The Ups and Downs of the Industry Require a Need for Agility

Automatically, our thoughts turn skyward when we hear a mention of aviation or aeronautics. We instantly see blue. The sky is at the forefront of the entire industry.

However, as all maintenance personnel know, the sky is just one component of aviation, and, in many cases, the majority of the critical work happens elsewhere. While flight may be the true aspiration, some of the most important decisions that impact the success of flight relies upon the processes and people who are firmly rooted on the ground.

The specialized but essential issues of maintenance teams are quite often overlooked. New technologies within the industry tend to focus on breakthrough materials, flight mechanics, cabin experience, cost containment, and fuel usage. Seldom is there an emergence of game-changing new technologies and IT solutions to support maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services or facility maintenance.

However, these processes require the same mission-critical attention to detail — and innovation — to ensure the prolonged success and safety of the aerospace industry. Outdated systems can no longer keep up with the growing and changing market pressures that maintenance teams face. To protect an aircraft’s value, it must be properly maintained over time. In fact, there is a direct correlation between the maintenance records and the market value of an aircraft. The financial value of a multibillion dollar investment — and safety of the passengers — should not depend on dated printouts, verbal reports, jotted notations, forwarded emails, static spreadsheets, or a checklist on a clipboard.

There must be a better way

Aviation maintenance has always been at the periphery of the general public’s understanding of the aviation industry. It’s mainly something they get annoyed about when they are waiting at their gate at the airport and their flight is delayed at the last minute due to “maintenance.” However, a few major consumer airlines have recently been slapped with FAA fines due to safety violations that are related to maintenance regulations. Such news reportss bring the issues to the forefront, fueling further public demand for safety — without sacrificing on-time schedules.

Insiders to the industry know that the issues of maintenance are extremely complex and thousands of variables impact the ability to maintain schedules and provide services for leisure travelers plus ship tons of cargo to destinations worldwide. In some cases, airports that serve as a hub for an airline, are like mini cities with vast infrastructures of utilities, transportation, communication, security, and retail/food services, all within a highly condensed footprint.

To make the logistical challenge even more critical, maintenance companies are often relying on outdated IT solutions. Many of the companies tasked with servicing aircraft, airport facilities, and aircraft equipment have struggled to keep their IT solutions updated and in-sync with their highly specialized processes and regulation compliance needs. Government mandates change so quickly, one system is barely in place before a new set of requirements is issued. Small to midsized businesses have especially encountered IT barriers, as highly modified enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions can be expensive to purchase and costly to upgrade. Even the larger entities, such as facility management departments of high traffic airports in major cities, have often found that maintaining an up-to-date IT infrastructure can be a complex, cash-draining task.

This process is constantly changing. MRO companies are realizing they must seek out better solutions if they want to meet their obligations to the public and remain competitive and profitable. No longer can they simply hire more personnel to maintain records and submit the myriad forms required for inspections and safety compliance. Tasks must be automated, disparate systems eliminated, and dual data entry removed from workflows. The use of resources, including the time of highly skilled technicians, must be fully optimized.  

This is why maintenance companies require the same advanced, modern ERP solutions as manufacturers and fabricators in the A&D industry — and more.

Modern IT solutions 

Service MRO contractors, facility maintenance contractors and equipment maintenance crews need software solutions that also offer several advanced capabilities, including features to address the highly unique needs of service tasks.

• Agility and flexibility. Programs will continually evolve, as should the corresponding technology. Federal mandates and regulations change, contracts tend to vary, and aircraft and the aircraft equipment are continually updated and enhanced. Maintenance companies must choose ERP solutions that are flexible and can be tailored to specific workflows.

• Event triggers and escalation alerts. This is an industry where alerts and critical exceptions must be taken seriously. The ERP solution should be able to tailor conditional responses and escalation steps, to match the situation. Emails to the team manager, red flags on reports, screen messages, account freezes, and rule-based protocols can be established to help monitor certain conditions and inform team members of critical exceptions or actions that need to be taken.

• Traceability. It’s important to be able to track service activities for the entire piece of equipment, as well as its components down to the part level. Lot traceability and complete visibility into the as-built and as-served component configurations will save time, money, and improve safety.

• Service history. Tracking the service history is an important step in MRO operations, and one which should not be relegated to manual systems. Services performed can change the engineering configuration, parts versions, and involve other replacement parts, which impact future service and maintenance requirements.

• Spare parts inventory. Maintaining appropriate inventory levels for spare parts is important for break-fix service requirements, in order to keep mission critical equipment running as needed. Because the high-tech parts in A&D tend to be costly and run the risk of becoming obsolete so quickly, companies need to carefully control inventory. 

• Technician capabilities. The complex nature of A&D equipment and aircraft also means technicians may have specialized training on different processes or units. Scheduling personnel, therefore, becomes more complex as dispatchers need to match skill sets and certification levels with the jobs to be assigned.

