aicraft commerce mro it survey

The basic structure of an airline’smaintenance and engineering(M&E) IT system is a coresystem, often referred to as a

best-of-breed or pureplay M&E system.These systems are interfaced with othersolutions, that can include: a contentmanagement system (CMS) or documentmanagement system (DMS) for managingtechnical publications and documents;specialist point solutions for a variety ofspecialist maintenance functions; and anairline’s main management system thathas staff management, and financial andaccounting functionality. The alternativeto a core M&E system interfaced with amain management system is an enterpriseresource planning (ERP) system. Theaircraft original equipment manufacturers(OEMs) also offer documentmanagement, job and task cardproduction, and other specialist services.

This is a bi-annual survey of thesolutions with M&E functionalityavailable on the market.

These IT solutions to manage M&Efunctions have replaced the legacysystems, often home-built, that have beenused by airlines, in some cases fordecades, but are gradually being replaced.

OEMs and independent maintenancerepair and overhaul (MRO) providers canchoose from more than 15 M&E systems,and more than 10 ERP systems for airlineM&E (see table, page 44).

The specialist point solutions providefunctionality for: maintenance checkprogress monitoring; engine engineeringmanagement and maintenance costplanning optimisation; rotable inventorymanagement and optimisation; andtechnical and maintenance records.

The main airframe OEMs offerdocument, technical manualmanagement, and job and task cardproduction services (see table, page 44).

There are also five independentCMS/DMS systems (see table, page 44).

The information provided for eachvendor in the survey includes: maincontact details; main product name;production technology; the different waysof paying for the system; the differentsituations in which the system is used; thedifferent types and levels of the product’sfunctionality; and the number, size andtype of customers. A further issue for thepureplay M&E and ERP systems is whichCMS/DMS and specialist point solutionsthey are interfaced with.

The information for each vendor hasbeen sourced through a questionnaire.Those vendors that have not responded,have been omitted from the survey.

The survey lists vendors in the fourmain categories of: pureplay M&Esystem vendors; ERP vendors; CMS/DMSsuppliers; and specialist point solutionproviders. Vendors in each category arelisted and described in alphabetical order.

Pureplay solutions Pureplay, or best-of-breed, M&E

solutions are those with a broad range offunctionalities that allows them tomanage many M&E tasks.

This includes all engineeringmanagement functions: managingmaintenance programmes; monitoringaircraft configuration; tracking aircraftutilisation data; monitoring andmanaging airworthiness directives (ADs)and service bulletins (SBs); monitoring anaircraft’s maintenance status; monitoringthe due date of all maintenance tasks andchecks; creating and defining a minimumequipment list (MEL) and tracking eachaircraft’s outstanding defects; monitoringthe lives of rotable components and lifelimited parts (LLPs); monitoring aircraftreliability; performing quality control;

and maintaining regulatory compliance. M&E systems also have several

categories of maintenance functionality,some of which can be regarded asengineering functions, rather thanmaintenance. These include inventorymanagement, job and task cardproduction, warranty management, andmaintenance package planning.

These overlap with on-goingmaintenance activities. Maintenancefunctionality can also include: keepingaircraft technical logs; analysing defectsand managing their rectification; and linemaintenance production, in terms ofcreating job cards to rectify defects.

For larger maintenance checks andworkscopes, a system’s maintenancefunctionality will also include monitoringthe progress of checks and overallproduction management, and keepingand maintaining technical records.

Other functions include managinghuman resources (HR), finances relatingto M&E, and invoicing. However, M&Esystems do not carry out all HR functionsneeded by an airline or an entirecompany, so they have to be interfacedwith specialist HR and finance systems.

AD Software AD Software is headquartered in

Cluses and Lyons in France, and offers itsAIRPACK suite as a pureplay M&Esystem, based on .NET productiontechnology. The system comprises severalmodules: AIRTIME, for maintenance andairworthiness; AIRSTOCK, for inventorycontrol and purchase orders; AIRUSER,for access control; AIRDOC, forelectronic documentation management;AIRSTAT, for monitoring fleet andequipment performance indicators andreliability management; and AIRWORK,for job card production and time

41 IMAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING

ISSUE NO. 86 • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 AIRCRAFT COMMERCE

There are four main categories of IT systems airlines can acquire to managemaintenance. There are M&E pureplay, ERP, and CMS/DMS systems; andpoint solutions. The vendors and their systems are documented in this bi-annual survey.

MRO IT vendorssurvey 2013

AIRCRAFT COMMERCE ISSUE NO. 86 • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013


tracking. The system can work withmanuals and documents in PDF, SGMLand XML formats.

In line with recently introducedmethods for customers to pay forsoftware solutions, the AIRPACK suite isavailable in the cloud. It can also be paidfor and licensed by number of concurrentusers, or by the user’s fleet size.

AIRPACK is one of the most popularM&E systems, with 48 live airline clientsat the end of 2012. It has won 13 newcustomers since the last edition of thissurvey was published two years ago.

AD Software has a total of 110 usersworldwide, including helicopteroperators. Its largest customer is Frenchhelicopter operator and maintenanceprovider Heli Union. All of ADSoftware’s customers are in civil aviation.

AIRPACK is used by airlines with andwithout a significant amount ofmaintenance facilities, by independent

MRO providers, and by independentengine repair and overhaul shops.

The suite has extensive M&Efunctionality, but lacks the ability to takedata from an ETL.

AD Software’s main contact person isFred Ulrich (see table, page 44).

Aerosoft Systems Inc Aerosoft Systems Inc from Toronto,

Canada markets six systems: DigiMAINTand WebPMI, two pureplay M&Esystems; DigiDOC, a CMS; andDigiREPORTS, DigiPLAN and AeroBUY,which are specialist integration modulesfor DigiMAINT, WebPMI and DigiDOC.DigiDOC acquired Corena in 2008.

Aerosoft’s main contact person ispresident and CEO Thanos Kaponeridis(see table, page 44). Kaponeridis explainsthat WebPMI is no longer sold, but hadfull airline financial accounting capability.

DigiMAINT is the M&E system that isstill available but it does not have fullairline financial accounting functionality.

WebPMI is still used by Amerijet,Tampa Cargo, Mesa Airlines, Mesaba,KLM UK and Air Wise. LikeDigiMAINT, it is Java-based technology.

All of Aerosoft’s customers areairlines and civil aviation companies,which include independent MROs. At theend of 2012 Aerosoft had 23 live airlinesusing its applications. New customersadded over the past two years areIcelandair Technical Services,Aerocontractors of Nigeria, and Polishairport services provider GTL LOT.

Aerosoft makes its systems availableon a pay-as-you-go basis and in thecloud. The applications can be paid forbased on the number of concurrent users,or by the user’s fleet size.

WebPMI and DigiMAINT are used byairlines with both limited and extensivemaintenance facilities, independentMROs, the engine shops operated byInternational Aero Engines and Pratt &Whitney (PW), and several of the OEMs’component repair shops.

WebPMI and DigiMAINT haveextensive functionality (see table, page44). Both systems can operate withdocuments and manuals in PDF, SGMLand XML formats.

With DigiDOC as Aerosoft’s CMSsystem, it can be interfaced with WebPMIand DigiMAINT. This option has notbeen chosen by any WebPMI orDigiMAINT users, however. Both systemshave HR and detailed manpowerplanning functionality, and are alsocapable of interfacing with an ETL.

Applied Database Technology Applied Database Technology (ADT)

is a Turkey- and US-based provider of itsWings system; the system is based onJava, Ajax and J2EE technology.

ADT is headquartered in Istanbul,Turkey; Tampa, Florida; and Bellevue,Washington. Main contact is Ilhan Yagiz(see table, page 44).

Wings is used 100% in civil aviation,and despite being a relative newcomer tothe market, the system was in use with 21live passenger and cargo airlines at theend of 2012, as well as 15 independentMROs.

It has gained 11 new customers overthe past two years. Its largest customer isTurkish carrier SunExpress, whichoperates 50 aircraft, a number that willhave increased to 65 by the end of 2013.

ADT will make Wings available in thecloud by the end of 2013. For now, thesystem can be paid for on the basis ofnamed users, or the user’s fleet size.

Wings is used by airlines with limitedor extensive maintenance facilities,independent MRO providers, as well as

MRO & FLIGHT OPERATIONS SOFTWARE VENDOR COMPANY DETAILS

Company Website Contact Contact Current Production No of ASP/ Used by airlines Used by Used by Used by Used by Tech logsperson details product technology airlines pay-as-you-go with limited airlines with third engine component defect

in 2012 offered? maintenance maintenance party shops? repair managefacilities? facilties? MROs? shops? & reliability?

