Aircraft IT MRO V1.7

V1.7 • AUTUMN 2012

PEOPLE AND SYSTEMS

Working together to improve performance

READING FROM THE SAME PAGE

An integrated MRO network does the job

WORKING TOGETHER

Grouping tasks for better plans

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MRO

Who’s in the News and what they’re doing

White Paper: ExSyn Aviation Solutions, Rusada Case Study: Turkish Technic Vendor Job Card: Swiss Aviation Software Column: ‘How I see IT’, News, Past and Upcoming Webinars, MRO Software Directory and Dictionary of Acronyms

info@commsoft.aero +44(0)1621 817425

growing success... ... 16 new customers added in 2011-12 ... New AMP revision, LMC and AD/SB management software ... New commercial management module ... Linked to ops systems, EFBs and ETLs Commsoft’s OASES MRO system offers comprehensive professional functionality together with a flexible, affordable approach that understands your business’ scaleable growth needs in today’s turbulent market.

Each OASES module can be offered individually or can be integrated at the engineering centre of your business systems.

Over 50 current aviation users, including airlines and MROs, spares suppliers, CAMO, corporate and bureau operators have grown their success with us.

www.commsoft.aero

The flexible, professional MRO system

04 Technology and news It’s always busy and always a challenge in Aircraft MRO; including keeping up with developments in the world of MRO IT. To keep up with the latest news, check regularly on www.aircraftit.com/MRO and here in the AircraftIT MRO e-journal.

Editor’s comment

Aircraft IT MRO: Making incredibly sophisticated systems work at all times, in all conditions Long gone are the ‘oily rag’ ‘all-purpose wrench’ days of aircraft maintenance and overhaul. Aircraft today are incredibly sophisticated mechanical and data systems whose performance requires every part to operate within the tightest of parameters. What is more, in order to cope with failures in critical components and systems, they incorporate a matrix of back-up, duplicate and fail-safe capabilities.

All of this has to be managed and monitored in real time as well as when the aircraft is in the MRO hangar; which adds up to a very complex maintenance requirement with very tight tolerances and almost no room for non-compliance.

Every job responds to and is directed by a range of inputs from the aircraft’s manual and scheduled maintenance to manufacturers’ modifications to a list of failures that have arisen since the last MRO intervention and a constant array of safety and operational notices that add to the already considerable weight of regulations.

Today’s MRO shops, the people who work in them and the systems that drive them are incredibly demanding and require historically high levels of knowledge, skills and creativity – yes, creativity to plot a solution through the labyrinth of paradigms, regulations and priorities that make up a modern airline. It also means that aircraft have to be ‘plugged into’ the airline’s systems all of the time.

That’s a lot of information and potential for change of which airline MRO and MRO businesses need to keep themselves aware: a lot of knowledge to learn and a lot of experience to share. Fortunately, at Aircraft IT MRO that’s what we do, deliver knowledge and shared experience in a convenient format to your desktop to better inform your work.

You’ll find in this issue, a round-up of the news that you need; and there’s material about networking MRO resources to improve efficiency and human interactions with systems as well as managing the business in a way that supports planning. You’ll learn what makes a key software vendor tick. Plus, of course, How Michael Denis sees IT. As well as that, the Aircraft IT live demonstration webinars allow readers to research the software package most appropriate for their needs and access past webinars while, of course, future webinars are open for every reader who registers.

Aircraft IT MRO: information you need delivered to you in a form you can use.

CLICK HERE: Send your feedback and suggestions to AircraftIT MRO

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.

Sander de Bree, founder and general manager of ExSyn Aviation Solutions A brave new world in which information is separated from MRO functions to not only minimize the occasions on which error prone human input is required but also to expand the possibilities for improving the performance of continued air-worthiness.

16 CASE STUDY: Networked MRO Orkun Hasekioglu, Projects Manager at Turkish Airlines Technic Networking the many resources, components and processes that make up an MRO capability will significantly improve the efficiency with which they can be utilized and applied, as well as reducing the cost of this key function.

21 COLUMN: How I see IT A cold wind of change is blowing through MRO: only those with the resources to gather, manage and control data, information and knowledge will withstand the chill. Michael Denis doesn’t waste words but he tells you how it is.

Today, with data, IP and knowledge as the business properties that everybody wants to control, changes are on the way in MRO… whether you like them or not: at least, that how he sees IT

22 Past webinars: knowledge transfer and access for industry experts View Video Recordings of our Past Live MRO software webinars. See full information and view video recordings of past Live MRO Software demonstrations, including: Mxi, AV-BASE, EmpowerMX and Holocentric.

24 VENDOR JOB CARD: How does Swiss-AS do it? Ronald Schaeuffele explains ‘how’ to Aircraft IT In the latest of our Q&A pieces, Ronald Schaeuffele, CEO, Swiss AviationSoftware Ltd. (Swiss-AS), completes his ‘Vendor Job Card’ for Aircraft IT.

26 Upcoming live MRO software demonstration webinars

Ed Haskey

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 2012 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.

10 WHITE PAPER: Human interaction with modern IT systems in aircraft maintenance

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Ed Haskey ed.haskey@aircraftit.com +44 1403 230 700 or +44 1273 700 555 www.aircraftIT.com John Hancock john@aircraftit.com Dean Cook deancook@magazineproduction.com

A preview of live MRO software demonstration webinars with FLYdocs presenting Record Management and Electronic Lease Return Software on 1st November 2012 and Commsoft covering OASES M&E Software on 13th November 2012.

28 New feature: IT’S PERSONAL: PLAN THE WORK OR WORK THE PLAN? Tim Alden, Commercial Director, Rusada Linking maintenance tasks together in logical groups can make planning easier, help cope with defects without stopping other task groups and help schedule delivery times.

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

4 | NEWS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

New software solutions provider joins AircraftIT vendor group AircraftIT is very pleased to announce the inclusion of a further new solution provider to the publication’s growing panel of vendors.

NVable (pronounced ‘enviable’) was founded as a specialist software development consultancy creating bespoke solutions that allow customers to exploit the full value of their operational data.

The firm now also offers its own software products, including the recently launched NVable Electronic Technical Log (ETL), Appixo™ — a platform that combines large scale data handling with a framework to support multiple mobile data acquisition applications.

The Appixo™ ETL is one such application, first launched in May 2012 with BA CityFlyer. NVable is expanding its suite of aviation focused applications to now include ATQP and SOC Management. The data gathered from each application is fed into the Appixo™ analysis platform to feed the Management

Dashboard and Analytics. This allows for real-time analysis of aircraft status, fuel burn/uplift, defects, Out of Phase Maintenance etc.

AircraftIT editor and publisher, Ed Haskey, welcomed the new vendor to the panel, saying that, “Relationships with an increasing number of the world’s leading aviation software solutions vendors builds experience-based knowledge into Aircraft IT’s already strong offer for today’s IT professionals across the aviation sector. This addition to the vendor group will further strengthen our ability to deliver relevant knowledge and understanding to those professionals in a manner tailored to their busy lives and evolving IT requirements.”

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ADSoftware Needs Your Help to Become a National Champion for France in the European Business Awards This year, for the first time ever, organisers of the European Business Awards have introduced a new video element to the awards and also a brand new online public voting system. The company video with the highest number of votes for France will automatically get through to the next round of voting and become a National Champion.

The public vote takes place online at www.businessawardseurope. com between 6th September and 17th October 2012, which gives each company just over 40 days to get as many votes as possible.

This is where you can help. All National Finalists have produced a video submission, which has been uploaded onto the European Business Awards website.

ADSoftware is asking supporters to visit the European Business Awards website to view all the videos for France and vote for their favourite.

Visitors to the site will see details of how to vote on the home page.

Step one – visitors choose a country. They can then view all entries for that country by clicking on the company name. One each video page, there is a vote button. One vote per country per person will be allowed.

Conduce etechlog reaches 10,000 sector milestone In the first week of September 2012, the Conduce etechlog reached the milestone of successfully transmitting and receiving the 10,000th sector since go-live at Thomas Cook Airlines in June 2012. That’s around 1000 sectors per week. Thomas Cook uses the etechlog on Panasonic Toughbook laptop computers on board all of their aircraft to capture and transmit essential flight operations and engineering data after every flight. After a successful migration of the service from the previous supplier the Conduce etechlog solution is proving to be a reliable and robust service. Work has commenced to re-platform the software onto alternative operating systems such as Android and Windows 8 as well as integration with additional engineering and flight operations systems.

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | NEWS | 5

Commsoft wins new customers both large and small Suckling Airways becomes OASES user following acquisition by Loganair

In August 2012, Charter, and Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) specialist Suckling Airways joined the family for users of Commsoft’s OASES maintenance management software. Suckling Airways becomes an OASES user following its acquisition by Loganair, one of Commsoft’s longest-standing customers. The deal adds Suckling Airways’ six Dorner 328-110 regional turboprop aircraft to the existing 26 aircraft Loganair fleet maintained in OASES. That fleet is comprised of primarily Saab 340s, plus Britten Norman Islanders and De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters.

Suckling Airways, based at Cambridge Airport, UK, performs ACMI contract work for airlines including Air France / CityJet, Loganair and Direktflyg; has ACMI AOG contracts with carriers including British Airways, SunAir and Blue Islands; and flies to more than 100 ad hoc and seasonal charter destinations each year. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Glasgow-based regional airline Loganair but maintains a separate AOC, Part M and Management structure.

Suckling Airways is using the following OASES modules in conjunction with Loganair and the latter’s Part 145 approval: • Inventory Control and Purchasing; • Electronic Demands; • Reliability, Technical Log Entry and Defect Control; • Workcard Production and Planning; • Technical Records and Forecasting; • Job Scheduler; • Line maintenance control.

Commsoft’s hosted OASES programme wins first three customers

Commsoft, developer of aviation engineering and maintenance systems, is continuing to enjoy significant success with its hosted OASES programme. As at late August 2012, three currently unannounced customers, including a regional airline in Europe and two airliner corporate shuttle operators in the U.S.A. have already signed for OASES in 2012, with two having gone live with a total of six aircraft between them.

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bmi Regional opts for Commsoft’s OASES for its on-going maintenance operations

Commsoft, signed a three year contract with bmi Regional at the beginning of October 2012. The deal – which allows for 30 concurrent users — represents the outcome of the regional airline’s decision to continue using Commsoft’s OASES (Open Aviation Strategic Engineering System) for its maintenance operations rather than transfer to a rival system, reversing a previous group decision.

Having recently separated from British Midland International following the latter’s acquisition by IAG, bmi Regional is currently in the process of establishing its own IT support infrastructure with plans to ‘go live’ in the new environment before the end of August.

Commsoft will be facilitating the transfer of the current software build and database and providing progressive OASES upgrades, including new modular developments covering the Approved Maintenance Programme (AMP) revision control, Airworthiness Directive (AD) and Service Bulletin (SB) management, and Line Maintenance Control facilities. Integration with bmi Regional’s AIMS operations system is also likely to take place in 2013.

Brindabella Airlines selects Commsoft OASES

Also at the start of October 2012, it was, announced that Australian regional operator, Brindabella Airlines, is to join the growing list of OASES users. The agreement also covers the fleet of Brindabella’s sister company, Aeropelican Air Services; both companies being a part of Business Air Holdings Group.

Commsoft’s OASES is designed to allow for the full integration of all maintenance and engineering functions. Using a dual standalone hot/cold server set up, Brindabella will be running the following OASES modules: Airworthiness, Planning, Core, Materials Management and Production. With plans for future business growth, Brindabella is also keen to ensure the full integration of OASES into its wider business policy and practices.

BA CityFlyer deploy NVable’s Appixo™ ETL across its fleet

NVable announced in mid-September 2012 the deployment of the Appixo™ Electronic Technical Log (ETL) across the entire fleet of aircraft operated by wholly owned British Airways subsidiary BA CityFlyer.

The rollout took place earlier this year and from the first day the ETL was in use on all routes and at all destinations served by the BA CityFlyer fleet. BA CityFlyer makes full use of the Appixo™ hosted platform for data acquisition and has entered into a long term service support agreement for the Appixo™ ETL with NVable, as part of which, the airline will partner NVable in the development and addition of new features and areas of functionality. Cameron Hood, NVable CEO, has stated that the firm is delighted to have BA CityFlyer as the launch customer for the new ETL.

– Your key technical documents delivered directly to your computer or mobile device. “eMan was a perfect fit with an intuitive user interface for both our librarian and engineering teams. By using eMan on our mobile devices our engineers benefit even more from an efficient maintenance process as part of ongoing flight operation by having all information available whenever or wherever needed.”

Markus Krüger, Head of Technical Documentation, airberlin technik

For more information

Visit: www.aviit.com, call: +44 (0)1383 620922 or email: info@aviit.com AVIIT HP 1012.indd 1

25/10/2012 15:25

6 | NEWS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

The only supplier of 2 MRO ‘best of breed’ plus CMS software

www.aerosoftsys.com Offering DigiPLAN, DigiREPORTS and AeroBUY– 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

Product launch and another big customer for InfoTrust Group InfoTrust Group Launches Easy-to-use, Structured XML Editor

InfoTrust Group (www.infotrustgroup.com), a global provider of XML-based technical publishing solutions and services for the aerospace, high-tech, defense, semi-conductor, and publishing industries, announced in early September 2012 the launch of its new, easy-to-use, structured XML editor. Traditional XML editors require users to understand XML coding as well as undertake significant training. Because of this, the benefits of high-quality structured XML have been limited to users willing to make the time and financial commitment required to use these tools. InfoTrust Group aims to provide XML authoring capabilities through a friendly user experience that minimizes the complexities of XML, a simple and intuitive interface, and an editor that is available across multiple platforms, such as Microsoft® Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux. By providing an easy-to-use XML authoring environment – and by making it available at a price point lower than other options available today – InfoTrust Group makes XML authoring accessible to a wider user community in line with the needs for broader adoption of XML across multiple industries.

InfoTrust Group has acquired Serna Enterprise XML Editor from Syntext, Inc., as its XML tool of choice. Serna challenges traditional XML editing models by letting anyone author valid XML content in a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) environment. It also provides advanced functionality with an easy-to-use tool, is fully based on open standards, and can be easily enhanced and augmented.

