply365’s proven Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solution lets crews access mission-critical information throughout each phase of flight.

Digital Briefing helps turn planes faster for more on-time departures with instant feedback to dispatchers when the flight crew accepts a release and signs Fit for Duty.

Comply365’s full-featured Document Management and Targeted Distribution Platform boosts productivity by delivering any type of manual or document directly to any mobile device or stationary workstation.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 69

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DIRECTORY

CrossConsense

EmpowerMX

eTT Aviation

EXSYN Aviation Solutions

W: www.ettaviation.com T: +1 208-424-9424 E: info@ettaviation.com

W: www.exsyn.com T: 0031-20-760 8200 E: hello@exsyn.com

Location: Frankfurt Germany; Heusenstamm Germany

W: www.empowermx.com T: +1 866-498-3702 E: info@empowermx.com Location: Frisco TX, USA

Locations: Boise, ID, USA

Location: Amsterdam

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Aicraft Fleet View • ACSIS

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • FleetCycle® Execution Suite — MRO Manager (FCXM)

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • MISA: Complete Aviation Management Information System

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Avilytics, TITAN

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Support • Consulting • Business Intelligence solutions • App and dashboard development

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • FleetCycle® Execution Suite: Production Manager (FXPM), MRO Manager (FCXM) and Line Manager (FCXL) • Maintenance Program Manager (FCMPM), Planning Manager (FCPM), Reliability Manager (FCRM), Material Manager (FCMM), and Maintenance Intelligence (FCMI), Electronic LogBook (FCELB) • Coming Soon: FleetCycle® Executive Suite — Shop Manager (FCXS))

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Accounting • Maintenance • Inventory Management • Purchasing • Human Resources/Payroll

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Aviation Analytics solution • Aircraft Reliability Management solution • Predictive Maintenance solution • Robotic Process Automation • Data Migration • Consulting Service

The Management Information System for Aviation (MISA), is a fully integrated, and expertly supported product that provides extensive tools for an aviation company to manage all aspects of their business, including accounting, maintenance, inventory management, purchasing, flight operations, employee training, human resources, payroll, labor collection, government contracting, and flight school management.

EXSYN Aviation Solutions is specialized in the field of aircraft data, analytics & processing and provides user-friendly and innovative aviation IT solutions for aircraft reliability management and predictive maintenance. Also offered are data processing and managed services for data migration, interface design and software implementation management. They also build customized solutions and software tools if off-the-shelf products do not meet a customer’s needs.

It is a common practice for aviation companies to use multiple applications to manage their operations. Often, such applications have limited interfaces necessitating duplicate data entry — a recipe for inducing errors and decreasing efficiency. And even when interfaces exist, they can be difficult to manage and require resources to build, maintain, and support them.

Avilytics is EXSYN’s Predictive Maintenance, Aircraft Reliability, and Engineering & Maintenance KPI Solution, reducing AOG’s through informed decision making to prevent delays, cancellations and save costs.

W: www.crossconsense.com T: +49 69 4035 7600 E: contact@crossconsense.de

CrossConsense’s portfolio stretches from AMOS Support, BI-Management, Data Migration and Hosting to the products Aircraft Fleet View (progressive web app for up-to-date fleet status) and ACSIS (tool for predictive maintenance).

AMOS Support: CrossConsense has a long tradition in providing support for AMOS with one single point of contact for 1st and 2nd level. CrossConsense realizes well-planned and perfectly organized data migration projects for airline customers; plus offers Reporting and Business Intelligence Analytics for AMOS customers.

Aircraft Fleet View is a user-friendly Progressive Web App (PWA) developed by CrossConsense that gives you an always up-to-date view on your airline’s fleet status. It indicates AOGs, delays and other important information.

It provides the right level of detail to be useful but not crowded with information.

ACSIS is a powerful software tool developed to assist any airline, aircraft operator, MRO facility and OEM to avoid AOGs, delays and turnbacks, as well as improve aircraft utilization, and enhance safety. ACSIS integrates with any MRO / M&E Software solution to deliver better insights into aircraft health and potential future problems to be dealt with during scheduled maintenance.

