he days of relying on paper, pencil and memory to monitor the status of mechanics, jobs and materials—and steer maintenance projects toward completion—may be numbered. Ordering parts, tracking progress on differeant tasks and recording hours worked is complex enough. But dealing with the inevitable delays, glitches and bottlenecks while keeping a steady hand at the tiller is a different matter.


These challenges have spurred more and more organizations to adopt software solutions that help them manage the process--planning work, buying parts and scheduling labor while getting aircraft back to the customers on time. There are around 100 maintenance and engineering (M&E)


software systems available on the market. At least one is based on a well-known enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Others were designed for maintenance from the start although they may include ERP functions like financials and human resources. And some fit a specific niche in the maintenance ecosystem like automated electronic commerce or publishing. There is software for customers of every size, from small repair stations all the way up to major MROs. In addition maintenance software solutions are starting to offer cloud-based access, personalization to roles or individuals, access via mobile devices, and connectivity to aircraft before they reach the gate.


Maintenance ERP British Airways Engineering’s SWIFT MRO is based on SAP’s ERP system. The organization is now partnering with Tata Consulting Services (TCS), its support provider, to market the system to airlines/ MROs worldwide. They landed a Far Eastern flag carrier last year and have other prospects in the pipeline. “Most large legacy carriers in our target market have not made the transition from old mainframes to modern, scalable, robust, supportable platforms,” says Rajan Bindra, British Airways Engineering’s commercial sales manager. The MRO counts among its strong points that its sales team includes both maintenance experts and IT experts. Prospects can come to London, see the system in use and question the users without restriction. Airlines can host the system on their own servers or have TCS host it for them. The latter route becomes a cloud-based, software-as-a-service offering.


British Airways Engineering also has developed a mobile solution for line maintenance via iPhones and iPads. The MRO planned to ramp up from 15 to about 100 users by the end of April 2013. The PC-based solution already had been tailored to job functions, so that individuals see transactions relevant to them, but mobile access takes personalization a step further, Bindra says. “When you log into the application, it knows who you are and brings up tasks and jobs that are specific to you.”


British Airways Engineering also is working on real-time maintenance data feeds from aircraft to the ground. The MRO wants to have this application in place when new 787s and A380s start arriving this year. Data is transmitted from the flight deck electronic tech log—part of the electronic flight bag—to the ground, so that maintainers can get up to 16 hours’ notice. The MRO is fine-tuning this capability, using two 777-200s retrofitted with electronic tech logs provided by Ultramain Systems, and the interface has been live since April 2012.


Aviation Maintenance | avm-mag.com | May 2013 15


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