US Airways Licenses TechSight/X® Technical Operations & Engineering Edition for Task Cards and Engineering Projects

Later, in mid-October 2012 – InfoTrust Group announced that US Airways has licensed its TechSight/X Technical Operations & Engineering Edition for the creation and management of task cards and engineering projects. The selection by US Airways, which uses InfoTrust Group’s TechSight/X ATA Edition for aircraft repair manuals and company manuals, includes hosting and integration services and Serna XML Editor, InfoTrust Group’s recently launched WYSIWYG XML editor (see above: ‘InfoTrust Group Launches Easy-to-use, Structured XML Editor’).

Aero One® software from 2MoRO Aero One® chosen for MRO by a mining company in Peru

SYPSA, partner and reseller in Peru of Aero One® software from 2MoRO, has been implementing SAP Business One and Aero One® to meet the MRO and Fleet Management needs of local companies since 2009. In 2009 and 2011 respectively, regional airline LC Peru and helicopter operator Helisur chose to implement Aero One®, the only SAP-certified add-on to SAP Business One for MRO in the aeronautics industries.

Focusing on the MRO specialization of the software, SYPSA decided in early 2012 to expand its field of application to markets, other than aeronautics, which also have to manage and maintain complex equipment.

Consequently, and following demonstrations, Aero One® was found to be very relevant by several of SYPSA‘s customers. As a first result, it was announced at the start of October 2012 that a Peruvian mining company had chosen to implement the add-on. Overall, the project was signed in less than three months while many others are in discussion, which makes for a rewarding initiative.

Aero One® software from 2MoRO chosen by PRICE INDUCTION

Engine manufacturer, PRICE INDUCTION decided, in early October 2012, to implement SAP® Business One and Aero One® from 2MoRO to manage its finance, purchasing, sales, production and maintenance activities. Viseo, the SAP® Business One partner in France of 2MoRO was in charge of the ERP and 2MoRO has provided Aero One®, the only add-on certified by SAP® for MRO in the Aerospace industries.

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | NEWS | 7

New manage/m® Tool enables advanced maintenance interval scheduling In an early October 2012 release, Lufthansa Technik announced that its WebSuite manage/m® has been enhanced by a new function. Maintenance Schedule Condition Monitoring (MSCM) is a tool with which the findings and non-findings on an aircraft can be evaluated. The results serve to make interval scheduling more efficient. Seamlessly integrated into the manage/m® WebSuite, MSCM enhances the module m/reliability, which provides information about the efficiency of the maintenance program, displaying details on the actual findings and nonfindings of an aircraft. What m/reliability now offers users is an even more extensive data base, with which the maintenance intervals of Maintenance Schedule Items can be evaluated and rated in a substantiated way. The new system, for example, shows if there are fewer findings than actually expected during the inspections of Maintenance

Mxi supports Ethiopean 787 and appoints VP Sales First flight of Ethiopian’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner marks record entry-into-service using Mxi Technologies’ Maintenix Software

Schedule Items in the Maintenance Program.

Within m/reliability’s new function, a number of charts give an insight into the actual efficiency of the maintenance program intervals. An automatic warning function informs the system engineer, if, for example, a Maintenance Schedule Item has had very little findings within an interval. In this case, an adjustment of the relevant maintenance interval may be a suitable option, enabling the operator to use the full potential of the component in question.

The new function can be easily used by all manage/m® customers whose entire scheduled maintenance process is handled by Lufthansa Technik , including the scanning and analyzing process of jobcards through m/archive. Therefore, MSCM gives operators and engineers a chance to recheck the intervals and adjust them according to the results.

share in the Americas. This appointment coincides with Mxi’s increased business-focus on the region and the execution of go-to-market strategies for the Maintenix software product.

Mr. Fitzgerald brings to the role over 30 years of experience in enterprise-class software sales, marketing, and implementation, having previously held positions with growing seniority at a number of technology firms. His background in enterprise applications for aviation business was established through his tenure at Ramco Systems Corporation, where he most recently held the position of President, Global Aviation Solutions, President, Americas, Enterprise Applications & Services.

“Jim’s experience is a perfect match for Mxi’s plans to serve the region and expand on the opportunities we have identified in the Americas,” says Dave Seibel, Chairman and CEO, Mxi Technologies. “Over the past several years we have invested heavily in our product and our goal is to complement that investment with the people who have the experience and industry acumen to bring our product to market and connect with our customers.”

Mxi® Technologies, the aviation maintenance management software solutions provider, announced in mid-August 2012 that within 24 hours of receiving their first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) embarked on their inaugural passenger service flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ethiopian has been live with a broad Maintenix implementation since July 2011 for their comprehensive mixed fleet, ranging from the regional Q400 to the long-range 777, and now, the 787 Dreamliner.

Mxi Technologies announces James Fitzgerald as Vice President Sales, Americas

Later in August 2012, Mxi® Technologies, announced that James Fitzgerald has joined the company as Vice President Sales, Americas. In this new role, Mr. Fitzgerald is responsible for strengthening Mxi’s presence and increasing market

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Why ARMS®: Aviation Resource Management System?

ARMS® Sub-Systems include

Low IT Investment Footprint

Commercial Planning

Low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Flight Operations

Speed of Implementation

Flight Planning & Dispatch

Ready Out-of-the-Box; yet all Modules are fully Customizable

Crew Management & Web Portal [for Aircrew & Cabin Crew]

Freedom of Mobility

Flight Data Monitoring & Analysis

Flexible Ownership/ Usage Plans: Pay-per-Use or Pay-per-Month

Engineering & Maintenance

Fully Scalable; from large intercontinental Fleets to small Charter Operations

Logistics & Inventory Management

Seamlessly Integrated Ops Crew M&E MRO, etc.

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ARMS® and InfoPrompt® are Registered Trademarks of Sheorey Digital Systems Ltd. Mumbai, India.

8 | NEWS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

Aircraft IT acronym finder

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The whole fleet at your fingertips:

Some of the acronyms used in aviation IT. Everybody knows their acronyms, don’t they?

Well, actually, not always. The reality is that, with hundreds of acronyms to describe every complex concept, focused or multiple function technology, process, piece of legislation or the resultant regulation, it’s not always easy to remember what the group of (usually) capital letters in front of you means. Sometimes it’s obvious from the context but even then, how often do you know what you think it means but still need to look up what it really means, just to check that you are correct?

You go to the Internet and trawl through dozens of websites listing, literally, hundreds of acronyms from every walk of life and often with differing meanings in different contexts. That takes time and all that you’re really interested in are the meanings that pertain to aviation IT; whether that is directly about purely aviation topics or indirectly in the many generic business activities that are also used in airlines and aircraft operators.

So, to make that task just a little more straightforward, Aircraft IT has created a live and growing directory of aviation related acronyms: growing because we’re taking it from the white

Lufthansa Technik MRO-IT solution manage/m® • Keep control • Quality assured • Airline proven

Volartec set to introduce Alkym to the APAC region

Lufthansa Technik AG info@manage-m.com www.manage-m.com

INTERACTIVE

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE DICTIONARY OF ACRONYMS

Volartec announced in late August 2012 the opening of a new regional office in Australia to cover the Asia Pacific region.

Just over two years ago the first regional office was opened in Ireland to expand the sales network to a wider community.

The success of the EMEA project has led to today’s announcement in APAC. The new Volartec office is to be based in Adelaide, Australia with Steve Smith as Regional Sales Manager APAC. Steve comes to Volartec with many years of experience working in the aviation industry where he has exceptional experience in the selection and running of appropriate IT systems across the MRO sector, providing files with information coming from Alkym which are then fed to and processed by the SAP interfaces that brought to the production environment integrates the core company processes. Steve will set about putting together a list of potential targets in the region.

manage/m® Technical Operations WebSuite

More mobility for the world

136,5x181+A_manage-m_RZ01.indd 1

papers and case studies published in our eJournals delivering IT knowledge for Operations and MRO businesses. There are still some acronyms with more than one meaning, even within aviation IT and related areas: we identify these with a different color and suggest that you consider the context to decide which acronym meaning is the one you need.

But this will also be very much a live facility: we’ll be regularly updating it as new (to the directory as well as to the world of aviation IT) acronyms appear in the articles submitted for publication. And if you come across an acronym that we haven’t yet included or an additional meaning for an acronym we have included, do send it in to acronyms@ aircraftit.com. Please go to the Aircraft IT Dictionary of Acronyms to help you find what those (usually) capital letters mean but, if what you’re doing is safety critical, use us as a guide to where to look and then do your research properly.

19.01.12 10:53

Ramco’s Aviation Software to Power GoAir’s Growth

Ramco Systems announced a prestigious order win in late September 2012 from Go Airlines (GoAir) for its Maintenance & Engineering (M&E) suite of software.

With this win, Ramco’s software will be used providing MRO, M&E and ERP services to nine aviation organisations in India. Under the agreement, Ramco will deliver its web-based Series 5 M&E system and Ramco ePublications™, including Engineering and Configuration, Maintenance Program and Planning, Line Maintenance, Technical Records and Complete Materials.

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | NEWS | 9

Who’s in the news: Vendors ADSoftware

ADSoftware is based in France, with offices in Thailand, Brazil and South Africa. Specialising in Aviation software, the company has developed a fleet management system and logistic package called AIRPACK.

Commsoft and OASES

NVable

NVable is a specialist software development consultancy creating bespoke solutions for customers to exploit the full value of their operational data. The firm also offers its own software products, including the NVable Electronic Technical Log (ETL), Appixo™.

Ramco Systems provides next generation, end-to-end enterprise solutions built on the firm’s proprietary platform—Ramco VirtualWorks®. All Ramco products are cloud architected by design and address the entire business cycle from transaction to analytics.

Conduce Software

SAP

InfoTrust group

InfoTrust Group delivers solutions to hundreds of companies, in the aerospace, defense, manufacturing, automotive, high-tech, publishing and health care industries for their information processing, conversion, authoring, content and change management, publishing, and distribution objectives.

Lufthansa Technik

Lufthansa Technik is a manufacturerindependent provider of maintenance, repair, overhaul and modification services for civil aircraft. The six business units of Lufthansa Technik (Maintenance, Overhaul, Component Services, Engine Services, VIP Services and Landing Gear Services) serve about 750 customers worldwide.

Mxi Technologies

Mxi Technologies provides integrated and intelligent software, support, and services for aviation maintenance to commercial airlines, MROs, OEM aftermarket service providers, and defense operators. Customers range from emerging, small and midsized organizations, to the largest global enterprises.

Aeropelican Air Services

Canberra based Aeropelican, with three Jetstream 32s, currently serves New South Wales locations: Sydney, Narrabri, Newcastle, Mudgee and Brisbane, and a charter service.

As a supplier of enterprise application software, SAP helps companies of all sizes; from back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device. SAP applications and services enable more than 172,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.

Swiss AviationSoftware and AMOS

Swiss-AS boasts more than 100 customers worldwide, including pure operators, lowcost, regional and flag carriers, large airline groups and MRO providers. AMOS is a comprehensive, fully-integrated software package that manages the maintenance, engineering and logistics requirements of modern airlines and MRO providers.

Volartec

Volartec specializes in the development and implementation of software systems for the aviation industry. With more than 10 years experience in the aviation industry and with a team of IT and aviation experts, Volartec offers a combination of professionalism and experience.

2MoRO Solutions

2MoRO Solutions is a software development company for Aerospace operating in over 17 countries and across multiple Airlines or Aircraft Operators with their own MRO center. The firm is also a SAP® Partner for Airlines, Aircraft Operators, MRO centers and OEMs.

PGA - Portugália Airlines

PGA’s flight capacity is fully allocated to the TAP Group: the airline operates as a feeder-defeeder for the TAP network with 14 aircraft including Embraer 145 and Fokker 100.

PRICE INDUCTION

PRICE INDUCTION’s DGEN program is to develop a family of two spool unmixed flow turbofan jet engines, namely DGEN 380 and DGEN 390, intended for twin engine, 2-6 seats airplanes with a max weight ranging between 1,400 and 2,150 kg (3,417 lb – 5,622 lb).

Ramco Systems

Communications Software OASES is utilized in around 50 airlines and maintenance organisations. The system includes services ranging from implementation support, user training and system tailoring as well as dayto-day help desk, maintenance support and update release services.

Founded in 2010 Conduce Software is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK. Customers can buy off-the-shelf software or Conduce can create bespoke solutions, focusing on using technology to solve complex problems with simple and useful software.

Who’s in the news: Airlines, Operators, OEMs and MROs

BA CityFlyer

BA CityFlyer is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways operating a network of UK domestic and European services to twenty destinations from London City airport with a fleet of fourteen aircraft: six 76-seat Embraer 170s and eight 98-seat Embraer 190SR’

bmi Regional

Having separated from British Midland International following the latter’s acquisition by IAG, bmi Regional operates a fleet of Airbus, Embraer and Boeing aircraft to some 45 destinations around the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Brindabella Airlines

Canberra based Brindabella Airlines offers over 150 scheduled flights per week to desintation in Australia with a fleet of two Jetstream 41s and five Metro III regional airliners as well as charter flights for a variety of sporting, entertainment and government customers.

Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing airline in Africa, made its maiden international flight to Cairo in 1946 and now the Airline provides dependable services to 69 international destinations spanning four continents.

Finnair

Finnair is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland with its main hub at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport from where it serves a network of 15 domestic and 55 international destinations.

In addition there are about 60 seasonal charter-flight destinations.

GoAir

Mumbai-based Go Airlines (GoAir) currently operates 100 plus daily flights across 22 destinations. As part of its growth strategy and maintaining the youngest fleet in Indian aviation, GoAir has announced purchase of 72 next generation A320 NEO aircraft.

Suckling Airways

Based at Cambridge Airport, Suckling Airways is a whollyowned subsidiary of Glasgow-based Loganair. It employs some 60 people and operates six Dornier 328-100 aircraft. In April 2011, Suckling Airways celebrated its 25th Anniversary of scheduled service operations.

The European Business Awards

Since its launch in 2006 the European Business Awards has established itself as the ultimate platform for outstanding businesses in the EU. Designed to celebrate exceptional results across a variety of categories, the European Business Awards is a global showcase for the best in the business.

Thomas Cook Group plc

Thomas Cook Group plc operates in 22 countries worldwide and has about 90 aircraft. The group’s aircraft maintenance is mainly performed in-house: From A Checks to Heavy Maintenance and these services are also provided to 3rd parties.

US Airways

US Airways, along with US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express, operates nearly 3,200 flights per day from Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with the world’s largest fleet of Airbus aircraft.