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EmpowerMX is an aviation industry-recognized software development/consulting-services business. We are purely focused on empowering our customers with the ability to decrease the costs of making air travel safer by equipping their decision makers with reliable, real-time/globally available intelligence for minimizing maintenance turn times/ OpEx while maximizing airworthiness/profits. FCXM allows MROs, airlines, and lessors to effectively control the entire maintenance lifecycle or only the portions for which they are responsible. Airlines can jointly manage their outsourced and insourced activites like engineering reliability, QA and maintenance programs at the line, heavy and shop levels with an expected reduction in cycle times and increase in labor productivity on the magnitude of 16-30 percent. Third-party MROs can run their entire operation from bidding through contracting to invoicing.

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MISA provides the solution for these issues by standardizing, streamlining, and integrating business processes across all the various departments and functional areas within the company; and this integration improves the bottom line while providing employees a user-friendly and consistent application experience across the whole organization and access to real-time, comprehensive, and relevant information from a single system rather than from disparate sources.

MISA boasts impressive customer loyalty as evidenced by a number of aviation companies who have used MISA as their ERP system for more than two decades.

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 70

TITAN is a source independent data processing solution for data migration purposes during an MRO software implementation and for aircraft phase-in & phase-out. Because of its unique technological framework TITAN eliminates most human intervention during migration of aircraft airworthiness & maintenance data and allows repetitive usage to directly migrate fleets between MRO software systems.

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DIRECTORY

Flatirons Solutions

Gamit

IDMR Solutions

IFS

W: www.flatironssolutions.com T: +1.303.627.6535 E: info@flatironssolutions.com

W: www.gamit.co.uk T: +44 1279 818800 E: roam@gamit.co.uk

W: www.IDMR-Solutions.com T: +1-347-565-4367 E: sales@IDMR-Solutions.com

Locations: Europe, Asia, USA, Middle East

Location: London UK (HQ), Basel Switzerland, Beirut Lebanon

Location: New York/Tel Aviv

W: www.ifsworld.com T: + 613-576-2480 E: AndInfo@ifsworld.com

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED CORENA Suite

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • ROAM — Online digital airworthiness records archive and records complance manager.

• RDOC — ROAM Document OCR & Classification engine, through the use of configurable algorythems RDOC can recorgnise your documents easily, accuratly and fast.

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • InForm

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Content Management System (CMS) • Interactive Electronic Technical Publisher (IETP) • Maintenance & Engineering • Flight Operations • Tablet Solutions & Mobility Flatirons provides consulting, technology, and outsourcing for content lifecycle management (CLM). For more than 20 years, we have served global Fortune 1000 customers in aerospace, automotive, electronics, financial services, government, healthcare, and publishing. Our customer engagements help organizations efficiently deliver the right information, at the right time, to the right people by leveraging structured content and digital media — Turning Content into Knowledge®. The CORENA Suite by Flatirons is the leading content lifecycle management (CLM) solution developed specifically for organizations that rely on missioncritical data to design, manufacture, operate, or maintain complex assets over their product and service lifecycles as well as across multi-echelon business networks. For more than 25 years, the world’s leading airlines, aerospace manufacturers, OEMs, and defense organizations have relied on the CORENA product suite to create, manage, and deliver large volumes of technical information throughout its lifecycle. Today, CORENA customers rely on the CORENA suite to modernize their IT infrastructures, improve customer satisfaction, and maintain their competitive advantage.

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KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Airworthiness records archive • Status Builder • Document Indexing • Communication module • Outsourcing

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Technical Publication • Engineering Orders • Task Cards • Planning • Maintenance Programs IDMR is a global provider of easy to use and all encompassing Technical Documentation Management Solutions which have been designed exclusively for Fleet operators, MRO providers and OEM organizations. IDMR’s Technical Documentation Management Solutions have proven success in increasing operational performance and decreasing operational cost while ensuring airworthiness, safety and regulatory compliance.

Gamit was founded in 1990 to provide technical support for operators, MRO’s and leasing companies, including on spare parts, technical support, records auditing, on site representation, and technical consultancy. Through years of experience, Gamit developed ROAM, airworthiness records management solution and an online enterprise solution that is more than scanning a document into a PDF and storing on the company server. It uses advanced technologies to deliver an aviation specific document management solution. ROAM is highly scalable making it beneficial for an engineering team looking after 5 or 500 aircraft.