PURE-PLAY MRO SOLUTIONS

ADSOFTWARE www. adsoftware.fr Fred Ulrich [email protected] AIRPACK .NET 48 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Aerosoft www.aerosoftsys.com/ Thanos Kaponeridis [email protected] DigiMAINT Java 23 Yes Yes Yes Yes OEM OEM Yeswww.aerosoft.aero +1 905 678 9564 WebPMI

Applied www.adbtech.com Alan Yagiz [email protected] Wings Java, J2EE 36 Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes YesDatabase +90 541 421 6646/Technology +1 646 213 4343

Aviation www.aviation Eric Hansen ehansen@aviation RAAS, .NET 34 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesInterTec intertec.com intertec.com RAAS ExpressServices

CALM Systems www.calm-systems.com Errol Friedman [email protected] CALM Visual FoxPro N/A No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes+1 847 480 9750

Commsoft www.commsoft.aero Nick Godwin [email protected] OASES Java & Oracle 35 direct Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yesdatabase 15 indirect

EmpowerMX www.empowermx.com Phil Bathurst phil.bathurst@ FleetCycle Java 8 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yesempowermx.com 1 426 238 0081

IBM www-01.ibm.com/ Vito DeMalteris [email protected] Maximo Asset Java 18 plus In cloud Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yessoftware/tivoli/ +1 770 344 9253 Management militaryproducts/maximo- plus fleetsasset-config-mgr Maximo Asset

Configuration Manager

IFRSKEYES www.ifrskeyes.com Philippe Lakhdar [email protected] AMASIS Cobol & Java 45 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes+335 6274 7500/+336 8469 0915

Infospectrum www.infotraksolutions.com Bob Bush [email protected] infoTRAKTM Java, Oracle N/A N/A No No Yes Yes Yes No+1 818 874 9226 xtn 25

Lufthansa www.manage-m.com Erik Abels [email protected] manage/m Java, Web 2.0 N/A No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesTechnik +4969 696 60040

Mxi Technologies www.mxi.com Steve Morris [email protected] Maintenix Java 22 + OEM Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes+1 613 747 4698 Maintenix CE

Rusada www.rusada.com David Chisnall [email protected] Envision Lite .Net/SQL Server 11 No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes+44 7841 870 735

SaSiMS www.sasims.com Anders Cassel [email protected] SaSiMS Embarcadero 24 + Yes No Yes Yes No No YesInterBase MROs

Swiss www.swiss-as.com Swiss-AS Marketing [email protected] AMOS Java 114 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesAviationSoftware Department +41 61 582 7294

Tracware www.tracware.co.uk Patrick Waker [email protected] AeroTracTM MSSQL, .NET 1 + MROs No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Trax www.trax.aero Chris Reed [email protected] Trax Java & .NET 118 Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes+1 305 662 7400

Ultramain www.ultramain.com David Abbott [email protected] Ultramain Java N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes YesMarcelle Vittitow [email protected]

+1 505 828 9000

Volartec www.volartec.aero John Barry [email protected] Alkym .NET 36 Lease option Yes Yes Yes No No Yes+353 61 740 010

ERP SOLUTIONS

2MORO www.2moro.com David Ferrier [email protected] Aero One .Net 2 + No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes+336 1419 6092 Aero-Webb Java OEMs

BA Engineering www.ba-mro.com Rajan Bindra [email protected] Swift MRO SAP A&D ECC 6 1 Hosted No Yes No No No Yes

+44 7500 767 685

Component www.component Andrew Valley avalley@component Quantum Oracle PL/SQL, Large Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes NoControl control.com/quantum/ control.com Control Java number

+1 619 696 5446

iBASEt www.solumina.com Conrad Leiva [email protected] Solumina Java, Oracle, SQL OEMs No No OEM & MRO Yes Yes Yes Yes+1 949 598 5200

IBS Technics www.ibsplc.com David Spellman [email protected] iFlight MRO .NET 12 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

IFS www.ifsworld.com/ Jeff Pike [email protected] IFS ApplicationsTM .NET 20 Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yesifsdefence

Oracle www.oracle.com/us/ Hannes Sandemeier hannes.sandemeir@ cMRO Java/.NET 5+ Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yesproducts/applications/ oracle.comebusiness

Pentagon 2000 www.pentagon2000.com Kirk Baugher kirk.baugher@ Pentagon .NET 2 Part 121 Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes YesSoftware Inc pentagon2000.com 2000SQL + FBOs

PSIPENTA www.psipenta.de Oliver Schmidt [email protected] PSIpenta maintenance Java 0 No No No Yes No No NoPSIintegration Several PSIpenta ERP MROs

Ramco www.ramco.com/ Agata Gogolewska [email protected] Ramco Aviation .Net, SQL, Java, 50 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yesaviation +1 305 773 3254 Suite Oracle

Rusada www.rusada.com David Chisnall [email protected] Envision .Net/SQL Server 11 No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes

SAP www.sap.com Jens Schoeneberg [email protected] SAP’s solution SAP Netweaver, Java 18, No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yesfor MRO based ABAP total 93on SAP for customersaerospace, plusiMRO from HCL-Axon

Sheorey Digital www.sds.co.in Prashant Kavi [email protected] ARMS + .NET 8 Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes YesSystems sub systems







Tech Workscope Production Inventory Engineering Commercial Warranty Quality Line Document HR & Native Electronic Document Companyrecords planning? manage? manage? manage manage? manage? manage? maintenance manage? manpower finance & tech formatmanage? functions? control planning? accounting? log? capability

centre?

PURE-PLAY MRO SOLUTIONS

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No PDF, SGML, XML AD Software

Yes Yes DigiMAINT Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML Aerosoft

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial Coming PDF AppliedDatabase

Technology

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes PDF, SGML, XML AviationInterTecServices

Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes PDF CALM Systems

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, XML Commsoft

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, No Yes PDF, XML EmpowerMX

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML IBM

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Links to external No No No PDF, SGML, XML IFRSKEYES

No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No N/A Infospectrum

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No PDF, SGML, XML LufthansaTechnik

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML Mxi Technologies

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes In 2013 Yes Yes Yes With Coming Interfaces with Yes PDF, SGML, XML RusadaCMS/DMS finance packages

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Some No PDF, SGML, XML SaSiMS

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML SwissAviationSoftware

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, XML Tracware

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No PDF, SGML, XML Trax

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML Ultramain

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes: in-built Yes Yes Yes PDF & SGML Volartecmodule

ERP SOLUTIONS

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes On-going Yes Yes In SAP In SAP Interface PDF, SGML, XML 2MORO

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGMl, XML BA Engineering

No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No N/A ComponentControl

Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Mechanic No Yes PDF, SGML, XML iBASEtlicensing

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML IBS Technics

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No PDF, SGML, XML IFS

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML Oracle

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML Pentagon 2000Software Inc

No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No PDF, SGML, XML PSIPENTA

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML Ramco

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes In 2013 Yes Yes Yes With CMS/DMS Coming No Yes PDF, SGML, XML Rusada

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PDF, SGML, XML SAP

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes PDF, SGML, XML Sheorey DigitalSystems

by independent aircraft component repairand overhaul shops.

Wings has evolved over the past 14years from a project implemented at aUS-based independent MRO.

Wings has the followingfunctionalities: technical log and defectmanagement; technical recordsmanagement; maintenance package andworkscope planning; productionmanagement; standard M&E systeminventory management; engineeringmanagement; commercial and warrantymanagement; quality control, and linemaintenance and control.

An advanced production planningschedule, supported by operationsresearch optimisation techniques,together with an advanced graphical userinterface, is being developed for MROproduction planning departments. Thiswill be offered as a standalone modulefor non-Wings clients from the end of2013. Yagiz expects this new module torevolutionise the way in which MROsoptimise their labour, parts, tooling, andhangar space resources. The moduleshould also shorten check turnaroundtimes.

Wings also has a basic documentmanagement system, which can handledocuments and manuals in PDF. It has sofar not been interfaced with a CMS/DMS.Istanbul-based MNG Technic uses thiscapability for job and task card creation.

Wings also has maintenance-related

HR and manpower planning, and partialnative finance capability. It has robustbilling and contract modules, developedas a result of its initial implementation ata US independent MRO. Functionality tooperate with an ETL is currently beingdeveloped and implemented.

Aviation InterTec Services Aviation InterTec Services (AIS) is

based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.It also has offices in Amman, Jordan; andCalcutta, India. It offers a pureplay M&Esystem RAAS and RAAS Express basedon .NET technology (see table, page 44).