10 | WHITE PAPER: EXYN | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

E

arly aircraft had very few controls and instruments for pilots to monitor conditions and performance during a flight. With technological advances, more information became available but the flight deck also became more complex, reaching maximum complexity with the Concorde flight deck, requiring (as did many aircraft at that time) three flight crew to operate the aircraft. Comparing this to a current Airbus 380 cockpit, we can already see significant simplification.

Human interaction with modern IT systems in aircraft maintenance Sander de Bree, founder and general manager of ExSyn Aviation Solutions asks how it contributes to continued airworthiness and what does the future hold?

Concorde flight deck

A380 flight deck A similar development life cycle can be seen in IT systems used in aircraft maintenance. First generation systems had basic functionalities and were designed for a specific job or department within a maintenance organization (whether the airline maintenance department or any third party MRO). These systems were usually programed in DOS and with very limited visual capabilities. As technological development in the field of IT progressed, the requirement grew for systems that could embed more functionality; resulting in some of the complex, fully integrated systems used in maintenance organizations today to ensure continued airworthiness of aircraft. However, as with the Concorde flight deck, today’s systems still require employees from various departments to enter data and act on information received through the system(s) within their organization. Think of the maintenance planning process within your own organization. A system might tell you when maintenance will become due, based on the utilization of the aircraft: however, it still requires a person to tell the program which maintenance needs to be performed on the aircraft at what intervals (aircraft maintenance program) and it still requires human intervention to plan downtime, resources, material and preparation of documents.

Currently, with IT in aircraft maintenance, we can confidently expect high levels of human-to-system interaction.

As IT applications are also used to help perform the tasks necessary for continued airworthiness management, one can conclude that the human-to-system interaction with systems that are applied for continuous airworthiness management have a vital role in ensuring continuous airworthiness. As an example, relate this previous statement back to the planning process within your organization and ask yourselves what would be the consequence if an individual, by mistake, entered a false interval for a particular maintenance task or a false ‘last performed’ date for a maintenance task? To further understand the influence of this human-to-system interaction on continued airworthiness, we need first to examine more closely the definitions of IT systems and continued airworthiness.

What are IT systems in aircraft maintenance?

Actually, the term ‘IT system’ is not accurate; however, it enjoys a widely accepted and understood meaning.

What we are actually talking about is a two dimensional computer system in which the first dimension offers the possibility to digitally structure information and present it in various ways for different individuals to act on in order to perform a particular process. Hence we are actually talking about an Information Services (IS) system instead of an Information Technology (IT) system. The second dimension relates to users entering information into the digital system to start or continue a process. The information thus entered becomes part of all the information processed by the system and, as defined by the first dimension, presented in a structured way to other users so that they also know what to do.

For these systems to function as intended four pre-requisites should exist: 1. Required information is available in a usable manner; 2. Users know what to do when certain information is presented to them; 3. Users know how to enter or feedback information to the system; 4. The system itself must be available.

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WHITE PAPER: EXYN | 11

The first pre-requisite is a quality and availability issue in which the priority is not whether the data is available but what is required to make the data available in such a manner that the organization can work with it. The second and third (know what to do and know how to feedback information) involve high level decision making and performance and thus can only be addressed by procedure definitions, detailed workplace instructions and continuous training.

What is continued airworthiness?

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) defines continuous airworthiness as a set of eight tasks for the performance of which the owner of an aircraft is responsible (see… EASA Part-M –subpart-C regulations for continued airworthiness): 1. Pre-flight inspections; 2. Rectification to an officially recognized standard of any defect and damage affecting safe operation; taking into account, for all large aircraft or aircraft used for commercial air transport, of the minimum equipment list and configuration deviation list if applicable to the aircraft type; 3. The completion of all maintenance, in accordance with the approved aircraft maintenance program; 4. For all large aircraft or aircraft used for commercial air transport, an analysis of the effectiveness of the approved maintenance program; 5. The implementation of any applicable: (i) Airworthiness directive; (ii) Operational directive with a continuing airworthiness impact; (iii) Continued airworthiness requirement established by the Agency; (iv) Measures mandated by the competent authority in immediate reaction to a safety problem: 6. Completion of modifications and repairs in accordance with M.A.304; 7. The establishment of a procedure and policy for non-mandatory modifications and/or inspections in respect of all large aircraft or aircraft used for commercial air transport;

8. Maintenance check flights when necessary.

In order to be able to perform them, any aircraft owner or assigned organization must demonstrate to the regulatory bodies a capability to carry out these eight tasks by means of a procedure manual setting down how the organization will ensure that it complies with the procedures for these tasks. This procedure manual is called the Continued Airworthiness Management Exposition (CAME). Once the manual is approved by the regulatory body and the organization has proven that it performs its procedures according these processes, the organization is certified as a Continued Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) and becomes responsible to ensure that the aircraft they maintain and operate are airworthy and will remain airworthy throughout the period of operation.

Human factor principles applied to systems

So, having established the definitions of IT systems and continued airworthiness, let’s look at how they relate to each other. Organizations engaged in continuous airworthiness management often apply IT systems to support them in carrying out that responsibility. Consider, for example, keeping track of all the Airworthiness Directives issued for the managed aircraft, the individual status of these directives and tracking all maintenance completions.

Hence, the primary objective of any information system used by a CAMO or MRO organization is to ensure compliance with the eight tasks listed above.

To perform this primary objective, the information system needs its initial data, such as the aircraft maintenance program, applicable airworthiness directives, components installed on the aircraft and/or utilization of the aircraft.

This initial data is introduced to the system by either manual entry or user created data uploads and poses the first risk of human error. Secondly, aircraft specific information needs to be fed to the system; for example, defects on aircraft, performance of maintenance tasks and/or defect rectification data. Entry of this actual data is again by human input and thereby liable to incorrect data entry. Concluding, we can identify two stages with the potential for human error to affect the primary objective of an information system applied in aircraft maintenance or continuous airworthiness management: 1. Initial data entry; 2. Actual data entry.

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12 | WHITE PAPER: EXYN | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

THE DIRTY DOZEN FACTORS THAT CAN LEAD TO HUMAN ERROR Lack of communication

Features and functionality of information systems change regularly to keep up with the pace of efficiency demanded by organizations. Lack of communication in this respect can take place on four levels: 1. From system developer to customers, concerning release changes; 2. From administrators to users within organizations, about new features or the proper use of system functionalities; 3. From users to administrators, concerning inappropriate system behavior or failures; 4. From customers towards system developers, concerning inappropriate system behavior or failures.

Complacency

A significant portion of tasks involved in entering actual data into an information system are considered routine, e.g. receiving materials and components into stores. However it is at this critical stage that actual information concerning the materials origin or even last repair/overhaul dates is fed into the system. This, in turn, determines when the component has to be removed from the aircraft again to undergo a particular repair or overhaul. A person performing this job continuously through the day is at risk of complacency, having performed the same task many times before.

Lack of knowledge

Lack of resources

Resources, in this respect, can be quantified into two categories: 1) individuals required to enter the actual information into the system, 2) hardware required to operate the system. To maintain the flow of information from the real world to the information system, an amount of labor time has to be allocated to data entry. If the time allocated for this is insufficient for all the data to be entered, a back-log will build up, causing the information system to always be short of information and unable to present all the information required for users to perform their continued airworthiness management tasks.

To operate any information system, hardware is required, including less visible items such as servers, network cables, network connectivity, and more visible items such as keyboards, mouses, desktops, screens, scanners, etc. Any lack of such resources can slow down information entry and processing, resulting in the presentation of out of date information for continuous airworthiness management purposes.

Pressure

Users performing initial data entry or actual data entry under significant pressure (taking into account that pressure experienced varies per individual) are at risk of entering incorrect information or entering correct information in an improper manner. Either way, false information is entered to the system and presented.

Lack of assertiveness

Information systems present the information to the users who enter or update information in any system. However if the user in this case does not know what to do when certain information is presented to them or takes incorrect action, the presented information fails to serve its intended purpose. The same applies when users enter or update information in any system. If they do not know what to enter in a certain field or enter incorrect information, assuming it to be correct, the system is still fed with false data and thereby also presents false data.

Entry mistakes can occur and, when detected, can be corrected. However lack of assertiveness can arise when either the incorrect information is detected but not corrected in a timely manner or the only action taken is the corrective action. Taking an action to correct wrong information is a good thing; however, one should also consider how the incorrect information got into the system in the first place and seek to prevent it from happening again. This is called preventive action.

Distraction

Stress is often associated with people performing their tasks under the pressure of narrow timeframes and too much work, as already explained above. However one aspect of stress often overlooked is when people are assigned to perform tasks for which they are overqualified. This is why it is never a solution to let better qualified staff undertake information entry and expect the entries to be correct simply because they are more skilled. These people are just as vulnerable to stress and error as their less qualified co-workers.

Distraction can come in many forms and particularly with tasks that take a longer time to be performed. For example, the evaluation and entry of an airworthiness directive in an information system can easily take half a day to complete, during which time many distractions can arise which temporarily draw attention away from the task at hand and open the possibility to forget to enter certain information or enter information in incorrect fields.

Lack of teamwork

When it comes to using information systems it is normal for individual users to have different levels of skills and knowledge of the application of the system. A good example can be groups of mechanics in which, often, younger members have a better understanding of how to enter certain data to the system. In practice, those younger mechanics perform all the data entries which is then perceived as good teamwork: however, it is the opposite of good teamwork.

Good teamwork would be if the person with the higher level of skills assisted and explained to colleagues what to do when they have to enter information. This will raise the overall level of knowledge to a common standard instead of creating a gap between the two groups – what happens when the higher skilled person takes over all information entry.

Fatigue

More generally, fatigue can result in incorrect or incomplete information when users perform data entry while suffering from fatigue. Generally, fatigue reduces cognitive skills, risking the possibility of false or incorrect data entry.

Stress

Lack of awareness

Take a department of materials buyers who all perform the same duties and tasks related to actual data entry in a system. Each department member is subject to human error whilst making data entries. Once such an error occurs and is detected, the person concerned can be informed about it to know what to do to prevent it from recurring. However, other members of the department who perform the same tasks may not be aware of the error so could repeat the mistake.

Norms

Although detailed procedures and workplace instructions exist, it is no guarantee that individuals will perform their tasks according to these norms. As soon as individuals have found a way that gets the same end result but more quickly, that method will become generally accepted and used. That by using this unofficial norm other system functions will not perform as designed is often overlooked as it is not part of the individual’s objective (e.g. to enter actual information concerning an aircraft defect without entering what is required to rectify the defect).

information, leading to wrong or inadequate actions taken by staff which can conflict with ensuring continuous airworthiness of any aircraft.

To put this in perspective, let’s take the example of an Airworthiness Directive (AD). An AD is issued by an aviation regulatory body, e.g. the EASA, and contains one or more mandatory maintenance tasks or inspections to be performed on applicable aircraft within a certain time. Often these ADs are issued after a specific occurrence or incident where the cause of the occurrence or incident could also be expected on other or similar aircraft. To prove compliance with such ADs, the continuous airworthiness management organization enters this AD and its characteristics into their information system and keeps track of the performance of the AD on the applicable aircraft. However if an incorrect due date (latest possible date of compliance) or interval is entered, the information is incorrect and will not represent the actual situation anymore, so cannot serve to ensure continuous airworthiness management. In this example the AD process within a CAMO is used, however this principle of the possibility for incorrect data entry exists in any situation with any systems used by any organization.

To identify what can cause these errors in either the initial data entry or actual data entry, we have to look more closely at a widely accepted aspect of the human condition; defined as the dirty dozen (see left), twelve factors that can lead to human error: 1. Lack of communication; 2. Complacency; 3. Lack of knowledge; 4. Distraction; 5. Lack of teamwork; 6. Fatigue; 7. Lack of resources; 8. Pressure; 9. Lack of assertiveness; 10. Stress; 11. Lack of awareness; 12. Norms.

These twelve aspects also lie at the heart of human interaction with information systems used for continuous airworthiness management or aircraft maintenance.

What can we do to mitigate these risks?

To try and mitigate the risk of human error in either initial data entry or actual data entry, one should seek to reduce the possibility of any of the above ‘dirty dozen’ contributing risks from taking place.

In the matrix below various solutions are given for each contributing risk that can be undertaken by organizations themselves as well as system developers:

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WHITE PAPER: EXYN | 13

Contributing risk

Organizational action

System developer action

Lack of communication

• Establish regular information leaflets concerning occurred situations and what to do to prevent these in the future.

• Inform staff (either via official bulletins or classroom sessions or announcements) of any upcoming changes to the information system.

• Establish a reporting system that end-users can use to report anomalies to administrators.

• Introduce double checks in routine jobs to ensure that information is correct.

• Establish a clear and structured manner of notifying customers about changes to the information system.

Complacency

Lack of knowledge

• •

Distraction

•

Lack of teamwork

Fatigue

•

• •

Lack of resources

• • • •

• • Pressure Lack of assertiveness

• •

Stress

•

Lack of awareness

• •

Norms

• Design programs and inputs masks in such a way that entry mistakes are reduced to a minimum.

• Create open accessible social Perform initial trainings with all individuals. communities that allow global Perform recurrent trainings to ensure individuals knowledge sharing. are always on the latest actual status.

• Allow for tasks that require Establish separate “bubble” area’s which allow much entry time to stagger and individuals to work on a tasks without disturbance pause the work without losing or distraction (common approach in software previous entered information. developing companies).

Introduce a ‘buddy-system’ (or as it is called in the US Air force – wingman) to have team members assist each other and prevent the other from entering false data.

Be aware of the symptoms and look for them in yourself and others.

Plan to avoid complex tasks when you are physically exhausted.

Sleep and exercise regularly.

Ask others to check your work.

If you are fatigued, take a break.

• Inform customers about Considered data entry as a vital part of an all the minimum hardware individual’s working day, schedule time for this requirements to utilize the and adapt your required resources and planning system properly. accordingly.

• Share experience from Ensure enough financial capacity to invest in customers related to impact on adequate hardware. an individual’s daily work.

Invest proportionally in the required hardware (a superfast server alone will not do the trick!).

Ensure the pressure is not self-induced.

Always seek for the cause of an entry error and • Proactively seek for failure in try to resolve it. the program and resolve them ( do not wait for customer complaints or reports).

Determine relevant qualifications associated to jobs and task and staff accordingly.

Inform all associated individuals about a certain situation, not only individuals directly involved.

Continuously explain and stress the objectives of having an information system and explain the impact of the tasks individuals are performing.

• Establish a collective thinking to correct each other.

• During continuous training explain what happens if tasks are not performed according the norm.