One of the key benefits is allowing users to have full access to an entire library of records from birth, online. This means its users can simply navigate and identify key documents and prepare an aircraft for sale, lease or lease redelivery.

The user can package up records quickly and easily, either themselves, or outsourcing the task to the ROAM support team.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 71

Locations: 60+ Worldwide

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • IFS Applications, IFS EOI, IFS Maintenix KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Fleet and Asset Management • Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (incl line, heavy, complex assembly, component repair) • 3rd-party MRO bidding, quoting, invoicing, product lifecycle management, enterprise operational intelligence IFS is a globally recognized provider of software solutions for global aerospace & defense (A&D), including airlines and fleet operators, A&D manufacturers, defense in-service support and independent MROs. IFS’s solutions support project and program-centric manufacturing; a complete spectrum of maintenance management capabilities for sea, land and air assets, from heavy, complex, and component MRO, to line maintenance or at-platform/asset support; as well as all types of procurement models. IFS’s innovative enterprise solutions are designed for the regulated A&D industry and markets where manufacturing, MRO, project and service functionality are business- and operationally-critical whilst also supporting global, core enterprise capabilities for managing finance, inventory and human resources. With flexible, modular and enterprise breadth, IFS solutions empower A&D organizations to quickly adapt and manage change whilst delivering bottom-line value, increasing efficiencies and cost savings, and safeguarding compliance. IFS customers include BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, SAAB, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, HAL, Emirates, LATAM, Qantas, China Airlines, Air France-KLM, and Southwest Airlines.

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DIRECTORY

Laminaar Aviation InfoTech

Lufthansa Industry Solutions

NVable

Orlando

W: www.lufthansa-industry-solutions.com T: +49 40 5070 30000 E: marketing.sales@lhind.dlh.de

W: www.nvable.com T: +44 141 280 0050 E: contact@nvable.com

W: www.orlandotechpubs.com T: +33 (0) 534 362 971 E: contact@orlandotechpubs.com

Location: Singapore, Denver, Bangalore, Mumbai

Location: Germany, Switzerland, USA

Location: Glasgow, UK

Location: France

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • ARMS®2.5, ARMS®NS, ARMS®on the TAB, InfoPrompt 2.5

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • DocManage Product Suite, DocSurf Mobile, EFFOM, DocCreate

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • ConNVerge for Aviation

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Orlando Suite for Tech Pubs

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Network / Commercial Planning with Optimizers • Flight Operations / Fleet Following • Flight Planning & Dispatch • Crew Operations Management with Optimizers • Maintenance, Engineering & Logistics

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • IT Solutions and Process • Consulting for MRO • Electronic Flight Operation Manuals • Airline Job Card Content Management • Predictive Analytics and Maintenance • RFID

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS Electronic Techlog Electronic Forms (Assessments) Document Management Operational Analysis Station Operational Compliance

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Cloud Aviation Document Management • OEM and company manuals XML authoring • Controls & Data Analytics • Publishing and Distribution • Web & Mobile & EFB document viewer

W: www.laminaar.com.sg T: +65 6239 0150 E: contact@laminaar.com.sg

A future-ready and fully integrated software applications suite for the aviation business: airlines, non-scheduled operators, MROs, airport operators, regulators and training facilities, with in-built optimizers, business intelligence (BI) & Data Analytics.

Our offerings may either be accessed as a complete suite covering the full spectrum of operations, or as a stand-alone module addressing a specific functional area, e.g., Network Planning, Flight Ops, Crew, Maintenance, Logistics or Safety or Analytics. The suite has a unified database that allows a seamless flow of data and information between operational functions. Our product is highly customizable and designed to adapt to clients’ specific requirements. We do our own implementations, on a turnkey basis, and also provide prompt, reliable and economical technical support in-life.

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Lufthansa Industry Solutions is an IT service company for process consulting and system integration. This wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Group supports its customers with the digital transformation of their company. Its customer base includes both companies within Lufthansa Group as well as more than 150 companies in various other industries.

