Looking over a century back in history, it is hard to imagine that the aviation industry was so unregulated. In fact, airlines implemented scheduled, preventive maintenance only 60 years ago. Since that time fortunately a lot has changed. Aviation is one of the most heavily supervised industries, which ensures safety, security, and high quality of maintenance of airfleet. Technologies are used to support that and have become a crucial part of all processes. In aviation maintenance, the speedy expansion of MRO IT platforms is one example. These solutions improve productivity and optimize the way airlines work. MRO software oversees and manages aircraft maintenance operations using real-time data.
At QOCO Systems we help our clients to get the most out of MRO software, to enhance and extend its functionality. Based on over a decade of experience, our team of experts has shared some learnings. Read further to find out, which challenges may arise in the integration and operation of MRO software and how to reinforce the experience.
Finding the right MRO software provider
Choosing the right software provider that will fit airlines’ business needs is perhaps one of the most crucial steps of the entire implementation process. Industry leaders include, but are not limited to, Swiss-AS AMOS, IFS Maintenix, TRAX, Ultramain Systems.
However, as the size of operations varies from daily line maintenance operations to complex heavy maintenance projects and engine/aircraft component maintenance, one single solution will not necessarily fit it all. The value of the MRO system comes from how it is integrated and how large amounts of data are leveraged. Flight data integration is a must, but other value-adding data flows can greatly improve efficiency. One example is the importing of externally calculated fractional lifting values, such as for the newest Rolls-Royce TRENT engines.
Preparing staff and operations for upcoming changes
At some point, no matter what MRO software is used, everything will end up transferring to the real world to be handled by humans. To take full advantage of modern aviation maintenance technologies, airlines have to make sure they are ready for the incoming data and can efficiently implement it to forecast maintenance needs. Even integration with other IT systems can become a significant challenge.
At QOCO, we know how difficult it can be to implement changes and start benefiting from them. Our team has long experience in handling aviation data and our experts have helped clients with reporting, data migration, and improving data quality.
Strict regulatory requirements affect development cycles
It is a known fact that the aviation maintenance industry is highly regulated to assure the fleet is safe to fly. Yet, this limits development opportunities for MRO software providers.
Our team is constantly looking for solutions to find a balance between compliance and agile development. We do it by enabling faster data exchange, improving and automating processes, and enabling paperless operations. As an example, one of our solutions, MROTools.io, works as a standalone application but is best used on top of the MRO software platform, helping to improve the process of booking and managing maintenance tools.
The complexity of system updates
Another area that can prevent a smooth interaction with MRO software is regular systems updates that are very complex and therefore can take a long time. It is, however, possible to overcome this challenge. QOCO actively participates in the client’s MRO systems version upgrade project, checks possible updates on integration schemas, and suggests upgrades to these as well.
We outlined the most common challenges that our clients face during the implementation of MRO software as well as some solutions on how to overcome those obstacles. Seamless data flow is crucial for all operations, and our goal is to diminish borders between complex systems. The QOCO team has over 10 years of experience in the aviation industry and we have delivered more than 50 projects related to Swiss As AMOS and other MRO software systems.
Get in touch with the QOCO team to learn more.
Ekaterina Vuorinen
If you are interested in knowing how you can improve your efficiency in maintenance operations, book a 30-minutes discovery call with us.