• Design masks in such a manner that it will not allow multiple ways to reach the same endresult.

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14 | WHITE PAPER: EXYN | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

Impact of future developments on the human-to-system interaction

Currently many changes and developments are taking place in the field of IT, so how are these changes and developments affecting the systems applied in continuous airworthiness management and existing human-to-system interaction?

To find the answer to that question, we first need to look at what is happening in other industries and our personal lives. For several years there has been a movement to digital communities (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN) where interaction, collaboration and collective knowledge are key pillars alongside current technological developments taking place in the field of IT hardware. In another development, we are already able to perform surgery on patients where the doctor is on the other side of the world, operating via robotics (Howe, RD, Matsuoka, Y. ‘Robotics for Surgery’: Annual Review Biomedical Engineering. 1999, 01:213.). Or, for a more aviation related case, Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) are patrolling the middleeastern skies while their ‘pilots’ remain seated in a U.S. compound. What does all of this have to do with the future of aircraft maintenance and IT systems? Well, key in the previous two examples is something defined as, “separating the information from its artifact [purpose]” (Dhar & Sundararajan , ‘Information Technologies in Business: A Blueprint for Education and Research’, Information System Research, 2007, 18(2)). This means that information is, by definition, not tied to one person, location or machine.

The purpose in our situation would be the airline’s continued airworthiness system and separating in our situation would mean taking data away from the airline and providing it from a centrally controlled information system. Such a system would contain all related scheduled maintenance information for the particular aircraft types operated by the airline and maintenance would be controlled through this system. Part numbers, aircraft maintenance programs, airworthiness directives, service bulletins, check intervals, configurations, maintenance documentation and reliability programs… all of these will become centrally managed information. The only organization capable of controlling such a centralized information system would be the aircraft manufacturers.

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WHITE PAPER: EXYN | 15

We can already identify this trend in which manufacturers provide a full support package with the aircraft. Evidence can be found in the complete Boeing Edge program, the Boeing digital airline program (www.boeing.com/commercial/aviationservices/ integrated-services/digital-airline.html ) and the Airbus E-solutions program. However to enable a full separation of information from what it has to do we also need to look at unscheduled maintenance.

The current driver of unscheduled maintenance is the person who identifies and flags up that some component on the aircraft is no longer fit for operation and needs to be replaced. Usually this is according to a set of guidelines as stipulated in the aircraft maintenance documentation.

Now, the challenge is to separate the information required to determine whether a component is fit for operation from the person. To enable this Full Reallife Automated Communication (FRAC) between the aircraft and the central information system is required.

Again, we can already see this in programs such as Embraer’s AHEAD (Aircraft Health Analysis and Diagnosis) and Boeing’s Aircraft Condition Monitoring System (ACMS) both systems within an aircraft which transmit data concerning faults and aircraft system health to ground stations. It is just a matter of time before sufficient technological developments are available to transmit the full information whether a tire needs to be replaced or a dent is detected in the fuselage of the aircraft.

Once both scheduled maintenance information and unscheduled maintenance information are fully separated from their purposes a second important aspect comes into play, namely ‘IT platforms of growing opportunities’ (Dhar & Sundararajan , ‘Information Technologies in Business: A Blueprint for Education and Research’, Information System Research, 2007, 18(2)). The growing opportunity for such a manufacturer’s central continued airworthiness information system would obviously be the integration of this central system with all other relevant information such as flight planning, material provisioning, maintenance planning, manpower planning, facility planning and equipment planning.

This trend is also already taking place at an airline level when airlines choose to utilize a fully integrated system or interface their various internal and external IT systems with suppliers.

Once we have separated information from its purpose and provided an IT platform of growing opportunity we can actually eliminate two of the four above mentioned pre-requisites for the proper functioning of an information system; namely: • People know what to do when certain information is presented to them; • People know how to enter or feedback information to the system.

The consequences of this would be that engineering departments, planning departments, purchasing departments and troubleshooters all become obsolete as each of the activities they nowadays perform can be fully automated and performed more efficiently by automated routines and programs centrally controlled by the aircraft manufacturer. As a result, human interaction with information systems will be greatly reduced and will most likely be focused on providing initial data to any system from where on that system can function autonomously.

This will also require the regulatory bodies to rethink their approach to continued airworthiness regulations as the main drivers for ensuring continued airworthiness will come under the sole control of aircraft manufacturers through computerized systems, written by human programmers and receiving initial data inputs from people. Additionally it will make third party suppliers of any kind of aviation software obsolete as all systems will be controlled via the aircraft manufacturers. n

Sander de Bree

Founder and general manager of ExSyn Aviation Solutions

Sander de Bree is founder and general manager of ExSyn Aviation Solutions; focusing on engineering and technical management solutions for aviation and heavily specialized in the field of IT systems for aircraft maintenance. Sander holds a degree in aeronautical engineering with a specialization in quality management and aviation regulations. He is a member of the Royal Dutch society of engineers (KIVI NIRIA) and associate to the society’s departments of aerospace engineering and information technology.

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16 | CASE STUDY: TURKISH TECHNIC | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

Networked MRO A new paradigm for MRO resource management and its applications at Turkish Technic.

Dr. Orkun Hasekioglu, R&D Projects Manager at Turkish Airlines Technic

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | CASE STUDY: TURKISH TECHNIC | 17

T

he concept of ‘Networked MRO’ is a new paradigm with which we are experimenting at Turkish Technic; it utilizes advanced IT technologies for innovative maintenance resource management.

In a sense, it is a combination of various existing technologies. We named it ‘Networked MRO’ for reasons that will become clear as we proceed.

What is the ‘Networked MRO’ paradigm?

We define a networked MRO as an MRO facility where the individual resources are nodes in a communications network and those resources can share information with each other. A resource is, by definition, an element that participates in the MRO processes. Examples of resources are technicians, tools, parts and inventory, Ground Services Equipment (GSE), aircraft, hangar slots etc. The overall performance of the MRO operation depends on how efficiently we utilize these resources. It makes perfect sense that the more efficiently and diligently we are able to use these resources, the better will be our key performance indicators, such as work order turn-around time, cost and others.

the sensor network technology governed by the (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) IEEE 802.15.4 protocol. Tool, parts and flyable components use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology as specified by the (Air Transport Association) ATA Spec 2000 chapter 9 and (Society of Automotive Engineers)SAE 5678. Suppliers and vendors receive purchase orders and returns quotations in compliance with iSpec 2200 and S1000D.

“We define a networked MRO as an MRO facility where the individual resources are nodes in a communications network and those resources can share information with each other. A resource is, by definition, an element that participates in the MRO processes

Why is data networking needed?

We need networking because effective resource management is feasible if, and only if, proper tracking, measurement and control of these resources is established. This is possible by means of data networking. When a work order is placed we need to know the locations of the required tools, identify the technicians with suitable skill levels and determine whether they are available. Also, the defects or logs opened against the aircraft along with the most recent maintenance documents need to be accessed. All of these processes running in a typical MRO facility require data communications and communications means networking.

Benefits and objectives:

Through the networked MRO paradigm we are aiming to minimize inadequate resource utilizations. Considering that, on average, MRO expense for a typical airline will be 12% of total costs, even a 1% gain in utilization will be very significant. Our most valuable resource is the offered technician time: 60% technician time utilization (billable hours as a percentage of actual work hours) is typical. Imagine the profitability gain that could be achieved by raising the utilization to 80-90%. Based on our experience, lost time due to locating and retrieving tools, spare parts, current maintenance documents and GSE is one of the major contributors to low utilization levels. Likewise overstocked inventory ties up significant financial resources. The current industry average is around USD $2.5m worth of parts stored for each aircraft. In addition stocking expenses constitute an additional 20-25%. Networking with vendors and supply chain management service providers can enable near just-in-time stocking minimizing inventory costs.

High level system architecture

All of the indicated resources, such as aircraft, GSE, technicians, tools, vendors and flyable maintained components are parts of a very large network. The particular technologies used to establish the actual data networking may vary depending on the application. Nevertheless, they are a part of the same network and, as a result, can exchange data.

For example, aircraft share health and defect data through the VHF Aircraft Communications, Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) link and transmit their locations, identity and heading through the Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) transponders. The Ground Services Equipment and technicians participate in the network through

Figure 1: High level system architecture One of the underlying technologies that enables and coordinates the data exchange is the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) which is a typical Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) within which a number of independent processes can share information and work together through exchanged XML messages.

Conceptually, we treat all of the resources in a communications network as separate nodes that can exchange data regarding their current status and properties (status variables). An example of a communicating resource and its status variables is a technician communicating his or her location, skill level, identification and health status. A further example is the repair tools that can be automatically located and their calibration schedule verified.

Similarly spare parts and their maintenance history can be accessed while the parts are on the aircraft. Each aircraft is also a node of the network. Aircraft health data and location is captured in the maintenance management system via ACARS and ADS-B. The current ATA ebusiness functional scope covers pretty much every MRO process with which we are dealing except for the sensor network technology which is covered under IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Turkish Technic is a member of the RFID, traceability working group.

About Turkish Technic

A brief overview of Turkish Technic is appropriate here to help readers visualize the scope of the networked MRO applications we are attempting to achieve. Currently, the major part of the heavy maintenance work is done at the four hangar sites in Ankara and Istanbul. In addition there are around 60 specialized component repair shops covering components from engines and APUs (Auxiliary Power Units) to landing gear and avionics.

At present, there are around 3,600 employees on the payroll. This is predicted to increase to close to 5,000 within the next couple of years, as new projects and partnerships are put into place. In addition to the Part 145 and Part 147 certifications, Turkish Technic is also certified for Part 21 Design Organization Approval (DOA). We cover pretty much all categories

of civil aircraft and component MRO including line, heavy, engine, APU and other component MRO with around 60 specialized shops. Our international customers include many airlines from Asia, Africa and Europe.

Along with these, Turkish Technic has several partnerships in the MRO sector, including, Turkish Engine Center (TEC) with Pratt and Whitney for CFM56 and V2500 engine MRO, engine nacelle and thrust reverser MRO with Goodrich, Industrial Gas Turbines MRO with Zorlu Holdings and Turkish Cabin Interior (TCI) a partnership with TAI (Turkish Aviation industries) for manufacturing of cabin interior systems.

‘Networked MRO’ applications at Turkish Technic

Having summarized the general concept of the ‘Networked MRO’ framework, a few examples from Turkish Technic will illustrate the practical approach.

Example 1: GSE and Technician Resources The first example is GSE and technician resources management as part of the Networked MRO framework. Each piece of GSE and each technician is a node in the general data network. In this case, the physical, data link and network layers are defined by the sensor network IEEE 802.15.4 standard.

A brief description of a sensor network A sensor network is a data communications network composed of a large number of mobile or stationary nodes that can communicate, sense and process data. Numerous sensor nodes capable of processing data and communicating information from a sensor field constitute a sensor network. The data gathered in the field through the interconnected sensors is communicated to the outside world through a gateway

18 | CASE STUDY: TURKISH TECHNIC | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

that is also referred to as a data sink or a coordinator.

Typically the number of nodes can be in hundreds or thousands. They can be mobile or stationary and randomly deployed. Each one of the nodes in the sensor network has sensors attached to it. The data obtained through the sensors can be locally processed in the node and then transmitted through the sensor network to the outside world. The objective is to have a very robust network that is not affected by changes in the network topology nor the addition or removal of nodes.

The data collected through the sensor is first digitized by the analog to digital converter, then processed by the local processor and transmitted by the transceiver to the next available node. The specific means of data routing is dependent on the particular network protocol implemented. A typical node can withstand years of operation without any battery replacement and costs less than a few dollars depending on which sensors are used. Two way communications is possible between nodes or with the outside world.

The sensors can measure location, motion, temperature, force or torque, chemical properties, oxygen level etc. The governing standard is IEEE 802.15.4 that defines the physical and medium access control layers.

Figure 3: The graphical view of the airport as viewed from the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the web based software.

Figure 4: When any one item of equipment is clicked on, the name, identification, time, speed etc. of the current user of the GSE pops op on the screen.

Figure 6: A snapshot from the actual GUI for one of the hangar interiors. The green and grey objects are pieces of equipment tracked in real time. When these resources are clicked on, a pop-up screen indicating the name, picture and location of the equipment appears.

Figure 5: An example reporting output of the networked MRO environment. In this report one can access usage statistics for each piece of ground services equipment.

Figure 7: The circled parts below are sensor nodes attached on engine carrying equipment.

Figure 8: Close up view of an individual node device.

Example 2: Aircraft resources The second example of the networked MRO paradigm is the aircraft resources. Again each aircraft resource is considered a node of the network that can transmit health data through ACARS and location, heading and ID information through the ADS-B transponder.

Currently almost all Turkish Airlines aircraft are equipped with ACARS and ADS-B transponders.

Figure 2: An aerial view of Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

The shaded areas indicate the coverage of the sensor network field within the Airport.

Example 3: Tools and Flyable Components The third example of the networked MRO paradigm consists of the tools and the flyable components. Each tool or flyable component that is maintained is a node in the network. In this case the networking technology we use is RFID.

Figure 9: The received aircraft position, heading and ID data is displayed on the user interface.

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | CASE STUDY: TURKISH TECHNIC | 19

“The current ATA ebusiness functional scope covers pretty much every MRO process with which we are dealing except for the sensor network technology which is covered under IEEE 802.15.4 standard.�

Figure 10: Each flyable component is marked with an RFID tag that is in compliance with ATA Spec 2000 and SAE 5678 standards. This is the memory organization of a tag as stipulated by Spec 2000. Starting from the birth record of the component, all the maintenance history is stored in the tag. (Courtesy ATA Spec 2000 Ch. 9)

Figure 11: At the tool shop there are around 5000 tools and items of test equipment to be traced

by RFID. The metal RFID tags are attached to the metal surfaces and casings of the tool sets. Each rack is marked by a tag so that the toolboxes can be associated with the rack locations.

Figure 12: A snapshot view from the Networked MRO GUI. Each tool can be traced to its location on the rack and if calibration is required reports can be generated for tools with overdue calibration.

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20 | TURKISH TECHNIC | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

We also developed a separate application that runs on handheld RFID readers. Using this application the cabin interior and emergency equipment such as life vests, oxygen generators and oxygen tubes can be tracked.

A reporting screen displays components that are unavailable, incorrectly located or with overdue calibrations. We have applied this to one of our A320 aircraft. Our Part 21 certification department is in the process of completing the necessary paperwork before we extend this application to the other Turkish Airlines aircraft. In this example, typical off-the-shelf RFID readers are used. However, the RFID tags are specialized to aircraft maintenance.