The products EFOM and DocSurf Mobile were developed together with Lufthansa Airlines based on 15 years of common experience and excellence in electronic flight operations manuals and processes to fulfill both current and future requirements. EFOM — A manufacturer independent Content Management System. Functionally mature and based on 17 years of experience, EFOM makes it possible to fulfill FlightOps requirements, e.g. expandable for new publishing backends; flexible to integrate new documents; open for customized enhancements or to integrate business processes such as Compliance Management. DocSurf Mobile — A Library Viewer for MRO and FlightsOps documents is available as a native iOS app or Windows application. The revision service allows change lists to be checked and content to be compared with a previous version. Navigation is intuitive and includes a fast and easy search. A user independent management of favorites and notes is provided, keeping this information revision safe and available.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

The concept behind our CoNVerge platform is simple. We believe that businesses should have the flexibility to easily innovate and add new applications to their toolbox, without being stifled by legacy technology or a single technology brand.

CoNVerge is all about minimising risk, fuss and capital costs and maximising efficiency. Provided as a service, it combines a hosted environment and web portal with mobile applications and data interfaces to virtually any system.

The platform is easily integrated into your existing business systems and brings together the best tools to handle data acquisition and data analysis — all on scalable infrastructure.

Best of all, we even take the day-to-day management off your hands.

Our CoNVerge platform is blazing a trail in the aviation sector. In a hi-tech industry, where the stakes are even higher, long-standing clients such as British Airways Cityflyer know they can rely on NVable and our custom-designed software to make things simple, safer, more secure and streamlined.

We provide airlines with technology solutions that reduce effort, improve processes and produce useful information, with one simple goal — to change things for the better.

Bring everything together and do IT better when you bring onboard CoNVerge and NVable.

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 72

Orlando Suite for Tech Pubs is an XML-based cloud Document Management System designed for airlines, MRO and manufacturers. It is the unique solution capable of managing Company, Flight Ops, Maintenance and Engineering manuals in one system. It is natively compliant with OEMs’ proprietary electronic data schemas and with the main aviation technical data standards (ATA Spec 2300, ATA iSpec 2200, S1000D).

Orlando Suite features are in 7 modules to streamline the manuals lifecycle: Library (Cloud CMS), Editor (Web based WYSIWYG editing, content reuse), Merger (automated OEM/ airline manuals reconciliation), Analytics (data checker, compliance to regulations, revision report), Publisher (HTML, PDF and XML), Dispatcher (Distribution of publications, Mobile Content Management), Explorer (Web & Mobile & EFB viewers).

It also supports interoperability with other systems, and (manuals can be exported to their native XML standard. Our customers benefit from the best in class secured Cloud offer as well as premium support services delivered by our Tech Pubs experts committed to assisting users at every stage of the process.

Orlando is the sole off-the-shelf solution approved by the leading turboprop manufacturer ATR to manage the ATR Flight Operations XML manuals.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

DIRECTORY

Ramco Systems

Rolls-Royce Controls and Data Services

ROTA.technology Inc.

Rusada

W: www.controlsdata.com T: +44 (0) 1332 777 100 E: info@controlsdata.com

W: rota.technology T: +1 321 710 7682(ROTA) E: info@rota.technology

W: www.rusada.com T: 03333 440730 E: information@rusada.com

Location: 21 offices worldwide

Location: Germany, UK, USA, India, New Zealand

Location: Melbourne, FL USA and global

Location: Switzerland, USA, UK, UAE, India, Singapore, Australia

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Ramco Aviation M&E Solution, Ramco Aviation MRO Solution, Ramco Anywhere Apps, Ramco flyMORE

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • VisiumDIAGNOSTIC, VisiumFUEL, VisiumAQD

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Consulting, MXF Software, PDS(Process Development System) and custom applications

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Envision

W: www.ramco.com/aviation-suite/ T: +91 9677156327 E: cynthia@ramco.com

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Maintenance & Engineering • Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul • Mobility Solutions Ramco Systems offers Aviation Maintenance solutions on premise and on cloud, with multi-tenant capability and nextgen mobility for Airlines, Heli-Operators, MROs and Charter operations. Its comprehensive scope spans the spectrum of organizational needs, including Finance, HCM, Manufacturing, Planning and Optimization, in one integrated platform.