Main contact Eric Hansen explainsthat the system is used purely by airlinesand other civil aviation companies. Thesystems are mainly aimed at start-up andlegacy airlines, and continuingairworthiness management organisations(CAMOs). The system is also used byindependent airframe, engine andcomponent repair and overhaul shops.

Its largest customer is Toronto-basedQ400 operator Porter Airlines. AIS had atotal of 34 live airline customers at theend of 2012. Three of these were gainedduring 2011, and five during 2012,illustrating AIS’s rate of development.

RAAS and RAAS Express areavailable on a software-as-a-service(SaaS) basis and in the cloud. The systemscan be paid for by number of concurrentusers, by named users, and by fleet size.

RAAS and RAAS Express haveextensive M&E functionality, caninterface with an ETL and have adocument repository. They can handledocuments in PDF, SGML and XML, andin Word and Excel formats.

CALM systems C.A.L.M. Systems of Northbrook

Illinois, USA offers its computerisedAircraft Log Manager (C.A.L.M.)pureplay M&E system that is whollyused in airlines and civil aviation.Production technology is Visual FixPro.

C.A.L.M.’s main contact person isErrol Friedman (see table, page 44).C.A.L.M. is not yet available in thecloud, or on a SaaS basis. It is paid forpurely on the basis of the user’s fleet size,Its largest user has a fleet of 70 aircraft.

C.A.L.M. is used by airlines thatperform limited or extensive in-housemaintenance, by independent MROoperators, by independent engine shops,and independent component repair andoverhaul shops. The system has mostM&E functionalities, with the exceptionof production management (see table,page 44).

Although C.A.L.M. has a documentmanagement module, and can handledocuments and manuals in PDF format,as well as interface with an ETL, it doesnot have any HR or finance andaccounting capability.



Commsoft Commsoft, based in Tiptree, Essex in

the UK, provides its OASES pureplaysystem, which is based on Java andOracle database technology.

OASES can now be paid for on a pay-as-you-go, as well as on a SaaS, basis, bynumber of concurrent users, or by theuser’s fleet size. OASES users are 85%airlines and other civil aviationcompanies. OASES is mainly used bysmall- and medium-sized airlines. It has35 full airline users and a further 15CAMO users. Its largest airline customeris UK carrier Jet2.com, which has 50aircraft.

Its customer base has recently grownconsiderably, with 16 new airlinecustomers, including SkyExpress,Smartlynx, JetTime and NextJet. Airlineusers include those that carry out limitedor extensive in-house maintenance. Thesystem is also used by severalindependent MROs, engine shops, andaircraft component repair and overhaulshops.

OASES has most M&Efunctionalities, but the system has noquality control function.

It also has its own limited-capabilitydocument management module, althoughit is able to handle PDF and XMLformats. It has not been required tohandle SGML format to date, and has sofar not been interfaced with a CMS/DMSby any of its users.

OASES is interfaced with the AirVault CMS system produced by CriticalTechnologies (see table, page 44). OASESis interfaced with AirVault at Scottishcarrier Loganair and NextJet. Otherairlines are evaluating the combination ofthe two systems.

OASES has partial capability for HRand manpower planning, and finance andaccounting. It is interfaced with severalflight operations systems, and HRsystems to achieve the full functionalityrequired. OASES is also interfaced with

AerData’s EFPAC system, which carriesout engineering management functionsand optimises engine maintenancemanagement and costs at Jet2.com.

A more recent development has beento increase the system’s capability tointerface with an ETL.

EmpowerMX EmpowerMX, based in Frisco, Texas,

offers a suite of applications calledFleetCycle. Phil Bathurst, executive vicepresident of sales and consulting, explainsthat these now constitute a full M&Esystem, having evolved from a pointsolution that focused on maintenancecheck planning, execution andmonitoring.

FleetCycle is based on several suites:Execution, for maintenance executionmonitoring; Data Extraction; andElectronic Logbook, Material Manager,Maintenance Program Manager, PlanningManager, and Maintenance Intelligence,all modules that are centred aroundmaintenance planning and execution.

The applications are based on Javatechnology, and they are used 100% byairlines and other civil aviation users.

At the end of 2012, FleetCycle’s mainusers included American Airlines,American Eagle, Southwest Airlines (formaintenance execution), United Airlines(for maintenance execution), DeltaAirlines (used as a MRO ERP system inthe cloud), California Pacific Airlines, USAirways, Aviation & Defense Inc, andNorth State Aviation. American Airlinesand United Airlines are the largest users.FleetCycle is used by airlines andindependent airframe maintenanceproviders.

EmpowerMX makes FleetCycleavailable on a SaaS basis, and alsothrough the Amazon cloud. It can be paidfor on the basis of number of concurrentusers, named users or fleet size.

FleetCycle has extensive M&Efunctionality, partial document

management capability, HR andmanpower planning capability, nativefinance (but no accounting), and canreceive data from an ETL.

FleetCycle can handle documents inPDF and XML formats, and will beinterfaced with InfoTrust’s TechSight/Xsuite of CMS products at Delta TechOpsby the summer of 2013. Bathurst explainsthat the plan calls for having routine jobcards available on tablet devices orkiosks. Non-routine cards are alreadypaperless, and available through tabletsor kiosks.

IBM IBM offers its Maximo Asset

Management product, previouslymarketed as MRO Software prior tobeing acquired by IBM.

Maximo Enterprise AssetManagement (EAM) is joined by an add-on product called Maximo AssetConfiguration Manager (ACM) foraircraft maintenance.

EAM is the core M&E system, whileACM adds 38 applications designed forthe aerospace sector. The latest release ofACM included an electronic Flight LogBook (eFLB) and Progressive InspectionPlanning (PIP) capability.

These two systems are based on100% Java web architecture, and areinstalled as a seamless solution via anintuitive user interface.

The EAM product is marketed fromArmonk, New York, USA. Main contactis Vito De Malteris, although Rob Powellin the UK is IBM’s European contact.

About 70% of the two IBM Maximosystems’ clients are in civil aviation. Atthe end of 2012 the system had 18 liveairline users, including airlines that carryout limited or extensive maintenance.

Its largest airline user is Compass,with a fleet of 42 aircraft. It has alsogained 10 new civil aviation customersover the past two years. It is also used byaerospace companies, independentMROs, engine shops, component repairand overhaul shops, OEMs andgovernment users, including the USCustoms and Border Protection agency,with a fleet of 280 aircraft. The systemalso has several large military users,including the US Air Force, which uses itto manage its fleet of 417 KC-135s.

In recent years IBM has made it



Aerosoft is the only system vendor to both offera pureplay M&E system and a CMS/DMSsolution. The two are designed to interface.

possible for Maximo Asset ConfigurationManager to be available in the cloud,although De Malteris comments that he isnot aware of systems that have beenimplemented this way. The system can bepaid for in several ways, including bynumber of concurrent users, by namedusers, and by the user’s fleet size.

Maximo Asset ConfigurationManager has full M&E functionality, butDe Malteris concedes that its commercialmanagement capability is only partial.

The system can handle manuals anddocuments in PDF, SGML and XML, butonly as attachments, so that it can viewdocuments in these formats, but it cannotextract information or edit them.

Maximo Asset ConfigurationManager also has HR and manpowerplanning, and finance and accountingcapability. It has also recently expandedits functionality to work with an ETL.

IFRSKEYES IFRSKEYES, previously named IFR,

is based in Toulouse, France and marketsits AMASIS pureplay M&E solution. Thecompany also has support offices inMoscow, Singapore and Bolivia.

AMASIS is based on Cobol and Javatechnology, and has among the largestnumber of airline users, with 45 liveairlines at the end of 2012 (see table, page44). Its largest airline customer is

Aeroflot, which operates 123 aircraft. Over the past two years AMASIS has

been selected by several airlines, includingTAME, Vladivostok Air, and Syphax. It isalso used by a number of OEMs,including: SAE in Singapore; AirbusFlight Hour Service (FHS), which suppliesrotable components on a fixed rate perhour basis; and Airbus Military. AMASISis also used by independent airframemaintenance providers, component repairand overhaul shops.

One of IFRSKEYES’ largest contractsfor AMASIS is the French Ministry ofDefence, which manages 1,200 aircraft.

IFRSKEYES aims to make AMASISavailable via SaaS on a power-by-the-hour (PBH) basis. A hosted solution isalso available, which only requires aninternet connection. The system is paidby number of concurrent users.

AMASIS has full M&E functionality,but no commercial managementcapability (see table, page 44). It canhandle documents in all types of formats,but it is unable to modify them. Aeroflothas interfaced AMASIS with Airbus’sdocument management system and jobcard publisher ADOC.