Figure 13

Example 4: Electroplating shop We also consider the shops as part of the networked MRO paradigm.

The status of each electroplating bath including the component currently in there, the operational variables such as current, duration pH level, ion concentration and others are monitored and controlled remotely.

“…the Networked MRO paradigm summarized in this article can substantially improve the efficient and reliable use of MRO resources. We think it has already done so at Turkish Technic. Currently, aircraft, GSE and tool shop components of the networked MRO are operational.”

Conclusion

Figure 14

We believe the Networked MRO paradigm summarized in this article can substantially improve the efficient and reliable use of MRO resources. We think it has already done so at Turkish Technic. Currently, aircraft, GSE and tool shop components of the networked MRO are operational. Work is continuing on the other important components of MRO resources such as technicians, suppliers and flyable components. The rate of completion will obviously depend on the amount of the development resources allocated to the project in the coming months.

We also assist other MROs and airlines to implement the technologies, hardware and software involved in this concept. If you would be interested to know more, please do not hesitate to drop me an email at ohasekioglu@thy.com. n

ABOUT TURKISH TECHNIC From its existing facilities at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport, Turkish Technic is primarily the provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul operations to Turkish Airlines fleet: it also provides services to various customer airlines from Turkey and surrounding countries.

Based on the experience accumulated within the firm’s existing technical facilities, the developed and well-qualified labor force, the strategic location and increasing market demand, Turkish Technic has set up a new MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) facility. The new facility will be located at the Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (around 70 km’s away from the existing facilities located at Istanbul Atatürk International Airport) on an area reserved for the development of an international MRO center. The geostrategic location of the new facility will enable the new maintenance center to serve European, Asian, North African and Middle Eastern MRO markets, as well as the Turkish market.

The new international maintenance, repair and overhaul center project and all the investments by Turkish Technic within Sabiha Gökçen International Airport are named as HABOM Project (Havacılık Bakım Onarım ve Modifikasyon Merkezi or, in English, Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Center).

Services offered by Turkish Technic include: Component Services, Aircraft Services, Engine / APU Services, Engineering Services, Training Services and AOG. Turkish Technic partnered Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners to open a new, high-technology and environmentally efficient CFM56 and V2500 engine overhaul facility in Istanbul in 2009.

Dr. Orkun Hasekioglu R&D Projects Manager at Turkish Airlines Technic

The responsibilities of Dr. Orkun Hasekioğlu at Turkish Technic include developing and implementing enabling state-of-the-art MRO Technologies and capabilities. He also serves as Chief Information Officer in charge of the IT processes and technologies at Turkish Airlines Technic. Orkun Hasekioglu has BS, MS (Caltech), PhD (RPI) degrees in Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering, with a specialization in signal processing, communications systems and networks.

Prior to joining Turkish Technic, after engaging in academia at Caltech and RPI, Dr. Hasekioglu, has served in General Electric R&D Center, Schenectady, NY, as a research engineer; Moren Communications as Chief Technology Officer; CHEMI Inc as Vice President responsible for product development; and AIT Inc, as Vice President and later on as President and partner. At AIT, an engineering R&D and consulting services company, his team was involved in the design, analysis and testing of gas turbine engines among other areas of research.

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | VENDOR JOB CARD | 21

How I see IT

A cold wind of change is blowing through MRO: only those with the resources to gather, manage and control data, information and knowledge will withstand the chill. Michael Denis

tough for MROs Economic times are r. For airlines in and will get toughe y is very tough, the EU, the econom not so great the rest of the world But, where er. but not so bad eith goes MRO so airlines go, there al INTERACTIVE: Get Involved!

Why not get involved with the debate? Send your comments or questions to Michael by clicking here.

There seems to be growing consensus on several the mes coming out of Amste observations and opinion rdam this past week. My s on what the industry wa s saying at MRO Europe ar e...

MRO Networks will be led

by OEMs or large airline af fil iated MROs with economies will need to focus on spe of scale. Independents cialty niche work or geog ra ph ic intermediation and then Networks. So in the end, offer their services to MR you are leading an MRO O Network or you’re a niche you’re future isn’t viable pro vider to an MRO Network (unless a government is su or bsidizing you).

Economic times are toug h for MROs and will get tougher. For airlines in the the rest of the world not EU, the economy is very so great but not so bad eit tough, her. But, where airlines go phenomenon of retiremen , there also goes MRO. Th t of aircraft at a much yo e unger age will increase – superseded by new genera with current aircraft being tion, fuel efficient, early lifecycle replacements. Th on demand for MRO and is will put downward press prices. Also, airlines have ure learned capacity discipline will not be flying around , so excess numbers of air half full but still requiring cr aft full MRO. These phenomen additional bankruptcies a will drive consolidation which, as in the airline ind and ustry itself, results in inc for all that some pass aw reased pricing power. It ay. is good Then there is DIKW (Data, Information, Knowledge & Wisdom) to consider. Ne generating millions of MB w generation aircraft are of data per day. That da ta is turned into real tim and MROs have the techn e information and, if air ology, that information ca lines n be turned into actiona again with the right analy ble decision knowledge. tic technology, data and Over time, information can be turne the use of each fleet, each d into wisdom on how to aircraft, and each route. optimize But technology requires ca and well backed MROs ar pital, and right now, only e investing in the tools it OEMs takes to win in the know ledge age.

Knowledge is power. IP is control. Boeing knows thi s and it is the reason the conditions on any third y are placing considerable party who touches 787 da ta or content. The war for op knowledge and service lif erational data, reliability ecycle management wisd om is well underway. The MRO business network lin battle lines will be drawn es via MRO IT network sha along ring and barriers to sharin g.

And my closing note is the fallacy of forecasts. For over a decade, a couple have analyzed the industry of MRO strategy consultan and concluded its market cies revenue to be in the mid further forecast that the $40B USD. These brain tru market will grow to abou sts t $60B in ten years. Well neither reality nor these ten years has come and go forecasts have changed. ne but The question isn’t whether or not the annual MRO fo recasts are or will be accu question is, ‘Why should rate or not – that we know we care?’ Would anyone . The ma ke a capital or operational should hope not! decision on this fodder?

I At least that’s how I see IT.

22 | WEBINARS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | SUMMER 2012

Past Webinars: View Video Recordings of our Live Software Demonstration Webinars at Aircraft IT Build your own MRO Software Demo Webinar Library. Search through and sign up to view the convenient video recordings of all previous Live MRO Software Demonstration & Masterclass Webinars at the following link: http://www.aircraftit.com/MRO/Webinars/Past.aspx.

This exceptional video library contains recordings of Live Software Demonstrations and Masterclasses from the following major IT Vendors: TRAX, Swiss-AS (AMOS), Enigma, Rusada, Mxi Technologies, Gen2Systems, Ramco Systems, Aerosoft Systems, 2MoRO Solutions, Lufthansa Technik (manage-m), AV-BASE Systems, plus more. An outline of four of the recent Webinar Recordings can be seen below:

Mxi Technologies Maintenix Software Demonstration (including iPad demonstration) Webinar

Live Maintenance & Inventory Control Software Demonstration Webinar

7th June 2012

26th July 2012

n Session OVERVIEW

n Session OVERVIEW

Sign up for this recording and Join Mxi Technologies for a Webinar where attendees will learn more about the latest MRO software technologies available to the industry with a special focus on Advanced Aircraft, Integrated Planning, and Mobility (including a live iPad demonstration) complemented by a live software demonstration of the industry leading Maintenix software solution and customer case studies.

Sign in to view this Webinar recording and Join AV-BASE for a live demonstration of WinAir Version 6 Maintenance and Inventory Control Software solution. You will be taken on a tour of an industry leading MRO software solution and its rich functionality covering different aircraft types and assemblies, production, and process costs. Also, you’ll see how reliability can be tracked and data imported while maintaining integrity and security.The software tour will cover: Programs (Maintenance Templates, Inspections & Checks, Components) Planning (Maintenance Forecasting/ Scheduling, Materials Forecast), Production (Work Orders, Tasks) Records (Technical Log-book, Materials Tracking) and more.

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WEBINARS | 23

About the Live Software Demonstration Webinar Recordings

How it works:

Whether you missed them the first time around, need to refresh your understanding of available systems before making a key decision or if you are building a reference portfolio of relevant knowledge, these past webinar recordings will add vital market intelligence to your established professional skills. They’ll improve and sharpen your awareness of available solutions and add to your knowledge store. You’ll gain an overview of the major MRO software systems on the market today, from the world’s leading IT Vendors, and all at a time and a place compatible with your busy schedule. Each demonstration lasts 1 hour, providing airlines, aircraft operators and MROs with the perfect introduction to each MRO software solution demonstrated.

• Visit: http://www.aircraftit.com/MRO/Webinars/Past.aspx • Use the scroll option or view the details of the latest recorded sessions on the right and select a Webinar recording you would like to view.

• Next click ‘Register for Recording’ and enter your details.

• Once approved the video file will appear in your Member’s Area at the Aircraft IT website.

• You can then view the Webinar recording as many times as you wish, share it with your colleagues and retain it as part of your own market intelligence reference library.

iPad in MRO and Live Software Demonstration of FleetCycle Webinar Recording

MRO Software Implementation Masterclass Webinar Recording

2nd August 2012

9th August 2012

n Session OVERVIEW

n Session OVERVIEW

Sign up to view this Webinar Recording and Join EmpowerMX to discover, through a live demonstration of their FleetCycle Software Suite of Applications, how using an iPad or tablet device at the point-ofmaintenance can bring real value to MRO. The Webinar takes you on a live tour of an industry leading MRO software solution (FleetCycle) to see how it can also help to optimize aircraft maintenance downtime by driving cost reductions, reducing hangar cycle time and increasing reliability and safety, so that aircraft are available for maximum time in revenue service.

Sign up to view this Webinar Recording and join Holocentric for this Masterclass Webinar: ‘Successful MRO Software Implementation Project Management’. Already used to great effect by Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Icelandair, you will learn how Holocentric’s methodHOLOGY delivers on-time, on-budget implementations of even the most complex software solutions.

During the Webinar you will learn how to manage major software implementations from pre-request for tender (RFT) stage to go-live by understanding the complexity involved and managing multiple project deliverables and stakeholders.

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24 | VENDOR CARD|ITAIRCRAFT IT MRO |2012 AUTUMN 2012 FEATURE JOB | AIRCRAFT MRO | AUTUMN

How does Swiss-AS do it?

Ronald Schaeuffele explains 'how' to Aircraft IT.

at Crossair, a rapidly expanding regional airline in Switzerland. He After graduating as a software programmer in 1989, Ronald worked was completely new MRO software. This software - later called AMOS joined the technical department and was assigned to program a to offer the individualised software to 3rd parties... until Crossair 100% tailored to Crossair's needs. Originally, it was not intended By sharing the development costs with other aviation companies, was approached by various airlines in the hope of purchasing AMOS. standardising the software and offering professional implementation the development of AMOS gained momentum, the AMOS team grew, Swiss AviationSoftware, Ronald has been associated with the entire services. Starting as a lead programmer for AMOS and now CEO of AMOS is now one of the top M&E software systems worldwide. life cycle of the MRO software, from its infancy until today, where

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

Ronald Schaeuffele: Ronald Schaeuffele, CEO, Swiss AviationSoftware Ltd. Aircraft IT: How did Swiss-AS / AMOS get started?

RS: The company’s success story started in 1989 within Crossair (later Swiss International Air Lines, abbreviated to ‘SWISS’) when the AMOS foundations were laid. The software was designed for the specific needs of the airline and, in 1992, AMOS was sold for the first time. A few years later, AMOS was standardised which was the starting point for the product’s success.

In 2004, AMOS business activities were transferred from the IT department of SWISS to the newly founded 100% subsidiary, Swiss AviationSoftware (Swiss-AS). Thereafter, being a self-contained company within a strong network, the AMOS team could fully concentrate on its core business and strengthen the position of AMOS as an industry leading MRO solution in Europe and beyond.

chosen a future-proof programming language. To assist connectivity between AMOS and third party applications, which is a real benefit for highly integrated system environments, AMOS has the ‘Adaptive Integration Manager’ tool. A most recent success is database-related.

AMOS was only available on a Sybase database until August 2012 when our first customer went live with AMOS on an Oracle database.

Aircraft IT: What has been Swiss-AS’ greatest business achievement to date, and why?

RS: Our continued success today. AMOS started as a small project designed by a handful of people within the Crossair IT department; it was never intended to be sold and is now one of the leading MRO systems worldwide. The AMOS community today consists of over 100 airlines and MRO providers. In addition to our Swiss headquarters, Swiss-AS has now a Business Unit in Miami, USA and will soon have an office in Singapore; and we have just welcomed our 100th employee.

Aircraft IT: What is the guiding business principle that drives Swiss-AS? RS: It has always been one of Swiss-AS’ primary goals to provide customers with a technologically state-of-the-art software package.

Swiss-AS upholds the values of ‘Swissness’: top-quality, reliability and innovation. We aim to stay one step ahead of our competitors in terms of business functions as well as technological innovation and want to be regarded as a reliable partner on which the AMOS community can depend, not only today but also in 10 or 20 years.

Aircraft IT: What have been Swiss-AS’ disappointments and what have you learned from them?

RS: It is our aim to offer customers MRO software with the highest quality standards. Due to the fast growth of our customer base and the continuing further development of AMOS leading to the roll-out of many new functions, software quality has been affected in some areas – an unacceptable situation for Swiss-AS. To address this, SwissAS has increased manpower in the quality team, implemented new testing methods and is now more closely monitoring the quality of the software.

Aircraft IT: What has been Swiss-AS’ greatest IT achievement to date, and why?

RS: AMOS has always been based on advanced technology. Our IT expertise has enabled us to take the right technological decisions during the last two decades. With AMOS written in pure JAVA, we have

Aircraft IT: In a sentence, how would you summarize what SwissAS does for aircraft MRO customers?

RS: Caring for our customers, no matter what size or geographical location, and understanding their needs, combined with Swiss quality has been a key factor of success.

Aircraft IT: What is new on Swiss-AS’ development horizon?

RS: Swiss-AS is heavily investing to bridge the last remaining functional gap: functionalities that are dedicated to pure MRO providers. In order to prioritise this development, we have substantially increased the manpower in our R&D department and have, together with MRO providers in our customer base, elaborated the new features and enhancements. The recently launched version of AMOS (AMOS 10.00) heralded a new era in Swiss-AS’ MRO software: It is the starting point of these major developments that will be rolled-out over the next 2-3 releases.