Ramco Aviation’s latest Next-Gen digital technologies include: Mobility Solutions: Ramco’s next-gen mobility solutions for maintenance operations are available through an app ecosystem wherein everybody involved can seamlessly execute critical operations on the go, from anywhere, anytime; The BOTS Revolution: Ramco intelligent CHATBOTS deliver parts data, manage AOGs, and perform daily admin tasks for a more personalized and immersive ERP experience; HyperConnected Ecosystem: B2B integrations with AeroXchange, Gains, Logistics providers and OEMs bringing Suppliers, Customers and Logistics providers together on ONE platform

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Equipment Health Management • Fuel Efficiency Management • Emissions Monitoring • Fleet Reporting • Safety, Quality and Risk Management • MRO Business and Parts Management Today, in the aerospace sector only, over 1,300 customers are benefiting from Rolls-Royce digital services globally.

Through our EHM services, we monitor around 10,000 engines, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, analysing billions of data points on-board per flight, and millions every day on the ground. Our digital services complement the Group’s TotalCare® Service Solutions of Maintenance, Availability, Efficiency and Asset Value, allowing our customers to increase availability of their critical assets, minimising risk and operational disruption to ultimately improve their operational efficiency.

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • MRO IT Software Implementations • MRO IT Software Upgrades • MRO IT Software Support/Managed Services • MX Long Range Planning • MRO IT Custom Software Development With MRO systems projects and support spanning both the military and commercial markets ROTA brings proven experience to all sides of aviation. Our team has been embedded for years in the business functions we support. In both military and commercial. Specializing in system implementations and upgrades ROTA brings deep knowledge of aviation business processes, integrated into custom built software, to provide not only all testing documentation but also leave customers with a full manual of SOPs moving forward. Aside from upgrades ROTA has completed a number of data projects from cleaning up aircraft configuration to system security overhauls. After these upgrades or projects, training and ongoing admin support can be provided for any MRO IT needs.

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Fleet Management • Base Maintenance • Line Maintenance • Flight Operations • Materials Management Rusada develops ENVISION - an industry leading MRO and Flight Operations solution. With over 100 customers worldwide and a combined fleet of 2,000 fixed wing and rotary aircraft, ENVISION is used by aircraft operators and MRO’s to successfully manage their operations.

The latest version of ENVISION is web-based and deviceagnostic with an intuitive and user-friendly interface.

Modules, which can be purchased individually or as part of an integrated solution, include: Fleet Management, Base Management, Line Maintenance, Component Maintenance, Materials Management, Financial Management, Resource Management, Quality & Safety Management and Flight Operations.

Ramco Series 5 reduces Turn Around Time (TAT) while increasing operational performance and compliance through user-friendly interfaces. Ramco has always been an innovator in maintenance IT — enabling clients to focus more on business-critical activities, while the solution processes transactions and decision support, based on intelligent rules.

Powering 4000+ aircraft and 21,000+ end-users, Ramco is used by more than 75 operators world-wide.

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 73

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DIRECTORY

Seabury Solutions

Swiss Aviation Software

TRAX

TrustFlight

W: www.seaburysolutions.com T: +353 61 749 010 E: mkt@seaburysolutions.com

W: www.swiss-as.com T: +41 61 582 72 94 E: marketing@swiss-as.com

W: www.emro.com T: +1 305.662.7400 E: sales@trax.aero

Location: Ireland; Argentina

Location: Basel, Switzerland; Miami, FL, USA; Singapore

Location: Miami, FL, USA; West Sussex, UK; Tokyo, Japan; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

W: www.trustflight.io T: 44 (0) 330 229 0219 E: info@trustflight.io

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • Alkym, EPAS, eAuthority

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • AMOS

NAME OF PRODUCTS MARKETED

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Technical Operations • CAMO • MRO • Performance Analytics • Regulator Applications

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Material Management • Engineering • Planning • Production • Maintenance Control

Seabury Solutions is a leading global aviation software development and consultancy company. It was established in 2002 and forms part of the Seabury Group. Seabury Solutions has built a reputation in that time as the vendor who delivers cost effective world class aviation management software. The integrated product range includes solutions for Airlines, MRO Organizations, Aviation Regulators. Enterprise Performance Analytics Systems (EPAS) includes models used for Maintenance Analytics, Contracts and Invoicing, Flight Profitability, Budget Planning, Fuel Planning, Market Analytics and Sales / Distribution Analytics.