Infospectrum Infospectrum of Agoura Hills,

California, USA markets its infoTRAKpureplay M&E system, which is based on

Java and Oracle database technology.Main marketing contact is Bob Bush (seetable, page 44).

InfoTRAK is not used by airlines, butis used by independent MRO facilities,engine shops, as well as by aircraftcomponent repair and overhaul shops.

The system specialises in managingairframe checks and work orders, so ithas functionality for: engineeringmanagement; maintenance package andworkscope planning; productionmanagement; inventory management;commercial management; quality control;and native finance and accounting (seetable, page 44).

It does not, however, have capabilityfor HR and manpower planning, keepingaircraft technical logs, line maintenance,MEL, and maintenance control.

Lufthansa Technik Lufthansa Technik offers its

manage/m Technical OperationalwebSuite, which has most of thefunctionality of a pureplay M&E system.The system comprises 15 modules, and isbased on Java and Web 2.0 technology.

Lufthansa Technik’s main base isFrankfurt, Germany. Main contact is ErikAbels (see table, page 44). The system’smain and largest user is Lufthansa, but itis also used by airlines with limitedmaintenance facilities, and independent




airframe, engine and component overhauland repair shops.

The system is mainly used as part ofLufthansa Technik’s maintenancecontracts, so it is not available on anapplication services provision (ASP) basis.In fact it is automatically included free forLufthansa Technik customers.

Manage/m’s first four main modulesare: m/airborne, which records aircraftutilisation data; m/techlog, which recordsand keeps track of a fleet’s outstandingtechnical defects; m/condition, whichrecords AHM and EHM data; andm/program, which manages fleetmaintenance and schedules.

The main modules for planning andmanaging maintenance are: m/event andm/control, for planning maintenanceevents; m/job card, for generating routineand non-routine job cards;m/modification, for planning andorganising supplementary maintenancerelating to modifications; m/progress, formonitoring the progress of maintenancechecks; and m/process, an on-line portalto view the progress of maintenance andrepair of aircraft and components.

Other modules address engineeringfunctions, such as maintenance records,regulatory compliance, managing rotableinventories, and tracking reliability.

Manage/m has a documentmanagement system, and can handledocuments in PDF, SGML and XML. Itinterfaces with Lufthansa Technik’s owntechlog system, but not with other ETLs.

Mxi Technologies Mxi Technologies of Ottawa, Canada

offers two variants of its Maintenixpureplay M&E system: Maintenance andMaintenix CE. Maintenix is a web-basedapplication that is based in Java.

Maintenix can handle documents andmanuals in PDF, SGML and XML. It isinterfaced with several CMS/DMSapplications at several of its users. Oneexample is Icelandair Technical Services,where Maintenix is being interfaced with

Aerosoft’s DigiDOC CMS application. The system is used in civil aviation

and by military operators. While it has amoderate number of airline users, with22 at the end of 2012, some of these arelarge carriers. Its largest airline user isNetjets, which has a fleet of more than700 aircraft. Airline customers alsoinclude Lan Chile, Qantas as well asIcelandair.

Maintenix has 12 defence and 10OEM users, including Boeing, which usesit to manage its 787 Goldcare program.

Other users include independentMRO facilities, engine repair shops, andcomponent repair and overhaul shops.

Mxi Technologies has been offeringMaintenix on an ASP basis. While Mxidoes not disclose the exact terms thatusers can pay for Maintenix, it does offera wide range of ways to pay for it.

Maintenix has full functionalities inboth M&E (see table, page 44), includingdocument management, HR andmanpower planning, native finance andaccounting, and interface with an ETL.

Maintenix has programminginterfaces (APIs) that allow integratedconnectivity to all possible specialist pointsolutions in aircraft maintenance,including HR, finance, flight operations,shipping, diagnostics and many others.

Rusada Rusada, based in Oxford in the UK,

offers a pureplay M&E system, EnvisionLite, and an ERP system, Envision. It alsohas support offices in Dubai, Singapore,and Chennai, India. David Chisnall, headof sales at Rusada, explains that EnvisionLite does not have the same managementfunctionality or scalability as Envision.

Both systems are based on .NET/SQLserver technology.

80% of the systems’ users are civilaviation companies, while the remainderare parapublic and military. It also hasOEM users, like Beechcraft in the US andEurope.

At the end of 2012 it had 11 live

airline customers. New customers gainedover the past two years include Belgianhelicopter operator NHV, RAK Airwaysof Dubai, and Beechcraft GlobalCustomer Support, which will beRusada’s largest customer to date. It willsupport it at seven sites in the US andEurope, accounting for some 3,000-4,000annual aircraft maintenance checks.

Envision and Envision Lite are not yetavailable on an ASP basis. The systemscan be paid for by number of concurrentusers, by named users, or by fleet size.

The range of airline users includesthose with limited or extensivemaintenance facilities; a CAMO provider;and independent airframe MROproviders in the US and Europe. EnvisionLite is also used by an independentcomponent repair and overhaul shop.

Envision Lite has almost full M&Efunctionality, with commercialmanagement being added in 2013.

The system can work with documentsin SGML and XML formats, and canintegrate with CMS/DMS applications.One example is where it is interfacedwith Enigma’s InService MRO CMS andtechnical documents system.

Envision Lite now has functionality toaccept data from ETLs, and store anddisplay it. It is developing newfunctionality for HR and manpowerplanning. It is also designed to interfacewith over 30 native finance packages,including MSDynamics, Sage and SAP.

SaSiMS SaSiMS’s main base is Shannon,

Ireland, and main contact is AndersCassel. It provides a pureplay M&Esystem based on Embarcadero InterBasetechnology.

The system is used purely by airlinesand civil aviation companies. At the endof 2012 it had 24 airline operators withextensive maintenance facilities andindependent airframe MROs. Its largestcustomer has a fleet of 50 aircraft.

The system is available on an ASPbasis, and it can be paid for based onnumber of concurrent users or fleet size.

SaSiMS has extensive functionality(see table, page 44), which includesinternal document management, HR andsome accounting capability. It can handledocuments in PDF, SGML and XMLformats.



Commsoft’s pureplay OASES system can handlePDF and XML document formats, and is usedmainly by small- and medium-sized operators.

Swiss AviationSoftware Swiss AviationSoftware (Swiss-AS),

based in Basel, Switzerland, offers itsAMOS pureplay M&E system. Based onJava technology, AMOS is one of themost successful M&E systems in terms ofattracting airline customers. It is whollyused by civil aviation clients.

At the end of 2012 AMOS had 114live airlines. The largest is Ryanair, with afleet of 305 aircraft. Many of AMOS’scustomers have been recently added,including Finnair, South African AirwaysTechnical, Brussels Airlines, TransaeroAirlines, Flybe, Thomas Cook Group,Pegasus Airlines, AvianaTACA Groupand SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Swiss-AS’s main contact point is its marketingdepartment in Basel, but it also hassupport offices in Miami, USA andSingapore.

Besides being available through aregular licence model, Swiss-AS offers arental approach as a hosted version forproviding AMOS. It can be paid for bynamed users or on the basis of fleet size.

Airline users with limitedmaintenance facilities include IndiGoAirlines, Global Supply Systems, PrivatAir, and easyJet. Those with extensivemaintenance facilities include AustrianAirlines, Czech Airlines and Monarch.

Some of its airline users utilise AMOSin their engine repair and overhaul shops,and component repair shops. AMOS isalso used by independent MROs thatinclude Lufthansa Technik MaintenanceInternational, Enhance Aero, AMACAerospace and Braathens Technical.

AMOS has extensive functionality inthe main areas of M&E. It can managedocuments and technical manuals, and isable to handle documents in PDF, SGML,XML, HTML, Excel and Plaintext

formats. It is therefore not interfaced withany CMS/DMS.

AMOS also has HR and manpowerplanning capability, and offers a nativefinance management and billing modulethat includes contract management andfinancial reports. This does not, however,replace a complete accounting system.

It has recently added an interface toreceive data from an ETL.

Tracware Tracware in Dorset, UK offers its

pureplay M&E system AeroTrac,although sales director Patrick Wakeradmits the system offers elements of aM&E system. The system is based onMSSQL database technology, but it iscurrently being re-written into .NET.

Tracware’s original intention was toprovide a product for small independentMROs. The software was thereforeintended to cover all of a MRO’s businessprocesses, including technical,commercial, logistical and financialfunctions. Aero-Trac can integrate withother software systems to achieve thedesired functionality.

