SPECIAL REPORT: IT
Image courtesy of Swisssport. The application can be built to recognise typefaces or barcodes, and the
passenger could either download the application before they arrive, or once at the airport. Location-awareness will tell the application which airport and which language signs are likely to be in.
M2M communication Machine-to-machine communication offers true process automation by allowing devices and equipment to be controlled remotely without manual intervention. Consider how useful this would be to a ramp agent who has to position
and switch aircraft heaters on and off all through a long winter’s night, running from one aircraft to another. On top of this responsibility, he also needs to undertake critical repair tasks. By attaching a wireless sensor to the ground equipment, ground staff can
quickly locate assets on a map and remotely deactivate or activate them. In addition, the ground handler has more accurate logs so that they can bill the airline for the fuel actually used. SITA has found that an aircraft heater supported by its Mobile Workforce
Solution consumes 20% less diesel, while billing accuracy is highly improved. This equates to real world savings of hundreds of euros per machine per month and return of investment below 24 months. M2M sensors and tracking will also impact aircraft maintenance. A spare
parts supplier might offer a pay-per-use pricing based on monitoring exactly how worn a tyre is, or could automatically track and re-order inventory.
Mobile workforce solutions Aircraft maintenance teams often have to manage several aircraft turnarounds in parallel. Because emergency repairs can have a serious knock-on impact on routine work, airlines will frequently overstaff engineering teams. Mobile workforce solutions can help by monitoring multiple tasks for
technicians. This ensures that tasks are properly resourced and spare parts ordered over the air, rather than technicians having to return to the operations centre each time.
58 AIRPORT WORLD/OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010 It can also reduce paperwork and errors, while aircraft can be repaired
more quickly and with less disruption. SITA pilot studies show that maintenance, repair and overhaul organisations can save 5% to 10% in workforce labour costs alone. Another option for the mobile workforce is improving the routing of
passenger buses. At larger airports, dozens of buses may be running at the same time, driving passengers to and from their fl ight. However, fl ights don’t always keep to a fi xed schedule and are sometimes early or late. To serve all fl ights consistently, an apron manager must quickly identify which bus is available and tell the drivers where they need to go. A mobile solution using workfl ow scheduling and geo-location to identify
the nearest available bus can relay task and routing information via wireless/3G/TETRA directly to the driver’s PDA. By saving a few minutes, the mobile solution ensures flights are turned around
as smoothly and efficiently as possible, and the ground handler has valuable business intelligence. It is estimated that 50% of the delays with aircraft turnaround could be avoided by this improved communication with ground crew.
Foundations for tomorrow’s technology The infrastructure and technology to put intelligent, location and context-sensitive applications and services into the hands of airport ground workers is already in place. These include mobile connectivity delivered by a combination of TETRA
private mobile radio, 3G mobile/cellular networks and WiFi; powerful mobile computing devices, such as smartphones and netbooks; and a cloud computing back-end infrastructure. In the coming years, new capabilities such as AR, will be added, totally
changing the working practices of airport personnel. The future airport will have fl exible, agile and dynamic processes for managing both routine and unplanned tasks.
About the author Sébastien Fabre is director of SITA’s Mobile Workforce Solution Lne.
AW
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100