Swiss AviationSoftware unites over 25 years of IT experience with profound MRO expertise and offers its customers the functionally unsurpassed and technologically state-of-theart maintenance system AMOS. AMOS is a comprehensive, fully-integrated software package that successfully manages the maintenance, engineering and logistics requirements of modern airlines and MRO providers by fulfilling demanding airworthiness standards. Today, over 140 customers worldwide steer their maintenance activities with AMOS, which makes AMOS one of the industry-leading MRO software systems worldwide.

With our software products serving over 80 customers in 35 countries globally they are suitable for the largest to small / medium sized operations.

Alkym Management and Control System for Aircraft Maintenance is a modular solution where each organization can select which tools meet their requirements. This proven solution brings the top functionality in market leading implementation time scales. Typically, the average time to GO LIVE is between 8 and 15 weeks. With 24 / 7 professional support services to make sure your teams are getting the best from our systems Seabury Solutions should be on every short listing to compare the value proposition against the market.

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

CLICK HERE for Product Details CLICK HERE to Request Private Demo

• eMRO • eMobility KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Engineering & Planning • Production & Shop • Technical Records & Reliability • TRAXDoc Document Control • Supply Chain Management • E-enabled Aircraft Capabilities • Aircraft Mobility apps • Maintenance Mobility apps • Warehouse Mobility apps TRAX is the global leader in the aviation industry for MRO ERP software, with almost 190 airlines using their products.

TRAX has the most advanced maintenance software solutions available for airlines and MROs worldwide with fleets consisting of all types of aircraft. TRAX eMRO is a completely integrated product, in addition, the eMobility suite offers a range of iOS apps to provide mobile accessibility.

Organizational efficiency gains can be substantial when using TRAX eMRO and eMobility, and ROI is quickly realized.

TRAX maintains its advantage over the competition by developing software that works for customers through modern technology, world class support and strong customer relationships.

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 74

Location: Leamington Spa, UK; Edinburgh, UK; Luton, UK; St Helier, Jersey

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED Tech Log, Task Cards Digital Logbook CAMO (service) Aircraft Registry (service) KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS Aircraft log books Aircraft maintenance task cards Digital and paperless working CAMO support Aircraft Registry support From inception, TrustFlight has been ingrained in the aviation industry. Founded by two commercial pilots with a proven track record at the intersection of technology and business, the business has grown considerably and with stability, having recently celebrated the opening of a fourth office.

Throughout, TrustFlight gained an incredible team with backgrounds spanning different areas of aviation and technology, ensuring a solid presence in the industry. Now offering a range of products and services within the sector, TrustFlight helps to remove costly paperwork and associated errors, preserve aircraft value, and increase efficiency and safety in aircraft operations.

Five values shape TrustFlight’s culture, guide the business’s work and the way it grows. Integrity Transparent and open: offering trust to partners and assuming it from them. Responsibility Owning the work they do and taking responsibilty for it: striving to make it the best possible.

Leadership Leading from within: providing support for the team to do incredible work and drive the industry forwards.

Innovation Products are crafted for the future needs of the industry, going beyond what exists in the market. Excellence Every one of TrustFlight’s values contributes towards the excellence in their products.

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DIRECTORY

Ubisense

Ultramain

Vistair Systems

Yonder

W: www.ubisense.net T: + 44 (0)1223 535170 E: GLOBALenquiries@ubisense.net

W: www.ultramain.com T: +1.505.828.9000 E: sales@ultramain.com

W: www.vistair.com T: 01454 550663 E: info@vistair.com

Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Location: Cambridge, UK; Denver, USA, Düsseldorf, Germany; Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan; Vancouver, Canada

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Location: United Kingdom

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • SmartSpace, enterprise location intelligence platform

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • ULTRAMAIN® v9™ M&E / MRO • ULTRAMAIN Mobile Mechanic™ • ULTRAMAIN Mobile Inventory™ • ULTRAMAIN ELB™ • ULTRAMAIN M&E / MRO: 31 modules including: Configuration Management; Line/Base Mx Planning; Line/ Base Mx Scheduling; GATe; Quality Assurance; Asset Management

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED • DocuNet, CrewNet, SafetyNet, QualityNet, RiskNet

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • SmartSpace Production Logistics Monitor • SmartSpace Asset Monitor • SmartSpace Audit & Compliance • SmartSpace Compliance Monitor Digital transformation is driving a fundamental change in the Aerospace, Defence and MRO sectors. By focusing on their culture, processes and tools, companies will leverage new technologies to become smarter, more productive and lay the foundations for greater competitiveness in a digital world.