Main customers include engine andcomponent overhaul and repair shops;and overall users can be classified as PartM, Part 145 and Part 21 modificationservices. These include Cobham AviationServices, NetJets Technical Services,Sloane Helicopters, London Helicoptersand the UK Police Aviation Services. Italso has customers in Australia, Belgium,China, Italy and Singapore.

The system is not available in thecloud, but is installed locally. It can beavailable by remote connection, like TSor Citrix, and in a Virtual Serverenvironment.

AeroTrac has extensive M&E

functionality, limited documentmanagement, HR and financial capability,and a web interface that allows aircrafthours and a forecast and view of currentaircraft maintenance status.

Document formats used withAeroTrac are mainly XLS and PDF,although integration with XML is nowalso common. Tracware now markets aweb application that allows data transferfrom one system to another.

Trax Trax offers its Trax pureplay M&E

system, which had 118 live airline usersat the end of 2012. The system is basedon Java and .NET technology. It has aCMS module and can handle documentsin PDF, SGML and XML formats.

Air Canada interfaces Trax withAirbus’s ADOC to perform CMS/DMSfunctions for all of its fleet. Trax can alsobe interfaced with Boeing’s MaintenancePerformance Toolbox (MPT).

Trax’s main headquarters are inMiami, Florida, USA. Its largest customeris United Airlines, which has a mainlinefleet of more than 700 aircraft sinceacquiring Continental Airlines.

Trax is 100% used in civil aviation. Ithas gained 19 airline customers over thepast two years, including the US’s largestlow-cost carrier (LCC) Southwest, as wellas Turkish Airlines.

Trax is now offered on an ASP basis,available on pay-as-you go and in thecloud. Payment can be made on the basisof named users.

Trax is used by airlines with limitedor extensive maintenance facilities. It isalso used by independent MROs andcomponent repair and overhaul shops.

Trax has all main M&Efunctionalities, and a HR and manpowerplanning module. It does not, however,have a native finance and accountingmodule, or the capability to receive dataand information from an ETL.

Ultramain Ultramain, based in Albuquerque,

New Mexico, USA, offers its Java-basedUltramain pureplay M&E system. Thelatest version is Ultramain v9. It containsstandalone point solutions that can beimplemented separately. Collectively theycomprise a full M&E system.

Ultramain’s main contacts are David



Swiss Aviation software’s AMOS system is usedby one of the largest number of airlines of anyM&E system.

Abbott and Marcelle Vittitow. Most users are in civil aviation, and

the rest are military. Airlines are thosewith limited or full maintenance facilities.It is also used by independent MROs, andcomponent repair and overhaul shops.

Ultramain is now available on an ASPbasis, and is paid for on the basis of theuser’s fleet size.

Ultramain has full functionality in themain categories of M&E. It also has adocument management module, and canhandle documents in PDF, SGML andXML. The system is also interfaced withseveral CMS applications at some users.Cathay Pacific, for example, has selectedInfoTrust’s TechSight/X suite of products.Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic andEmirates all interface Ultramain withAirbus’s ADOC for AMM managementand task card content.

Ultramain also has HR andmanpower planning, native finance andaccounting capability, as well as theability to interface with an ETL. Itprovides its own electronic flight bag(EFB) and ETL software and systems.

Volartec Volartec is based in Cordoba,

Argentina, and offers its Alkym pureplayM&E system. It also has a Europeanoffice in Shannon, Ireland, where

Volartec’s main point of contact, JohnBarry, is based (see table, page 44).

Alkym is based on .NET technology,and is used mainly by airlines andindependent MRO facilities. All clientsand users are in civil aviation.

At the end of 2012 Alkym had 36 liveairline users, including: Enter Air, Poland;Avion Express, Lithuania; Sky Airlines,Chile; Vivaaerobus, Mexico; Air Panama,Panama; Conviasa, Venezuela; and AfricaCharter Airlines. Conviasa is the largestcarrier, with a fleet of 28 aircraft.

Alkym has gained 11 new customersover the past two years.

Barry explains that users currentlyhave the option to acquire Alkym onlease, but that it will also be available inthe cloud in late 2013. Payment is on thebasis of number of concurrent users.

Airlines with limited or extensivemaintenance facilities use Alkym as wellas independent MRO airframe facilities.

Alkym has functionality in mostM&E capabilities, but not commercialmanagement (see table, page 44). It hasits own in-built DMS system, and canhandle documents in PDF and SGML.Barry explains that it plans to add XMLcapability when a user requests it.

Alkym also has HR and manpowerplanning, and native finance andaccounting capability. It can nowinterface with an external ETL.

ERP systems ERP systems were originally

developed as core business systems for alltypes of industries. The main differencebetween pureplay M&E systems and ERPsystems is with functionality andphilosophy of development. Pureplaysystems have been developed from thecore M&E functionality outwards. ERPsystems with M&E capability have beendeveloped inwards from core businesssystems. There are also differences inM&E functionalities.

The first generation of ERP systemsfor airline M&E had aircraft M&Efunctionality developed from the originalERP systems.

British Airways and SR Technics haveversions of SAP customised formaintenance. Another example is Oracle’sERP system, which developed cMRO foraircraft maintenance. This is used byKorean Air, American Eagle, Mexicana,and Abu Dhabi Technologies.

The second level of ERP systems wasdeveloped purely for airlines and MROproviders. One example is the iMROsystem developed by SAP and HCL-Axon. This specialist ERP system forMRO can be interfaced with the mainERP system that performs core businessfunctions. These second-level ERPsystems should be easier to implement




than a complete ERP system. Like a specialist ERP system for an

MRO, a pureplay M&E system will haveto be interfaced with the user’s core ERPsystem that performs core functions. It isclaimed that there can be 700-800interfaces between a pureplay M&Esystem and the user’s core ERP system.

A third level is an aviation-specificERP system developed with anautonomous core business and specialistM&E system: Ramco’s Ramco AviationSuite, which only needs integration withspecialist maintenance point solutions.

Component Control’s QuantumControl falls into this category.

2MoRO Solutions Based in Biarritz, France, 2MoRO

Solutions provides Aero One and Aero-Webb ERP solutions. Contact DavidFerrier says that Aero One is suitable forsmall- and medium-sized companies,while Aero-Webb is for larger ones.

Aero One is based on .NET, SDK andSAP Business One productiontechnologies, while Aero-Webb is basedon Java and NetWeaver technologies.

The company has support offices inMontreal, Canada and supplies the twoERP systems to civil aviation and militaryusers, with civil aviation companiesaccounting for 80% of its client base.

Aero One and Aero-Webb are usedprimarily by OEMs. They have two liveairline customers and another Peruvianairline that operates CRJs where thesystem is being implemented.

2MoRO’s OEM clients are SafranSnecma, Safran Turbomeca, Zodiac Aeroand Thales. MTR, which is a jointventure between MTU, Rolls-Royce andTurbomeca, is also a user.

There is also a client that is anindependent MRO airframe maintenance

provider. Another MRO is having thesystem implemented.

New clients that 2MoRO has gainedover the past two years include PeruvianAirlines, CMR, OEM Defense Services,Canadian airline Enerjet, and ATI.

Safran Turbomeca is 2MoRO’s largestcustomer, using Aero-Webb to manage20,000 helicopter engines, operated by400 operators in 14 countries.

Neither of the ERP systems is yetavailable on an ASP basis or in the cloud.The system is paid for on the basis ofnamed users.

The applications have the most M&Ecapabilities and functionalities (see table,page 44). They can perform warrantymanagement, but only by connectingwith SAP. 2MoRO is currentlydeveloping quality control capability.

Ferrier explains that the applicationscan read and edit all documents andmanuals issued by OEMs in SGML,XML and other formats. Some documentmanagement is done in Aero-Webb, andso far none of its users have interfaced itwith a CMS/DMS. All documents andmanuals are managed within Aero-Webb.

The HR and manpower planning, andnative finance and accounting functionsare performed in SAP, which is interfacedwith Aero One and Aero-Webb. Theapplications can also interface with anETL.

BA Engineering British Airways (BA) Engineering and

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) offer anERP M&E System called Swift MRO (seetable, page 44). Swift MRO is based onSAP, and utilises Netweaver technology.

Swift MRO is marketed from BAEngineering’s HQ at London Heathrowairport. Main contact is Rajan Bindra.Implementation and support services are

provided by TCS from Mumbai.Swift MRO’s main customer is BA

Engineering, which uses the system tomanage its fleet of 250 aircraft. It has alsorecently gained a flag carrier as a newcustomer. The main target customers areairlines and cargo operators withsignificant in-house M&E activities on asimilar scale to BA.

