Commsoft Business Development Director, Nick Godwin
ability to concentrate on managing proactively rather than responding reactively, through data alerting and other vehicles,” says Nick Godwin, Commsoft’s Business development director. “Managers therefore manage rather than spending time finding data.”
Faster Even in the Face of Uncertainties Realization’s Concerto system is for running projects faster. “It has a patented synchronization engine that makes sure the required resources, inputs and support are available to projects when needed, even as uncertainties render the original plans obsolete,” according to Realization CEO Sanjeev Gupta. “Not only does Concerto help run projects faster, it provides diagnostics for pinpointing opportunities for improvement that will have the most impact on overall performance. Thus,
Concerto users are able to get the most from their continuous improvement efforts and lean events.” The company says Concerto helps MRO organizations synchronize their work and improve project throughput. It is a synchronization engine that takes inputs from all workers and prioritizes and reprioritizes work to keep the organization focused on completing the most maintenance jobs. Unlike traditional project management systems that just report on problems after the fact, the company says Concerto can help the organization adjust when uncertainties occur that would ordinarily disrupt work and decrease throughput. Concerto is only one piece of Realization’s larger service offering, which helps organizations improve execution. Their methodology is based on the concepts of Critical Chain project management and the Theory of Constraints.
Challenges
Every silver lining comes with a cloud attached, and aviation maintenance software is no exception. When it comes to selecting the platform that is right for your business, don’t skimp. Take the time to understand what your business needs, and then talk to as many vendors as possible to see whose system has the best fit. “Many projects falter because the selectors fail to properly define the requirements, or because they do not evaluate the software properly,” says TracWare’s Waker. Be sure to demand customer testimonials
AirVault
AirVault, a secure, browser-based document management software, is being offered by Critical Technologies. The company worked with an advisory board of aviation industry experts to develop this service for air carriers and MROs. AirVault can track regulatory compliance, help migration from paper to electronic processes and improve security. The company is especially proud of its aircraft lockdown feature. The lockdown function prevents manipulation or deletion of records in case of an accident or incident for a specific aircraft, while still providing full access to other aircraft records in the fleet. FAA and NTSB can be configured to have retrieval access to the locked down aircraft. Certain personnel can click a lockdown button and the associated documents are immediately tagged with a lockdown code and become unavailable to anyone not named in the lockdown group, according to the company. It is available by monthly subscription with no license fee.
from software vendors. As well, find out what kind of after-sales support these companies offer when issues crop up – because no software system does everything perfectly.
There are other issues to be considered as well. “The largest challenge is change management and the purchase decisions that surround solving that issue,” says Ramco’s Stone. MROs have to decide whether to buy “a rigid and parochial system ... to speed up implementation times,” or purchase a more configurable platform “that will ensure that the system can keep pace with the needs of the growing organization.” “The second most challenging factor is the data conversion process,” Stone adds. “There are many types of legacy systems being replaced, most of which are of significantly older architectures that tend to be home grown.” This can affect the functioning of newer systems such as Ramco, which require access to accurate databases. After the purchase has been made,
be aware that implementing an aviation software system is only half the job. “The rest is about ensuring that people understand what is involved and above all understanding how the software is designed to meet their own idiosyncratic business processes,” Waker says. “This is not as difficult as it seems, if the requirements have been properly defined and software fully evaluated.”
Setting Realistic Expectations Even in today’s IT-based world, there are still limits to what aviation maintenance software can and cannot do. Currently, “End-to-end simplicity is the largest issue to be solved by all software vendors,” says Stone. “While significant strides have been made in this area, the fact remains that aviation maintenance is complex and systems tend to reflect these complexities in many of their functions.”
Commsoft offers numerous modules including work card production, technical records and forecasting, inventory control and purchasing and shop fl oor data collection.
32 Aviation Maintenance |
avmain-mag.com | June / July 2011
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