Aircraft IT: What will be the next big thing in MRO Aviation IT? RS: Actually, we do not see a ‘next big thing’, but rather expect constant enhancement and final implementation of currently available technologies: e.g. paperless maintenance has been a big topic for some years now, however only a fraction of today’s airlines have banished paper from the shop floor, etc. There are many hypes in the industry – some short-lived others more long-lasting. From our point of view, new technologies, which would bring considerable added value to companies, will only be implemented if cultural and technological thresholds can be overcome and customers see a real return on investment that justifies the technological innovation.

Aircraft IT: What do you want your customers to say about SwissAS / AMOS? RS: AMOS; technicians’ first choice!

AircraftIT: Ronald Schaeuffele, thank you for your time.

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | IN THE NEXT ISSUE… | 25 2moroAnnoncePresse1112.pdf

Look out for your next issue of Aircraft IT eJournal with more great articles on topics you won’t want to miss contributed by people who know your world.

Aircraft IT MRO Volume 2 Issue 1 Due out: January 2013 C

Implementing RFID in a large established airline, including tagging legacy equipment to achieve faster return on investment (ROI)

Challenges and Opportunities

The MRO IT challenges and opportunities for a relatively new airline and how some have dealt with them

MRO Systems

Why MRO systems must be different from the systems with which they interface – the reasons and alternatives.

How I see IT

Michael Denis’s always relevant but rarely reverent column

Webinars

Links to past webinars and guides to upcoming webinars Look out in early January for your next Aircraft IT MRO – bringing knowledge to your desktop.

Subscribe here for free… it takes a few moments.

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26 | WEBINARS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | SUMMER 2012

Upcoming Live Software Demonstration Webinars at www.aircraftit.com November will bring great opportunities for readers to attend programs covering two of the leading MRO software solutions on the Market today.

If you need to know more about MRO analytics and planning and/or maintenance management at all levels, you’ll save a great deal of time and gain a lot of what you’ll need to know to inform a good decision by simply attending these two informative webinars.

Live Record Management and Electronic Lease Return Software Demonstration n 1 NOVEMBER 2012 n Duration: 1 hour plus Q&A. n Session 1: 06:30 am GMT/UTC n Session 2: 15:00pm GMT/UTC

S

ign up for this Webinar and get involved in a live demo and Q&A session of FLYdocs, the ground breaking and industry leading Records Management and electronic Lease Return System.

FLYdocs is a highly interactive feature rich system designed to make your working day easier. If your organisation could benefit from having highly advanced access to your own documentation in a multitude of ways, you need to see and experience FLYdocs. If you are spending fortunes in late return fees when redelivering aircraft, then you need to see and experience FLYdocs – the world’s first fully electronic Lease Return system.

Join us on Thursday 1st November 2012 to enjoy a live demo of FLYdocs….you’ll be glad you did.

Agenda

FLYdocs system overview, to include: • Records Management Overview; • Data Input [Scan-at-Source/ Batch Input/ e-data/ e-documents]; • Interactive Functions [Repair Mapping/ Assembly Management/ electronic approvals]; • Lease Returns; • The future.

Who should attend?

This webinar is ideal for airline/ MRO engineering personnel working in any department within or related to engineering on a day-to-day basis.

More about FLYdocs….

FLYdocs can co-ordinate and manage the scanning of records, indexing and tagging as well as many other highly advanced and automated features designed to bring your records to life in an intelligent way to give the business the type of real time functionality not available in other more basic ‘read and retrieve’ type records management systems currently in the marketplace.

We work together with clients as equal parties with common goals, solving problems and pushing boundaries along the way throughout our working agreement, during which FLYdocs will deliver company-wide benefits in Aircraft Re-deliveries, Records Management, Aircraft Management, Repair Management, Engine Management, Gear Management, APU Management, Airworthiness Management and much more.

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WEBINARS | 27

S

Sign up to free live online software demonstrations for a perfect introduction to the world’s leading MRO Software vendors and to learn how they can assist and add value to your operations

Live MRO / M&E Software Demonstration Webinar of OASES n 15 NOVEMBER 2012 n Duration: 1 hour plus Q&A. n Session 1: 06:30 am GMT/UTC n Session 2: 15:00pm GMT/UTC

ign up for this Webinar on the 15th of November and join Commsoft for a live software demonstration of OASES, their extremely popular MRO / M&E software solution for airlines and third party MROs. You will be taken on a tour of the different modules and the rich functionality the software provides with a particular focus on the Continuing Airworthiness, Planning, Production, Line Maintenance and Commercial Modules.

This Webinar will provide you with the great chance to see a high-level review of this industry leading software solution and see why OASES is used by over 50 companies worldwide. You will see that OASES is an extremely cost effective solution and is suitable for all sizes and types of airlines and operators and 3rd party maintenance providers.

Commsoft would welcome your attendance at one of our Webinars to see how OASES could help your organisation enjoy the benefits that are already being seen by our current customers. During the one hour session we will demonstrate some of the unique and innovative features of OASES, so you can see why more and more organisations are selecting it over competing products.

Since the very beginning of the development of OASES we have concentrated on providing a comprehensive solution which is easy to implement and also easy for the users to work with. OASES allows you to replace many older or bespoke systems and cost effectively manage your processes in as single application. By bringing all these systems together it enables better sharing of data and greater consistency to be maintained.

All of these things allow managers to concentrate on managing the really important activity of maintaining aircraft, knowing that OASES is helping you to achieve the business aims.

What you’ll learn during the Webinar

The following are some of the points we’ll cover during the session: • 50 direct customers worldwide – who uses OASES? • 7 new customers so far in 2012 – why do they select OASES? • Worldwide 24/7 customer support – how is it provided?

• Continual system development – why is it important?

• Integration, visibility & control – why use OASES?

Agenda

• General introduction to Commsoft and the OASES product; • System demonstration – OASES overview (download datasheets from www.commsoft.aero); • Core module; • Continuing Airworthiness module; • Planning module; • Production module; • Materials module; • Line Maintenance module; • Commercial module; • Detailed process demonstration – AD/SB control.

Who should attend?

Airline and MRO staff who are evaluating systems, considering the replacement of their current system or who have a system and would like to see a different approach.

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28 | IT’S PERSONAL | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

I t ’ s personal An occasional series with insights into the experiences that shaped today’s experts and their thinking. Every now and then, we all wonder how somebody came to the understanding for which we know them today. From time to time, we’ll invite the experts to share their own professional background with Aircraft IT readers and to tell us how it influenced their outlook today.

Plan the work or work the plan?

Grouping tasks logically together, explains Tim Alden, Commercial Director at Rusada, means fewer individual steps and better oversight of the whole process

B

ack in early 1993 I got my first introduction to planning complex engineering projects. I was with a major airline operating 747s and the Pylon mod and section 41 modifications had just been released. The facility had been given a target of achieving 1 million man-hours per year and we hadn’t written a single instruction for the shop floor, let alone worked out how it was going to be achieved.

At our disposal were three computer systems and the technical manuals to achieve the job, a situation familiar to most, I’m sure. The computer systems were the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), a technical authoring system and a piece of software for project planning. The challenge was to turn engineering instructions into a streamlined series of steps that would record hours and parts usage and help forecast completion against the plan. Whilst considerable effort was put into planning both the work and the disposal of parts, the actual execution of the work to the plan was not that difficult, and that was down mainly to the fact that it was a prescribed, repeatable series of events that could run almost independently of the main overhaul of the aircraft. It wasn’t a small job, it required the re-engineering of all four pylons and mounts and accounted for several thousand man-hours and several hundred individual sign offs. But, it was predictable.

However, overhauling aircraft, as we all know, is not such a prescribed activity; is it? Keep that thought for now.

With a large department of engineers and access to manufacturer and airline documentation we wrote task cards, we allocated parts for pre-load and we embedded diagrams to boost productivity. And remember, all this was back in the early 1990’s.

Next on the list was to tackle the aircraft check as a whole. Now, Boeing used to code their task cards with letters to indicate tasks that could be achieved in parallel and tasks that had to be completed prior to others, in series. That’s great, but not so great when you have work packs with 2,000 or more tasks. Planning down to task level requires an awful lot of research and an awful lot of maintenance – remember, back in those days, programs were still (Maintenance Review Board) MRB 2 derived and so groups of tasks were fairly stable and, as such, ‘what’ was done and ‘when’ was equally stable.

As MRB 3 programs began to emerge, gone were B checks and major checks and in came individually controlled tasks (I am of course excluding sampling, hard time and corrosion program tasks from this generalisation). But back

then, we embarked on looking at linking tasks together.

It was a complete nightmare; investment in planning far outweighed the benefit in work throughput on the shop floor for two very simple reasons: 1. No two maintenance visits were ever exactly the same because of that group of separately scheduled tasks for hard time, CPCP (corrosion prevention and control program), SI etc., each of which influenced other inspection tasks and, more importantly generated the second item; 2. Defects: these little inconveniences were not part of the plan; sure you can estimate the areas that you think might generate defect work but it is not until that aircraft is surrounded by staging and expensive bits of kit have been removed, torches switched on and sealant scraped away do you really discover when that aircraft is expected to depart.

For a start, let me expand a little on item 1. Say you had gone down the route of linking ten tasks in a small group. On aircraft A, it was fine, worked a treat: critical path? No problem: milestones? Here you are boss.

In comes aircraft B with a different mod state, and out goes task number seven, let’s say. But, task number seven used to be the predecessor of tasks number eight and nine. In a static project management system, looking for tasks, now you have a broken link and all of a sudden what you planned to do on day three gets loaded on day one. Now, if you are lucky, out of 2,000 tasks, you spot these little breaks, if not, your resource requirement very quickly goes very strange.

Now let’s think some more about item 2. Yes, most systems either prescribe or at least allow you to enter the number of the routine task you were working on when you found the defect but how many then ask the engineer which task or tasks out of 2,000 cannot be started until that defect has been completed? So again, planning down to task level is a burden.

Did we come up with a solution? Well, the answer is yes; but I will return to that.

Roll forward a couple of years and I find myself with a cargo airline that also has a reasonably successful MRO business. This time however, the team is a handful of guys doing many things, the aircraft are not tier one supported, the customer base is wide and varied, and source documentation is restricted only to the paperwork or microfiche tapes (remember those?)

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | IT’S PERSONNAL | 29

The challenge was to turn engineering instructions into a streamlined series of steps that would record hours and parts usage and help forecast completion against the plan supplied with the aircraft: it was a very different world where variation was the norm. Planning down to task level in this organisation wasn’t just a burden, it was downright impossible with the lead times and availability of information. I decided the best solution would be to explore the solution that we came up with at the airline.

Overhauling aircraft isn’t a prescribed process – really?

Of course it is… that aircraft lands; you do pre hangar checks; you dock the aircraft, take it apart, inspect, fix, put it back together, power it up, function it, push it out and then send it on its way. Start to analyse that a bit further and break it down by system or area and you begin to see a logical flow of work. It occurred to us, then, that it makes sense not to plan individual tasks; but small groups of individual similar tasks did make sense. In reality, teams or individuals working on aircraft tend to tackle a group of tasks at the same time based on two factors, 1. Type of work being undertaken at the time, such as removals, functions or…

2. … availability of the aircraft (in terms of physical accessibility, system status etc.)

When you start to think in this manner, the sequence of events becomes more prescribed; the amount of work involved in each of these groups just varies with the type of maintenance visit being planned. So, we created links between these groups and developed algorithms to import the ERP work order into these groups and allowed the planning software to display the critical path of the check. Where ‘groups’ were not utilized as part of a maintenance process, those groups contained no hours but the logic of progression and dependence remained. Defects were given their own groups and, as defects were raised, the dependant groups delayed accordingly. Altering the durations affected the resultant capacity requirements. Restricting the capacity altered the durations.

As with all new systems it was initially met with scepticism. However, the first time the output date of the aircraft was flagged as soon as a number of defects were raised in a particular area of the aircraft on night shift prior to the daily progress meeting, more credence was given to the system. The same system works regardless of the source of the data – group jobs

together by code and apply the logical plan.

This method was applied for several years and, to my knowledge, is still employed in the airline to this day.

I have moved on but I still come up against the desire to plan aircraft maintenance. In my current role I see many RFI’s and I meet many different types of aviation organisation and I’m still asked to provide solutions to help plan down to task level. Why? Finally, here’s another consideration to add into the mix. Today I was at a service centre, an aircraft was on check and the maintenance visit accounted for no more than 300 tasks including defects. The check was phased and groups of tasks were used to show progress against plan. Then an expensive part that should rotate suddenly stopped rotating with devastating results. The lead-time for replacement is five days. The estimate for replacing the item is perhaps only 40 man-hours.

Would a system that looks just at man-hour content in a group of work cater for the fact that the work is now effectively suspended due to ‘waiting for spares’? Do I have a plan? Of course I do. What is it, well now, that would be telling wouldn’t it. n

TIM ALDEN

Commercial Director, Rusada

After leaving the Royal Air Force where he worked mainly on the venerable VC10 as an aircraft technician, Tim joined one of the world’s leading airlines and trained to work on the Boeing 747. It was here that he changed career path to become more involved with technical authorship and planning and putting practical engineering knowledge into the execution of technical work. Moving on from the airline he took up the post of Planning Services manager for a cargo airline and MRO facility expanding his airframe experience to all Boeing types and regional Airbus aircraft.

His next move was to consult on end of lease hand-backs, VIP aircraft management and business transformations with a specialisation in realising the potential of IT systems.

This work finally led him into Rusada where he has managed projects, regional operations, bid campaigns and the pre-sale and marketing roles.

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keeping aircraft Flying www.rusada.com information@rusada.com +41 21 533 03 34

30 | TENDERS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

MRO Software Tender Upload

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | TENDERS | 31

Targeted opportunities

If you’re seeking out your next career move, then Aircraft IT MRO ‘Vacancies’ is the place to find great opportunities in the sector where your experience and skills are valued and needed. Or simply use us to conduct your own overview of the market while deciding whether to move. Aircraft IT MRO is the specialist website and publication for your sector so you won’t have to trawl through a host of general vacancies to find the aviation MRO IT ones that need your skills and will advance your career.

Aircraft IT MRO is the specialist website and publication for your sector so you won’t have to trawl through a host of general vacancies to find the aviation MRO IT ones that need your skills and will advance your career.