Swift MRO can be hosted by the user,or from TCS. BA Engineering and TCSoffer flexible payment models, and thesecan be tailored to a customer’s needs.

Swift MRO has extensive M&Efunctionality (see table, page 44), anddocument management, HR andmanpower planning, native finance andaccounting, and ETL capability. Thedocument management repositoryfunction can hold documents andmanuals in PDF, SGML and XMLformats.

Component control Component Control is based in San

Diego, California, USA. It has other USoffices, as well as locations in the UK andSwitzerland. Main point of contact isAndrew Valley.

Its Quantum Control ERP applicationhas been built using several languagesand technologies that includeOraclePL/SQL organised on Oraclepackages.

Quantum Control can be installed ona client’s network, or is available throughthe cloud. It is paid for on the basis ofnumber of concurrent users and themodules required.

Quantum Control is used by a largenumber of component repair shops. Itsspeciality is managing the repair andoverhaul process of components. Its mainareas of functionality include:maintenance workscope planning;production management; inventorymanagement; warranty management; andquality control. It also has the ability tomanage customer invoicing, otherfinancial processes and human resourcefunctions. It is not a full M&E system,however, since it cannot perform theengineering functions for an airline’s fleet.

iBASEt California-based iBASEt offers its

Solumina software suite for SupplierQuality Management and MRO



Mxi’s maintenix check planning system is one ofits many functionalities, and like most designsthis function uses a gantt chart.

Operations. Main contact Conrad Leivaexplains that Solumina technology is alsobeing sold as part of the Costpoint ERPsystem that is sold by Deltek. This is anERP solution for MROs targeted at thedefence market.

Solumina has Windows and webbrowser clients, and uses Java, Oracle orSQL Server databases.

The application has two main groupsof functionality. The Supplier QualityAssurance includes receiving inspection,source inspection, supplier audits,corrective actions, supplier ratings, andsupplier communications portal.

MRO management includes: servicesplanning; configuration management;visit planning; production control;inspection findings; parts removaltracking; mechanic certification andvalidation; tool calibration; on-linemaintenance execution; and servicerecords reports.

Solumina is used by major componentand OEM maintenance facilities. Theseinclude PW’s 20 MRO facilities aroundthe world, and Sikorsky aircraft sites.

Solumina is available on lease termsbut not yet on a SaaS basis or in thecloud. The system can be paid for on thebasis of named users or on fleet size.

Solumina has most M&E functioncapabilities. It does not, however, perform

inventory management, but interfaceswith ERP systems for this. It also doesnot have commercial management andwarranty management capabilities.

The system can handle documents inPDF, SGML and XML when integratedwith the appropriate viewer. It also hasdocument management capabilities.

Solumina can track mechanics’certification requirements, but does notdo manpower scheduling. It lacks nativefinance and accounting capability.

A recent development has been theability to interface with an ETL.

IBS Technics IBS Technics provides its iFlight MRO

ERP system as its MRO solution. IBS hasHQ in Andover, Massachusetts, USA, andmain marketing contact is DavidSpellman. IBS also has a secondary officein Kerala, India, and HQ in Trivandrum,India. It also has consulting centres in theUS, UK and Australia.

iFlight MRO is a web-based andmobile-enabled ERP system suited to theneeds of airline CAMO and third-partyMRO businesses. It uses state-of-the-artuser experience for airlines and MROshops. It also provides mobile solutionsdeployed on handheld devices to allowmaintenance-on-demand functionality,

and document management capability.The system is based on a .NET platform.

iFlight MRO is used mainly withairlines and in civil aviation. It had 12live airline users at the end of 2012. Itslargest customer is China SouthernAirlines, with a fleet of 400 aircraft.

New customers over the past twoyears include Merpati Airlines, MerpatiMaintenance Facility and Viva Colombia.

In addition to being used by airlineswith limited or extensive maintenancefacilities, Solumina is also used byindependent MRO airframe facilities,engine shops, and component repair andoverhaul shops.

It is available in the cloud and on anASP basis. It is paid for through flexibleschemes that take into account acustomer’s situation.

iFlight MRO has most M&Efunctionalities. The exception is qualitycontrol management.

The application can handle manualsand documents in PDF, SGML, XML.Solumina is integrated with MicrosoftSharePoint technology, which Spellmanclaims brings benefits to customers in jobcard production and also in OEMdocument management.

iFlight has an applicationprogramming interface (API) for airframecheck scheduling and manpower




planning. It also has native finance andaccounting, and APIs to Oracle and SAP.

iFlight MRO is also integrated withIBS’s iFlight Lite for ETL.

IFS IFS of Linkoping Sweden offers its IFS

Applications of ERP systems. It also hassupport offices in the UK, and maincontact point is Jeff Pike (see table, page44). The IFS Applications are: IFSEnterprise Explorer, an ERP system withfunctionalities for all industries, includingaerospace and defense; and IFS Mobile,with touch applications for use onsmartphones for point functionality. Oneexample is a flightlog that allows faultsraised by an aircraft crew to be reported.

IFS is used mainly by military clients,with only 10% of customers involved incivil aviation. It had 20 live airline andcivil aviation customers at the end of2012. Over the past two years it hasgained the following new customers:AMS, Italy; Norwegian AviationAuthorities; the Federal AviationAdministration; TAE Gas Turbines; andGKN Aerospace, Sweden. Its largestcustomer, however, is Saab Aircraft, withmore than 200 external customers.

IFS is used by airlines with limitedmaintenance facilities, as well as by majorcarriers like Finnair. Third-party MROusers include GE Aviation and Saab.Independent engine shop Hawker Pacificin California, and component repairagency Gables Engineering are users.

IFS is available either as anInfrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) or as aPlatform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model.These can be available through the cloud.The application is available to the UKpublic sector through the UKgovernment’s G-cloud initiative. This is astrategy that IFS is expanding globally.

The system can be paid for by numberof concurrent users, by named users, andby the user’s fleet size.

IFS has extensive M&E, HR, andfinance and accounting capability. It doesnot yet have an interface with an ETL ortechnical log functionality, but IFSintends to enhance this. IFS has documentmanagement and document viewermodules, and can handle PDF, SGML andXML formats.

Oracle Oracle is a first generation ERP

supplier, based on Redwood Shores, nearLos Angeles, California. It offers itscMRO application as part of its eBusinessSuite as a complete ERP and M&Esystem. cMRO has been designedspecifically for airline maintenance andMRO.

Its main contact point, HannesSandemeier, claims that cMRO hasfunctionality to cover every M&Eprocess, and is fully integrated intosupply chain management, financials,procurement, and human capitalmanagement. cMRO also provides anout-of-the-box integration with Enigma’sInService MRO system that performstechnical documentation and contentmanagement. Korean Air, one of itslargest customers, utilises thisconfiguration.

cMRO is used mainly by airlines andcivil aviation MROs, but also byaerospace companies and OEMs. It onlyhad five live airline users at the end of2012, but customers include the US AirForce, the US Coast Guard, EvergreenAviation Technology and AdvancedMilitary Maintenance Repair andOverhaul Centre in the UAE.

cMRO is available as an on-demandhosted solution in the cloud and islicensed by named users only.

cMRO has full M&E, finance andaccounting as well as HR functionality. Ithandles documents in PDF, SGML andXML formats, and has its own internaldocument management capability.

Pentagon 2000 Software Pentagon 2000 Software Inc is based

in New York City, USA. Its Pentagon2000SQL application is a MRO and ERPproduct. Main contact Kirk Baugherexplains the system is based on .NETtechnology, and that 70% of its users areaircraft and civil aviation companies.Most users are Part 121 and fixed baseoperators. Japan Airlines and All NipponAirways use the software system forsourcing materials. Dynamic Aviation,which operates a fleet of 80 corporateand regional aircraft for governments, isthe largest user of Pentagon 2000SQL.

New customers gained over the pasttwo years include Bombardier, AirbusMilitary and Talatus.

Pentagon 2000SQL is also used byindependent airframe facilities, engineshops, and component repair andoverhaul shops.

The system is available either on asoftware licensing model, or in the cloudvia rackspace.com. The system is paid forby the number of concurrent users.

Pentagon 2000SQL can handledocuments in PDF, SGML and XML. Ithas a built-in module for documentmanagement, and a link to web-baseddocument management providers. It hasfull M&E, HR, finance and accounting,as well as ETL functionality.

PSI Penta PSI Penta from Berlin, Germany offers

its PSI Penta range of applications:PSIpenta maintenance; PSIintegration;and PSIpenta ERP. These productsconstitute an ERP application for MRO,and are based on Java technology.