Connecting manufacturing systems to real-world business process is fundamental to realising this vision and Ubisense’s SmartSpace provides a foundation platform for our customers’ Industry 4.0 strategy. SmartSpace enables OEMs and MROs to create a real-time digital twin of their environment, connecting activities to manufacturing, execution and planning systems, making real-world processes involving moving assets visible and measurable.

Offering in-depth knowledge of the sectors in which it operates, Ubisense has long standing relationships with many customers across target markets including aerospace and defence, passenger and commercial vehicle manufacturing, communications and utilities. Since inception in 2002, we have built up a strong customer base including 6 of the top 10 Fortune 500 manufacturers, 9 of the leading 10 automotive manufacturers, 2 of the top 3 aerospace manufacturers and 5 of the major telecoms network operators around the world use our solutions including 3 of the top 4 in North America.

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KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Maintenance & Engineering • MRO • Military Maintenance • Maintenance Planning & Scheduling • Paperless Customer Care on Mobile Devices • Electronic Technical Logbook Ultramain Systems, Inc. develops M&E / MRO and ELB software for the aviation industry and is the only aviation software provider with customers running full, end-to-end paperless operations from the cockpit to the ground.

ULTRAMAIN v9, featuring Mobile Mechanic and Mobile Inventory enables real-time paperless data collection for the full maintenance and inventory process. Combine ULTRAMAIN v9 with ULTRAMAIN ELB, the easy-to-use electronic logbook, and the entire maintenance process becomes paperless. Contact us to learn what you need to equip your organization with customer mobile devices and see why elite aviation customers around the world are choosing ULTRAMAIN to reduce costs and increase aircraft up time.

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KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS • Aviation Document Management Solution • Aviation Safety Management Software • Aviation Quality Management Solution • Crew Notices and Bulletins Software Vistair provides document, safety and quality management technology solutions to support the delivery of improved safety, compliance, and operational efficiency that results in significant commercial savings to airline organisations.

Combining technology, development expertise and service delivery, Vistair’s solutions provide both airlines and ground operations with an approach that helps demonstrate a clear link between increased reporting and a change in procedures and behaviours, to drive a safer organization Document Management: DocuNet™ is a powerful document management and distribution solution, capable of delivering a complete operational library of all mission-critical content across multiple platforms and fleets. It provides a process for airlines to control the intellectual content of manuals, handling processes relating to data, publication and delivery, enabling airlines to focus on core business operations.

Safety/Quality Management: SafetyNet™ is an aviation reporting system and investigation solution that drives real change in the management of safety-related occurrences.

It is currently deployed by a number of global airlines including Delta and also counts the military among its user base. Complementing this is RiskNet™ an advanced, change and aviation risk management solution that provides hazard identification. Integrating with both, QualityNet™ is a comprehensive aviation compliance software that enables Quality Managers to manage audit schedules, checklists and non-compliances through an intuitive interface. Yonder

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AIRCRAFT IT MRO • MARCH-APRIL 2020 • 75

W: www.yonder.info T: +41 44 505 14 94 E: contact@yonder.info

NAME OF PRODUCT MARKETED Yonder Mind KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS Content Management System Workflow-based Content Distribution Compliance Tracking Content-based Learning Documentation as a Service Yonder helps users find relevant information by providing shorter documents and manageable revisions. A workflowbased approval tool allows to collaborate without being physically in the same location. This workflow is configured to customer specific needs and can include regulatory authorities and external stakeholders.

We have over 15 years of experience with electronic documentation in aviation that we can leverage to our customers’ benefit. Our team has a diverse background ranging from a former EFB administrator for a large international airline to a long-haul captain knowing from his own experience what crews need.

Our software adds meta-information to the content to allow re-using of the same information in different contexts (filtering, versions, revisions, etc.). Differentiating software features include: Dynamic content filtering; Revision task lists; Workflow-based approval tool Our services consist of converting lengthy manuals into small information units (modules) and keeping these modules up-to-date. Differentiating service features include: We do the hard work for you: converting lengthy manuals into modules; We can keep your information up-to-date, you stay in control through workflow-based approval; We deliver precision work, proudly made in Switzerland

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