Aircraft IT website ‘Vacancies’ page puts great opportunities with the best businesses in front of professionals in their field

As well as listing current career opportunities, Aircraft IT MRO ‘Vacancies’ also lets you sign up for ‘Job Alerts’, to receive email alerts, making you among the first to learn about the latest opportunities and in pole position to put yourself forward.

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Expectations: Detailed understanding of aircraft maintenance programs and related airline processes; customer service driven and able to work independently in an unsupervised environment.

Software Trainer Within the framework of the software installation and the training provided to the clients, your missions will be to: • Conduct training courses on the installed modules at the clients; • Assist in developing training manuals; • Assure the proper implementation of the training sessions; • Complete the computerized reporting systems.

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | 33

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

There are three recognized categories of MRO software solutions: 1) Pure-play MRO solutions also known as Best of Breed (BoB) 2) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solutions 3) Specialist Point Solutions Software solutions assigned to categories 1 & 2 offer a complete endto-end MRO solution for airlines, MROs and aircraft operators and meet most business system requirements for MRO facilities and airlines of any size seeking a new MRO software solution or looking to replace or renew an existing one.

Pure-play systems are designed specifically for the aviation MRO industry and typically offer a complete solution to fit with the highly regulated nature of the industry. ERP MRO Solutions are part of a complete end-to-end enterprise wide software package and allow for extended capability with other systems such as Finance and Human Resources.

Specialist Point solutions are MRO systems that are particularly strong in certain niche areas and usually complement the pure-play solutions.

For ease of reference the directory below is divided into two sections: Pure-play and ERP MRO Solutions; and Specialist Point Solutions

Pureplay, BoB and ERP MRO Solutions

2MoRO Solutions

W: www.2moro.com T: +33 (0)559 013 005 (EMEA & Asia) T: +001 514 861 8686 (Americas) E: 2moro@2moro.com

Company formed: 2004, Office Location: France (HQ) and Canada Name of Product Marketed • Aero OneŽ, Aero-WebbŽ, BFlyŽ Number of Modules.........6 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Fleet Management • Technical Referential Management • Maintenance Forecasting • Inspection, Sentencing, Workbench • Configuration Control

Created in 2004, 2MoRO Solutions is an innovative company dedicated to software development for the Aerospace & Defense market (operational and R&D needs). We are located in America and in Europe. Our solutions are operated in 17 countries. We provide three high value products: Aero-OneÂŽ, Aero-WebbÂŽ, BFlyÂŽ. We have partnership with the world best of class ERP and PLM software providers, SAPÂŽ and PTCÂŽ. Our products are fully integrated with ERP offering cross functionalities: Accounting, Financials, Sales, Purchasing , Operations, Inventory & Distribution. We offer specific A&D functionalities: Fleet Management, Technical Referential Mgt, Maintenance Forecasting, Maintenance Execution, Inspection & Sentencing, Configuration Control, CRM & CSM.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

ADSoftware

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

Company formed: 1998, Office Location: France, Thailand, South Africa, Brazil Name of Product Marketed • AIRPACK Number of Modules.........6 Five Key Business/Software Areas • AIRTIME - Fleet management & CAMO • AIRSTOCK - Inventory control & Logistic • AIRDOC - Documentation management • AIRSTAT - Reliability and statistic reports • AIRWORK - Time Tracking Software ADSoftware has developed an integrated fleet management system and logistic package called AIRPACK. This 6 modules system replies 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 45 clients worldwide. The strength of ADSoftware is the simplicity of its products; they are Microsoft WindowsŽ ready, Web-enabled, available in various languages and a complete training can be done in just five days. The company also provides a 24/7 online technical support and extremely competitive pricing conditions.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

Looking to make your Aircra Returns really smooth and hassle free? Looking to manage your documents properly?

Looking to enjoy incredibly advanced so ware to manage it all?

You need FLYdocs. The most advanced aviation document intelligence system in the world. Accept no other.

e adrian.ryan@flydocs.aero t +44 (0)121 351 6563 www.flydocs.aero

34 | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

ADT - Applied Database Technology

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

Company formed: 1992, Office Location: Bellevue, Tampa USA; Istanbul, Turkey Name of Product Marketed • Wings NG Number of Modules.........14 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Fleet Management • Maintenance Engineering • Material Management • Production Planning • Labor Collection, Billing 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 the aerospace companies. ADT has been in the software business since 1992 and 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.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

AeroSoft Systems Inc.

AV BASE SYSTEMS

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

W: www.avbasesystems.com T: +1 519-691-0919 E: info@avbasesystems.com

Company formed: 1997, Office Location: Mississauga,Ontario, Canada; Miami,FL,USA; Austria

Company formed: 1997, Office Location: Mississauga,Ontario, Canada; Miami,FL,USA; Austria

Name of Product Marketed • DigiMAINT, DigiDOC, WebPMI/DJM Number of Modules.........5

Name of Product Marketed • WinAir Essentials; WinAir Express; WinAir Pro-SQL; and WinAir Enterprise Number of Modules.........5

Five 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 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. AeroSoft’s strategic partners include Hexaware Technologies Inc. who are jointly going to market internationally offering large IT capacity at competitive rates.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

Five Key Business/Software Areas • Complex Maintenance Programs / Configuration Management • Aircraft and Internal Shop Production • Inventory Control & Procurement • Opertational Administration • Reliability Module AV-BASE Systems develops and supports the successful series of WinAir maintenance and inventory software solutions. With over 20 years committed to the aviation industry, WinAir is a proven solution to increase operational efficiency and harmonize departments in even the most complex operations. The WinAir Series includes 24/7 technical support, top tier help and documentation, as well as professional training and implementation options. WinAir users span the globe and include Airlines, Government Operations, MROs, Military Operations, Law Enforcement Agencies, Corporate Aviation Firms, and Aviation Services such as Medical Evacuation organizations. Visit www.avbasesystems.com for a solution that works in the real world.

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | 35

Cimber Air Data AS

W: www.amicos.com T: +45 7443 3222 E: sales@amicos.com

Company formed: 1985, Office Location: Denmark Name of Product Marketed • AMICOS Next Generation Number of Modules.........n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Maintenance & Engineering / MRO • Logistics and Procurement • Reliability & Statistics • Planning • Manpower & Cost control 25 years of successful design, development and implementation makes Cimber Air Data (CAD) one of the most seasoned players in the business. Our staff averages over 15 years of experience in Aviation MRO. Close contact with our customers assure that we are constantly up to date with the latest developments and business requirements. When you talk to CAD staff, you are talking to a proficient Aviation Professional. Cimber Air Data is a profitable company, and we are constantly developing the product.

The AMICOS NG (Next Generation) MRO system is an affordable ‘Enterprise’ solution exclusively developed for Aviation. Our focus is on in-depth functionality and total process control. The diversity of our customers and their business processes ensures that AMICOS covers almost any possible variation of MRO data management.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

Communications Software (Airline Systems) Ltd

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

Company formed: 1971, Office Location: Tiptree, Derby, Norwich, Gatwick, UK; Brisbane, Australia; Coimbatore, India Name of Product Marketed • OASES Number of Modules.........10 Five Key Business/Software Areas • User Friendly - ease of use for all levels of expertise • Excellent Support - full support throughout the life cycle of the product • Scalability - can grow with your business • Cost - low ‘cost of ownership’ • Security - proven security Communications Software Ltd provides the Open Aviation Strategic Engineering System (OASES), covering all aspects of aircraft maintenance for airlines and third-party maintainers. Areas covered include: inventory control; rotable tracking; demand handling; requirements planning; PO and RO processing; component and aircraft technical records; maintenance forecasting; aircraft check planning and documentation, plus 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.

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IFR FRANCE

W: www.ifrfrance.com T: +33 (0) 562 74 75 00 E: commercial@ifrfrance.com

Company formed: 1987 Office Location: Toulouse (HQ); Moscow (Rep); Singapore (Rep); Bogota (Rep) Name of Product Marketed • AMASIS Number of Modules.........13 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Line Maintenance • Base Maintenance • Engineering • Procurement / Stores • Business Intelligence AMASIS is a robust turnkey solution to manage and optimize the aircraft maintenance. With 80+ active customers, AMASIS is a reliable solution for operators with fleets of all sizes and MRO. The new interface and the integrated Business Intelligence module (optional) brings to users the right tools to improve the maintenance processes.

Our experts propose high level services to assit users during the implementation phase and the day to day operations (customizations, data upload, training, audit).

Click Here for Software/Product Details Click Here to Request Private Demo Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

36 | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

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Lufthansa Technik AG

Ramco Systems

W: www.lufthansa-technik.com/manage-m T: +49 69 696 91628 E: info@manage-m.com

W: www.ramcoaviation.com T: +1 305 538 8499 E: agatag@rsc.ramco.com

Lufthansa Technik’s unique Technical Operations WebSuite manage/m® allows commercial aircraft operators to manage all core functions of their fleet’s technical operations as an entirely web-based system online – anytime and anywhere. manage/m® is provided at no extra costs to every customer holding a MRO contract with Lufthansa Technik.

Rounding out Lufthansa Technik’s all-encompassing portfolio of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, the modules of manage/m® comprise a complete range of airline-proven support functions that permit operators to live up to their responsibilities towards the aviation authorities.

Reflecting Lufthansa Technik’s MRO competence in all of its facets, manage/m® provides you with the necessary information to live up to your responsibilities as an operator in full. Quality monitoring, reliability trends, status reports, documentation and tracking of shop events in real-time are just a few of the available WebServices.

Ramco Systems is the world’s largest provider of Aviation M&E, MRO and Manufacturing software solutions designed from the ground up for Commercial Passenger and Cargo, Military, PBL, PBM, Fixed Wing & Rotor, Fleet Operators, MRO providers and OEM organizations. The solutions are offered On-premise (in-house), through an Application Service Provider, or OnDemand utilizing its solutions and automation tools in running lean, efficient and profitable operations.

Ramco’s Series 5 provides a positive impact on reducing turn times while increasing operational performance and compliance through the full integration of engineering, supply chain, maintenance planning and execution, and compliance modules in an elegant graphical interface.

Company formed: 1995, Office Location: Worldwide Name of Product Marketed • manage/m® Number of Modules.........15 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Compliance Reporting • MPD management and revision service • Task scheduling and control • Material management • Management of technical findings (PiRep & MaRep)

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

Mxi Technologies

W: www.mxi.com T: +1 613-747-4698 E: info@mxi.com

Company formed: 1996, Office Location: USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, India, Asia-Pacific, Singapore, Malaysia Name of Product Marketed • Ramco Aviation Enterprise Solution, Ramco Aviation M&E solution, Ramco Aviation MRO Solution, Ramco Aviation Analytics, Ramco Electronic Flight Bag(EFB), Ramco ePublications, Ramco Aviation Manufacturing OnDemand, Ramco eProcurement Number of Modules.........20 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Maintenance & Engineering • Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul • Aviation Manufacturing and Repair Stations • Human Resources • Finance

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

Company formed: 1996, Office Location: Ottawa, Amsterdam,Detroit, Seattle, Washington, Sydney, Tampa, Saudi Arabia Name of Product Marketed • Maintenix, Maintenix CE Number of Modules.........5 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Maintenance Engineering & Information Management • Maintenance Planning • Maintenance Execution • Material management • Business Support & Analytics With solutions designed specifically for aviation maintenance, Mxi Technologies provides integrated and intelligent software, support, and services to commercial airlines, MROs, OEM aftermarket service providers, and defense operators. Mxi Technologies’ Maintenix® software uses a modern architecture and provides advanced capabilities such as a role-based Web browser interface, long range and automated line planning, automated workflow, electronic signatures, support for portable wireless devices, and a comprehensive range of integration APIs. Our customers range from emerging, small- to mid-sized organizations to the largest global enterprises. For more information and to find out how you can join the evolution of aviation maintenance, visit www.mxi.com today.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

Rusada SA

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

Company formed: 1987, Office Location: Europe, Middle East, Asia, Far East Name of Product Marketed • Envision Number of Modules.........10 (Single database) Five Key Business/Software Areas • Technical records and Asset Management • Asset and Stock Management • Operations • Engineering & Maintenance • Quality, Safety and Analytics Rusada is a global leader in the development of complex asset management software for the aerospace industry. With over 20 year’s heritage, Rusada, provides a range of tools and integrated IT solutions to enable the complete management of fleets of aircraft and the optimisation of the service provision around them. Headquartered in Switzerland with operations in the Far East, Middle East, Asia and Europe, Rusada serves over 60 major customers worldwide, spanning clients that include Operators, MROs and OEMs. Rusada’s Envision toolkit is an industry benchmark within aviation, managing over 1500 aircraft in 20 countries. Latest innovations include the development of an Analytical Manager for live KPI analysis and monitoring against thresholds via a web based dashboard, and a new Safety Management Module designed to assist with a company’s Safety Management Procedures.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | 37

Sheorey Digital Systems Ltd.

W: www.sds.co.in

T: (+91-22) 2281 9198/ 2281 1086 E: rohit.jha@sds.co.in E: vicky.sheorey@sds.co.in

Company formed: 1993, Office Location: Mumbai, Bangalore, Singapore Name of Product Marketed • ARMS®: Airline Resource Management System, InfoPrompt®: Integrated Document Management System Number of Modules.........4 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Engineering & Maintenance Sub-System (ARMS® - EMSS) • Heavy MRO Sub-System (ARMS® HMRO)* • Logistics & Inventory Management Sub-System (ARMS® LIMSS) • InfoPrompt®: Integrated Document Management System * Under development Sheorey Digital Systems Ltd., (SDS), is an established, fast growing, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Software Company, focused on providing Software Solutions to the Aviation Industry. ARMS®: ‘Airline Resource Management System’ is an internet rich, current-generation, state-of-the-art Information Technology System that effectively addresses the extremely critical and cost sensitive nature of Airlines/Commercial Air Transport operations. ARMS® is one of the few cost-effective, fully integrated software solutions that seamlessly addresses – Flight Operations, Maintenance and Logistics functions of an air transport operator - designed and developed to control costs which is so very critical for Air Operators today! ARMS® is readily and easily ‘customizable’ to specific business & operational requirements.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

Swiss AviationSoftware Ltd.