PSIpenta Maintenance manages themaintenance process. PSIpentaIntegration assists the integration andimplementation of various applicationstogether with the SAP-certifiedPSIintegration interface. PSIpenta ERP’simpressive range of functions includesvalue-added production and logisticsprocesses. The entire planning process iscovered, from project management todetail planning, and the complete supplychain process is supported.

The PSI Penta suite of applications isused by SR Technics and military andgovernment customers. Its main areas offunctionality are maintenance package



Maintenix generates task cards. These can berendered in PDF and sent to devices such askiosks and tablet computers. The cards canaccept fully-electronic signatures.

and workscope planning, productionmanagement, and inventory management.It can handle documents in PDF, SGMLand XML. It has a documentmanagement module, and HR, andfinance and accounting capability. It isnot yet available on an ASP basis, and ispaid for by named users.

Ramco Indian IT vendor Ramco has

developed an aviation-specific ERPapplication together with an autonomouscore business and specialist M&E system.

Ramco Aviation Suite comprisesseveral products: Ramco Maintenanceand Engineering Solution; Ramco MROSolution; Ramco Aviation Analytics;Ramco Aviation Financials; and RamcoHuman Capital Management. All areavailable in the cloud.

Ramco Aviation Suite also includes:Ramco ePublications; Ramco ElectronicFlight Bag; Ramco Off-line FieldMaintenance Solution; and RamcoReliability Management Solution. Theseare not available in the cloud.

In addition to Ramco Aviation Suite,Ramco Aviation is offered on the cloudfor small operators, CAMO providersand independent maintenance facilities.

Ramco can be paid for by number of

concurrent users, named users, and fleetsize.

Ramco Aviation Suite not onlyprovides ERP and M&E functionality,but it can read documents in PDF, SGMLand XML formats and has its own CMSsystem, and a point solution for reliabilitymanagement and off-line fieldmaintenance. The standard technologyfor the applications is Microsoft .NETand MS-SQL. It can also be offered,however, in multiple platforms such asMicrosoft/Oracle and Java/Oracle,depending on customer needs.

Almost all its customers are airlines orin civil aviation, but 5% are military. Atthe end of 2012 Ramco had 50 liveairline users. Over the past two years ithas gained several new airline customers,including: Emirates, Go Air, Air Tahitiand Hevi Lift. It has also gained severalaerospace manufacturers. Ramco’s largestcustomer is US-based corporate and airmedical service company Air MethodsCorporation, with a fleet of 420 aircraft.

Users are LCCs with limitedmaintenance facilities, airlines with fullfacilities, and independent airframe,engine and component repair shops.

Ramco Aviation Suite has all levels ofM&E, HR and manpower planning,finance and accounting, and ETLfunctionality.

Rusada Rusada offers Envision Lite as a

pureplay M&E system, and Envision asan ERP solution. Envision has full M&Efunctionality (see table, page 44). It canread documents in SGML and XML, andcan integrate with Enigma via XMLdocuments. Envision can interface withmore than 300 native finance packagesthat include MSDynamics, Sage and SAP.It can also accept data from ETLs.

SAP SAP provided a first generation ERP

system, but other ERP applications basedon SAP have since been developed.

Main contact point Jens Schoenbergat SAP’s HQ in Walldorf, Germanyexplains that the basic SAP wasdeveloped 10 years ago as a solutioncalled SAP MRO for aerospace, withmaintenance functionality for airlines andMROs. Early customers included BA,Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways andLufthansa. Schoenberg says that earlycustomers looked for additional features,which were developed by HCL-Axon.Five years ago SAP partnered with HCL-Axon to develop a solution called iMROto address all M&E functionalities. Thisis marketed by SAP and HCL-Axon.




The basis of SAP MRO was toprovide functionality for engineering,planning, maintenance execution, supplychain management, finance, commercialcontracts, and warranty management.The functionality gaps in SAP MRO werefilled by iMRO. These included graphicsand workbenches for monitoring theprogress of airframe checks.

Another variant of SAP was thesystem developed for Lufthansa Systemsthat was based on the standard SAPsystem. This was implemented by three orfour airlines, and used as a template todevelop other versions.

The applications are based onNETweaver, Java and ABAP technology,and can operate with documents in PDF,SGML and XML. They do not have asophisticated in-built CMS/DMS system,so they have to be integrated with SAP’sDOC management, which then providesstandard connectivity to an independentCMS/DMS that is offered by Enigma,IDMR, InfoTrust or Lufthansa Systems.

The systems are used mainly byairlines, independent airframe MROproviders and OEM aftermarket services,and by a small number of defencemaintenance providers. At the end of2012 SAP ERP systems had 93 users,including 18 airlines. It is used to supportengineering, airframe maintenance,engine overhaul, component repair andoverhaul, inventory management, andcommercial and warranty management. Ithas extensive functionality in these areas.Workscope planning, for example,includes scheduling of all resources.

SAP ERP systems are not yet availablein the cloud. They have full M&Efunctionality (see table, page 44), as wellas HR, and native finance and accountingcapability, and bi-directional connectivityto OEM and aftermarket ETL solutions.

SDS Sheorey Digital Systems (SDS) has its

HQ in Mumbai, India. It offers its ARMsV2 Engineering Management sub-system,ARMS V2 Logistics & InventoryManagement sub-system, and InfoPromptIntegrated Document ManagementSystem. The combined systems handledocuments in PDF, SGML and XML.

These constitute an ERP system and aCMS/DMS system that integrates with itsM&E system. These systems are based on.NET production technology.

The ARMS V2 and InfoPromptsystems are used by airlines and civilaviation, and they had eight live users atthe end of 2012. The largest customersinclude Gulf Helicopters of Qatar, andAirphil Express of the Philippines. Theyare offered on an ASP basis, whichincludes SaaS. Its new applications forEFB and ETL are available in the cloud.It can also be purchased outright, orlicensed by number of concurrent users,named users and the user’s fleet size.

The two main systems combined havefull M&E functionality, although itscapability for warranty management isonly partial (see table, page 44).

It also has full document managementcapability that would otherwise berequired by a CMS/DMS system, so noneof its customers have yet needed it to beinterfaced with a CMS/DMS.

The systems have HR and manpowerplanning, and ETL capability, but nonative finance and accounting capability.

OEM services The main OEM services are solutions

for content and document management,task and job card production, and formanaging technical defects.

Airbus Airbus is based in Blagnac, Toulouse,

France. It offers a suite of solutions basedaround the AirN@v suite and ADOC, asystem to manage documents andmanuals. ADOC is a CMS/DMS servicethat can be used for all aircraft, not justAirbus types.

ADOC is based on JAVA webstarttechnology. It is used by 39 airlines, thelargest of which is Air France with a fleetof 409 aircraft. The system is charged ona price-per-aircraft basis. It is alsoavailable to independent airframe MROs.

The product comprises contentmanagement, job card publishing, andconsultation. Content managementservices allow users to update documentsas revisions are issued. Users are able tocreate, update and revise all documents.Documents can also be authored.

Job card publisher is a facility toautomatically produce job and task cardsfor maintenance. The solution isinterfaced with an operator’s M&Esystem. Users can customise job and taskcards at standards that are familiar withits mechanics. The system works forAirbus and non-Airbus aircraft in iSpec2200 standards in SGML documentation.The finalised cards can be printed in PDF.

In addition to ADOC, the four mainproducts offered are: Repair Manager,AirPl@n, AIRMAN-web, and AirN@vSuite.

Repair Manager allows a user to logand store all its approved structuralrepairs.

AirPl@N is used for maintenanceprogramme development andmaintenance check preparation. Its twomain areas of functionality aremaintenance package and workscopeplanning, and engineering managementfunctions. It can handle documents inPDF, STML, XLS and XML formats.AirPl@N is based on HTML, XML andSTML technology. It is used by 60airlines, and can be acquired as astandalone product or on-line viaAirbusWorld. It is paid for on the basis ofthe user’s fleet size, although it is alsoused by independent MROs.

AIRMAN-web is a system based onJAVA technology, and makes aircrafthealth monitoring (AHM) data availableon-line. It also takes live data from anaircraft’s ETL via ACARS transmissions.



Swiss Aviation’s AMOS keeps a record of allstructural repairs made on an aircraft for futurereference.

The system can be used to plan repairactions according to the type of defect.

AIRMAN is used by 106 customers;the largest, US Airways, has 258 aircraft.AIRMAN-web has been in service sincelate 2010, and most of its customersmigrated from AIRMAN Classic.

AirN@v Suite manages ADOCfunctionality.