• Mobile access. In maintenance, the ability to access critical data with remote, hand-held devices is essential, as the workplace often covers a large area and involves technicians being dispatched to the tarmac, hangar, or a parts warehouse. Access with a smart phone or tablet allows the remote technician to remain connected from anywhere to accommodate fast-changing instructions, equipment alerts, or changing conditions, such as weather or security emergencies.

Asset maintenance solutions 

As the air travel and air cargo industries grow, so too must the maintenance industry. The projections for 2015 and beyond look good, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which recently reported that airlines are expected to post a collective global net profit in 2014 of more than $19.9 billion and profits will reach $25 billion in 2015.

IATA reports more good news: passenger traffic is expected to grow by 7 percent in 2015, and cargo volumes are expected to grow by 4.5 percent in 2015.

This growth requires MRO companies to step up their abilities as increased air traffic stresses equipment, facilities, and operational processes. Equipment support typically involves preventive maintenance of several types of facilities and equipment assets, ranging from aircraft hangars to jet ways, fuel storage, and material handling equipment in cargo bays. In each case, specialized asset maintenance solutions can be leveraged to help manage preventive care, safe storage, and regulation compliance. The ultimate goal is always to extend the lifecycle of critical assets and protect the safety of air passengers, crews, and cargo.

Efficient use of resources — especially time — is also a priority as complex schedules are a never-ending challenge to the industry. With proper preventive care, there is less unexpected downtime and fewer disruptions to the facilities schedule of arrivals and departures.

• Scheduling inspections and routine preventive maintenance. All maintenance teams understand how critical inspections and preventive maintenance is to aircraft equipment and facilities. Yet, these tasks are difficult to schedule so that they cause the least amount of disruption to the regular routine. Advanced enterprise asset management (EAM) systems help managers take important scheduling priorities into consideration as they plan and prepare for necessary inspections and preventive service.

• Calibrations and inspections. Facility maintenance typically involves monitoring highly complex equipment to ensure optimal performance. Tracking performance helps to determine when the equipment may be approaching end stages and requiring replacement. Monitoring performance helps spot early signs of degradation, when there is still time to prevent a full performance failure and costly downtime.

• Machine to machine connectivity. Smart sensors can be used to monitor a wide variety of equipment conditions, from temperature to GPS location and throughput. Machine to machine connectivity, sometimes called the “Internet of Things,” enable machines to send signals if performance is outside of set parameters or service is needed.

• Conserving energy. Modern IT solutions with advanced facility management capabilities can also play a critical role in monitoring energy usage and maintaining a minimal environmental footprint.

Choosing the right ERP solution 

Maintenance organizations may be aware of the need for change to their IT infrastructure and may understand the benefits of modern IT solutions but may also still be hesitant to enter into an evaluation process. Making an ERP selection can be a challenging project. Managers can be intimidated and worry that finding a new solution will be time-consuming, expensive, and risky. Negative stories about failed ERP implementations are easy to find with just a few internet searches.

However, the positive case studies are there too. Today’s modern ERP solutions with vertical expertise built in are easier to implement. Organizations no longer have to resort to heavy modifications in order to get the highly specialized solutions they need.

Modern ERP solutions are no longer the cumbersome monolithic solutions of the 1990s which tried to force “one-size-fits-all” generic workflows to every type of application. Today, post-modern ERP solutions are more flexible and easier to adapt to specialized industry needs, such as maintenance for A&D. Event triggers can be personalized, and workflows can be adapted as needed. Modern IT solutions offer more features, more capabilities, and more power to the user. 

Actionable advice: Where to start

MROs are ideally situated to take advantage of unfolding opportunities associated with the thriving commercial aviation market. Today’s millennial generation seems to value leisure travel, helping to drive the growth in international flights. The rising middle class in emerging countries also adds to the growth of leisure travel in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Such trends add to the pressures, demands, and opportunities for companies skilled in aircraft maintenance support.

When armed with agile IT solutions, companies can bid on these new opportunities, even setting up new divisions and locations if needed. Cloud deployment ideally supports this “pack and go” business model. New locations can be up and running in weeks, without the hassle of investing in costly hardware and servers.

Whether the goal is to better serve an existing market or to pursue new, global opportunities, advanced IT solutions are a key element in successfully managing complex maintenance tasks. The sky may be the focus of most A&D companies, but a firm footing on the ground level is where it all begins, and ends.

With 25+ years of experience in the information technology space, Edward Talerico, Industry Strategy Director, Aerospace & Defense, Infor, has held various roles from solutions management to consulting services. As an almost 20-year Infor employee, he has deep expertise and is responsible for industry strategy across both the aerospace & defense and high-tech industries. Prior to Infor, Edward spent 10 years at Lockheed Martin selecting ERP systems. For more information visit www.infor.com.