W: www.swiss-as.com

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

Company formed: 2004 (project AMOS started in 1989), Office Location: Basel, Switzerland; Miami, FL, USA Name of Product Marketed • AMOS Number of Modules.........10 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Material Management • Engineering • Planning • Production • Maintenance Control Swiss AviationSoftware unites over 20 years of IT experience with profound MRO expertise and offers its customers the functionally unsurpassed and technologically state-of-the art 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, almost 100 customers worldwide steer their maintenance activities with AMOS, which makes AMOS the industry-leading MRO software in Europe and one of the best-selling solutions globally.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

TRAX USA Corp.

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

Company formed: 1997, Office Location: Miami, Fl, USA; Horsham, West Sussex, UK Name of Product Marketed • TRAX Maintenance & Engineering Software Number of Modules.........23 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Engineering & Planning • Production & Shop • Technical Records & Reliability • TRAXDoc Document Control • Supply Chain Management TRAX is the global leader in the aviation Maintenance and Engineering software industry. Deployed at airlines with fleets of all sizes, TRAX is the most advanced maintenance software solution available today.

TRAX Maintenance has been developed with Airlines and for Airlines.

Consisting of over 20 modules, TRAX Maintenance is a completely integrated product. Organizational efficiency gains can be substantial when using TRAX and ROI is quickly realized. TRAX maintains its advantage over the competition by developing software that works for customers through modern technology and world class support.

Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

Volartec

W: www.volartec.aero

T: +353 617 49010 E: marketing@volartec.aero

Company formed: 2004, Office Location: Ireland; Argentina Name of Product Marketed • Alkym ® Management & Control System for Aircraft Maintenance Number of Modules.........15

Specialist Point Solutions

AIRCRAFT DATA SYSTEMS (ADS)

W: www.technicalrecords.net W: www.adsfrance.net T: +33 (0) 975 333 675 E: jalbrecht@technicalrecords.net Company formed: 2005, Office Location: Nîmes, France

Name of Product Marketed • ADS TRM (Technical Records Management), ADS TPA (Technical Publication Authoring) Number of Modules.........5 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Searchable Dirty Finger Print • 7 OCR engines • 3 seconds or less to find a 25 years old log book page with its exact content • Scan in Color, high definition • EN-9100 Our software can be tailored upon customer requirement. This allows us to input and organize records in any architecture in order to meet the exact requirements and internal rules of our customers. The records presentation shape is established just as the customer wishes.

A mechanic, a financial assessor or a leasing company representative don’t have the same needs to collect and explore records but will be interested in the same content of data. Once scanned, the records can be presented, searched and exported in any customized way.

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AVIATION 42

W: www.aviation42.com T: 0048 71 7230109 E: steve.crabb@aviation42.com

Alkym® is the most comprehensive and cost-effective software solutions available in the market today.

It is specially designed to improve MRO Technical Operations performance by a professional team with strong aviation background. Alkym® is a completely integrated software solution to meet the demands of Aircraft operators and MRO providers.

Company formed: 2009; Office Location: Poland, UK, Denmark and Switzerland Name of Product Marketed • AMOS / Envision Data Migration - Check Optimiser Software Development System Integration - Middleware - Sabre Reporting - RADIXX Interfaces FAST Fatigue Data extracts Five Key Business/Software Areas • AMOS Data Migration • Check Optimiser • Software Development • System Integration • Middleware

The key difference is our proven ability to deliver the fastest ROI. This is achieved by providing all the functionality at a fraction of the cost of others on the market. We deliver the implementation project in record time with a dedicated team. Typically this is done in 4 to 5 weeks.

Aviation42 is a software company focused on providing Airlines with highly skilled, cost effective solutions in: Data migration (AMOS , Envision); Custom software development; Data Migration; System Integration; and Middleware.

Five Key Business/Software Areas • Maintenance & Engineering • Logistics • Quality Assurance / Human Resources • Planning & Reliability • Document Management / Technical Library

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Click Here for Software Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

38 | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | AUTUMN 2012

AVIIT

W: www.aviit.com T: +44 (0) 1383 620922 E: info@aviit.com

Company formed: 2004, Office Location: Fife, Scotland Name of Product Marketed • eMan & Archimedes Number of Modules.........2 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Technical publications Distribution - eMan • Document Acknowledment - eMan Read & Sign • ACARS data management - Archimedes • ACARS Technical Consultancy • IT systems management & support AviiT is exclusively focused on the provision of software solutions to the aviation sector. eMan provides an efficient capability for the distribution of technical publications across the maintenance and repair estate.

Used by aircraft operators and 3rd party MROs alike, eMan unlocks the benefits of smooth and efficient distribution of engineering and process documentation. eMan is available as an on-premise or hosted offering for complete deployment flexibility. Drawing upon data sources such as ACARS, Archimedes provides a powerful capability to capture, analyse and present valuable, real time data in a clear and flexible format to Operation and Engineering teams.

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EmpowerMX

W: www.empowermx.com T: +1 866-498-3702 E: info@empowermx.com

Company formed: 1999, Office Location: Minnesota, USA Name of Product Marketed • Fleetcycle MRO Suite, Fleetcycle Execution Suite Number of Modules.........8 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Maintenance Program Manager (FCMPM) • Planning Manager (FCPM) / Materials Manager (FCMM) • MRO Manager (FCXM) • Production Manager (FCXP) / Reliability Manager (FCRM) • Line Manager (FCXL) / Maintenance Intelligence (FCMI) FleetCycle® MRO ERP allows MROs, airlines, lessors and any aviation maintenance entities to effectively manage the entire maintenance lifecycle or portions of the lifecycle for which they are responsible.

Airlines can jointly manage their outsourced and all insourced activities like Engineering Reliability, QA, Maintenance Programs, at the line, heavy, and shop levels. FleetCycle® ERP can significant reduce cycle times and enhance labor productivity to the order of 16%-30% and reduced costs, as well as increased aircraft availability, and reduced delays and cancellations. Third party MROs can run their entire operation of contracting and bidding on an aircraft to invoice the customer. FleetCycle® MRO ERP is the only tool currently available in the market place that reaches down to the technician on the floor and completely automates the process.

Intelligence gathered with this system provides an accurate, timely basis for dramatic improvements in the efficiency and integrity of maintenance processes and the forecasted availability of aircraft.

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Enigma

W: www.enigma.com T: +1 781-273-3600 E: infous@enigma.com

Company formed: 1992, Office Location: Burlington, MA USA; Singapore; London, UK; Tokyo, Japan; Hertzlia, Israel; Stockholm, Sweden, Name of Product Marketed • InService MRO, InService Job Card Generator, InService Revision Manager, Enigma 3C Number of Modules.........n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • MRO Technical Documentation Delivery • Revision Management/Control • Job/Task Card Automation • Illustrated Parts Catalogs • Service and Parts Documentation Enigma solutions help airlines and MRO facilities reduce costs and improve service efficiency and consistency by providing maintenance technicians with the latest maintenance manuals, spare parts and service information, filtered by tail number. Enigma takes data from enterprise applications – such as MRO Planning and Engineering, ERP, etc. – and creates an interactive maintenance solution that delivers the latest service, parts, and diagnostic information. By offering dynamic, integrated parts and service information, and links to inventory, order management and other systems, Enigma enables engineers to quickly update and distribute technical publications, and technicians to swiftly perform maintenance and repairs.

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Gen2 Systems Limited

W: www.gen2systems.net

T: +44 (0) 121 351 6563 E: adrian.ryan@gen2systems.net

Company formed: 2007, Office Location: Birmingham UK, London UK Name of Product Marketed • FLYdocs Number of Modules.........9 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Aircraft Management • Engine Centre • Repair Centre • Search • Current Status / EoL Centre FLYdocs is a highly efficient system used for electronic Document Storage, Aircraft Returns, Engine Management, Repair Management, Landing Gear Management, APU Management, Thrust Reverser Management, instant online Searching and Lease Company Management….plus much more…

The system is incredibly flexible and easy to use and provides clients with integrated options to connect to internal Maintenance Planning systems to create a closed loop for record keeping. FLYdocs uses a highly advanced and exceptionally intelligent platform to perform manual tasks with ease, vastly reducing the time it takes to manage documentation as well as providing major cost savings and value for money.

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Hexaware Technologies

W: T: T: E:

www.hexaware.com/travel-transport-hospitality-solution.htm India: +91 22-67919595 Americas: +1 609-409-6950 vaibhavs@hexaware.com

Company formed: 1990, Office Location: Mumbai, New Jersey, London, Frankfurt, Singapore, Japan, Dubai, Mexico

Name of Product Marketed • Hexaware is a Technology and Business Services Company providing end to end services to the Aviation market.

Number of Modules.........n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Custom MRO Software development and maintenance • System selection consulting & system integration services • Implementation, upgrades and migration of MRO products • Interface Development • Customization and Enhancement across modules Hexaware is a niche, focused IT and BPO services company providing end-to-end system integration and IT services to customers across Travel & Transportation, Banking and Financial Services, Healthcare and Manufacturing industries. With annual revenues of USD 230M for FY 2010, Hexaware has a global workforce of around 6300 consultants working across various industries and technologies. Hexaware has a strong experience working in various business functions in MRO and Technical Documentation domains and specialize in System selection, custom software development and maintenance services, Business Intelligence / analytics, Infrastructure Management Services (IMS), and Quality Assurance and Testing services.

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HOLOCENTRIC

W: www.holocentric.com T: +1 612 9957 3169 E: info@holocentric.com

Company formed: 2003. Office Location: Sydney, Canberra, Hong Kong Name of Product Marketed • Modeler, Modelpedia Five Key Business/Software Areas • MRO and Major Systems Implementations • Organizational Transformation • Continuous Improvement • Compliance Improvement • Business Management Systems Holocentric provides software and services for Airlines to build Operational Frameworks and Business Management Systems to support the business. This includes successfully completing the Transformation Programs, including implementing the MRO software, training material and publishing of the portal for Business, including both legacy and new applications.

We do this by creating an OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK AND PORTAL, useable by all personnel. Holocentric customers’ MRO projects are successfully completed within budge t. Importantly, compmpliance is increased acrossthe organisation as a result.

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AUTUMN 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | 39

IDMR Solutions Inc.

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

Company formed: 1998 Office Location: New York/Tel Aviv Name of Product Marketed • InForm Number of Modules.........20+ Five 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.

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InfoTrust Group, Inc.

W: www.infotrustgroup.com T: +1 949-732-7532 E: loster@infotrustgroup.com Company formed: 1994, Office Location: Irvine, CA, Boulder, CO, Phoenix, AZ, Austin, TX, Shanghai, China, Paris France Name of Product Marketed • TechSight/X S1000D, TechSight/X ATA Number of Modules.........10+ Five Key Business/Software Areas • Content Management System (CMS) • Interactive Electronic Technical Publisher (IETP) • Technical Operations Edition • Technical Publications Edition • Flight Operations Edition A recognized leader in the aerospace industry for more than 25 years, InfoTrust delivers solutions to hundreds of companies for their information processing, conversion, authoring, content and change management, publishing and distribution objectives. InfoTrust’s wide range of end-to-end solutions increase productivity by taking advantage of XML capabilities and content reuse, and that produce more accurate and reliabile information for compliancy. Its solutions support all flight ops, engineering, maintenance, engine, component and training manuals. InfoTrust currently services major airlines, OEMs, suppliers and MRO s worldwide. To learn more about TechSight/X and InfoTrust Group’s full range of products, services and solutions, please visit www.infotrustgroup.com.

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NVable Ltd

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

Company formed: 2005. Office Location: Glasgow, UK Name of Product Marketed • Appixo, Appixo ETL Number of Modules.........4 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Electronic Technical Log • Alternative Training & Qualification Programme (ATQP) • Station Operational Compliance (SOC) • Management Dashboards & Analysis NVable (pronounced “enviable”) was founded as a specialist software development consultancy creating bespoke solutions that allow customers to exploit the full value of their operational data. NVable now also offers its own software products. NVable recently launched Appixo – a platform that combines large scale data handling with a framework to support multiple mobile data acquisition applications.

The Appixo ETL is one such application, first launched in May 2012 with BA CityFlyer. NVable is now expanding its suite of aviation focussed applications. The growing list now includes ATQP and SOC Management. The data gathered from each application is fed into the Appixo analysis platform to feed the Management Dashboard & Analytics. This allows for real-time analysis of aircraft status, fuel burn/ uplift, defects, Out of Phase Maintenance etc.

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Omega Airine Software, Inc.

W: www.omegaair.com T: +1-972-775-3693 E: info@omegaair.com

Company formed: 1991. Office Location: Midlothian, TX Name of Product Marketed • Ames Advanced Planning and Scheduling System Number of Modules.........5 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Optimized long range planning • Short-term scheduling • Line/RON scheduling • Engine and component scheduling • Business intellegence Omega Airline Software has been supplying the aviation industry with Ames, the industry standard Advanced Planning and Scheduling software tool, since 1991. Ames currently enables the optimized planning of maintenance on over 4000 aircraft at 21 customer sites around the world. Unique in the industry, no other tool provides the planning power or information creation of Ames. Companies enjoying the benefits of Ames include mainline commercial operators, regional airlines, fractional ownership companies and MRO operations. Amesfive, the current release, combines the power of Ames with the versatility and access of the Web.

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PSIPENTA Software Systems GmbH.

W: www.psipenta.com T: +49 (0)800 377 4968 E: info@psipenta.com

Company formed: 1997. Office Location: Germany (Berlin, Stuttgart, München, Essen) Name of Product Marketed • PSIpenta Project Management; PSIpenta Materials Management; PSIpenta Maintenance, PSIpenta Purchasing, PSIpenta Order Management, Psipenta Sequencing, PSIpenta Warehouse Management, PSIpenta Adaptive Planning, PSIpenta Mobile Processes, PSIpenta Data Collection, PSIpenta Control System, PSIpenta Finite Capacity Scheduling, PSIpenta Cost Accounting Number of Modules.........15 Five Key Business/Software Areas • MRO • Materials Management • Planning & Scheduling • Production & Planning • Mobile Solutions

PSIPENTA Software Systems GmbH offers a complete solution for managing and maintaining complex technical systems. Our philosophy of Perfection in Aerospace is reflected in all aspects of our software.

Successful customer connections give a reference for our highly customer-oriented software solutions.

PSIpenta suite supports the planning and control of maintenance and servicing processes. The scope covers the whole MRO process ranging from slot planning to mobile processes.

PSIpenta Planning, Execution & Control refers to a solution-oriented approach based on standardized software modules. It enables the optimization of value-adding processes and increases logistic planning in existing system landscapes with commercial focus.

Click Here for Software/Product Details Click Here to Request Private Demo

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