Airbus is developing ETL software forall aircraft, not just Airbus types. Thiswill be directly linked to AIRMAN-web.

Boeing Edge Fleet Services Boeing Edge Fleet Services is based in

Seattle, USA. It provides its MaintenancePerformance Toolbox (MPT), which hasfive main modules. The Toolbox is builtwith Java and runs in a J2EEenvironment, and the database is Oracle.

The suites together provide aCMS/DMS, which can be used foraircraft from manufacturers other thanBoeing. Outside of 787 operators, MPT isused by 103 airlines. Its largest customeris Southwest Airlines, which operatesmore than 400 aircraft.

MPT is being transitioned to thecloud, and payment for the service ispartially based on the user’s fleet size. It isalso used by independent MROs.

The first MPT module is the Library,which allows a user to store itscustomised documents and manuals. Thisthe core of the toolbox product.

The second module is Systems, whichprovides functionality for airlinemechanics to perform troubleshootingactions. The system provides visuals onthe screen, with mechanics being able toaccess appropriate manuals, such as theTSM and AMM. “The system allows theuser to click on a specific line replaceableunit (LRU) that might be causing aproblem. The user can then drill down toget detailed information on that LRU,”

explains Darlene Dobson, marketingmanager at Boeing Commercial AviationServices. “The system also has 3-Dgraphics to illustrate how the system runsthrough the aircraft.”

The remaining three modules managecontent. The Authoring module is aXML-based system. It allows the user toauthor and edit various documents andmanuals, such as the AMM and IPC. Themanuals from a third party following aSTC or EO can be incorporated, as canhyperlinks between the relevant manuals.

The Task module is for creating joband task cards. The process starts withthe MPD. The airline can add its ownmaintenance tasks, which can be locatedin the user’s M&E system. The system isXML-based. “Changes made in theAMM are automatically upgraded in thetask cards because of hyperlinks, whichmeans revisions and customisations areall done automatically,” explains Dobson.“The task cards can then be sent back tothe M&E system.”

The fifth module is Structures, arepository for all structural repairs madeby the user. A 3-D image of the aircraftand location of all the repairs stored inthe system can be viewed, and detailedinformation gained by drilling down.

CMS/DMS providers There are seven independent

providers of CMS/DMS systems. Theseprovide document and contentmanagement, and job and task cardproduction services, and are mainlyinterfaced with M&E and ERP systems.

Aerosoft In addition to its WebPMI and

DigiMAINT pureplay M&E systems,Aerosoft offers its DigiDOC CMS. Thesystem was originally developed by

Corena, and Aerosoft acquired it in 2008.It has since been transformed.

DigiDOC is used by InternationalAero Engines (IAE) and PW, and is beinginterfaced with Mxi’s Maintenix M&Esystem at Icelandair, and with SwissAMOS, IFS, SAP and Trax.

Its main areas of functionality includetechnical records management,engineering management, and full contentand document management. It can handledocuments in PDF, SGML and XMLformats.

AviIT AviIT is based in Dunfermline,

Scotland, UK. Its eMan solution providesa centralised technical, application andwebsite library management anddocument distribution solution that is analternative to the CMS/DMS systems.

The system is based on .Net, InternetInformation Service, and ZenApptechnology. It is used only by airlines andcivil aviation companies. Main contactpoint is Kevin Clark (see table, page 61).

eMan electronically performs thelibrary management functions of alldocuments and manuals. The two mainfunctions are to keep all documents up-to-date and to distribute them to allrelevant users. The system also informsrelevant users, such as mechanics, ofchanges to documents they use. The userscan then acknowledge receipt of theupdated documents. The system thereforehas an in-built audit capability.

eMan does not, however, opendocuments and does not have anauthoring and editing capability. Anairline’s own authorings and editing aredone in their own M&E systems. So ifedits and changes are required, thedocuments are transferred from eMan tothe M&E system. Once the changes aremade they are transferred back to eMan.

eMan’s largest customer is AirberlinTechnik. Other users include BMIRegional, Virgin Atlantic and GreenwichAerogroup. It is also used by independentMROs and helicopter operators.

eMan can be acquired on a classicsoftware licence model, or on a SaaSbasis. AviIT can host the system, or workwith the client’s hosting organisation.When AviIT hosts the system it can alsooffer a fully managed service.



Volartec’s Alkym has its own built-in DMS systemthat can handle documents in PDF and SGMLformat.




Comply 365 Comply365 is based in Beloit,

Wisconsin, USA. Main contact is TroySalwei (see table, page 61).

Comply365 offers a suite of solutionsthat provide a CMS and technicaldocuments management system. Theseare based on .NET technology. It isavailable in the cloud, and can be paidfor on the basis of number of concurrentusers and named users.

The system is used by airlines, as wellas a variety of independent airframe,component and engine overhaul shops.

The suite of products offered byComply365 include a document &communications manager (DCM); andmodules called LMS learning manager,AQP learning manager, IQP learningmanager, Workflow365, Forms365,Schedule365, and Tablet Rollout Services.

Enigma Enigma is based in Boston,

Massachusetts, and provides its InServiceMRO CMS/DMS application. The systemis based on Java technology. Maincontact is Asher Gabbay (see table, page61).

InService MRO is used by civil andmilitary clients, and it had 10 live airlineusers at the end of 2012. Its largest user isFedEx, which it shares with InfoTrust,and has a fleet of about 700 aircraft.Other airline customers include AmericanEagle and Atitech. One particular user isKorean Air, which interfaces InServiceMRO with Oracle’s cMRO ERP system.

InService MRO is also used byindependent airframe, engine andcomponent repair and aircraft overhaulproviders.

InService MRO is available on a SaaSbasis, and in the cloud. It can be paid foron by named users or the user’s fleet size.

The system can handle documents inPDF, SGML and XML formats. It is alsocapable of handling S1000D standard, isused by the 787, A350 and C-Series.

IDMR IDMR is based in New York, USA

and Tel Aviv, Israel. It provides its InFormproduct as a full suite of documentmanagement solutions. The system isbased on .NET technology. Its specialistfunctions include task card production,engineering functions and integratingwith most M&E systems. It can handle

eight document formats. The majority of InForm’s users are

airlines and civil aviation organisations.InForm had 11 active airline users at theend of 2012. Its largest customer is AirIndia, which operates about 130 aircraft.A new customer gained over the past twoyears is North American Airlines.

InForm is also used by independentairframe, engine and aircraft componentrepair and overhaul providers.

The system is available both on anASP basis and as a licensed solution. It ispaid for either on the basis of namedusers or by the user’s fleet size.

Main contact Israel Revivo explainsthat InForm is a complete CMS/DMS.InForm is interfaced with several M&Esystems, including Trax at Atlas Air andPolar Air Cargo; Ramco at Air India andColumbia Helicopters; and at Ultramain,with World Airways and with NorthAmerican Airlines.

InForm has a full electronic task cardsystem for generating routine and non-routine task and job cards. “These can bedisplayed in tablets through a Windowsoperating system. Our first user isColumbia Helicopters,” says Revivo.“We are also working to allow the joband task cards to be displayed on iPads”.


Company Website Contact Contact Current Production No of ASP/ Used by airlines Used by Used by Used by Used byperson details product technology airlines pay-as-you-go with limited airlines with third engine component

in 2012 offered? maintenance maintenance party shops? repairfacilities? facilties? MROs? shops?

OEM SERVICES

Airbus www.airbus.com Sebastien Godfroy [email protected] ADOC JAVA webstart 39 No Yes Yes Yes No No+336 6193 2050

www.airbus.com David Marem [email protected] AirPl@n HTML, XML, STML 60 N/A Yes Yes Yes No No

www.airbus.com David Marem [email protected] AIRMAN JAVA 106 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Boeing Edge www.boeing.com/ Darlene Dobson [email protected] Maintenance JAVA, Oracle 103 Transition to Yes Yes Yes No Noboeingedge/ Performance the cloudfleetservices Toolbox

CMS/DMS SOLUTIONS

Aerosoft www.aerosoftsys.com/ Thanos Kaponeridis [email protected] DigiDOC Java 23 Yes Yes Yes Yes OEM OEMwww.aerosoft.aero +1 905 678 9564

AviIT www.aviit.com Kevin Clark [email protected] eMan .NET, Internet 4 + MROs Yes Yes Yes Yes No No+44 1383 620 927 Information Service & others

Comply365 www.comply365.com Troy Salwei [email protected] Suite of CMS/ .NET N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes+1 608 313 1518 DMS solutions

Enigma www.enigma.com Asher Gabbay [email protected] InService MRO Java 10 Yes No Yes Yes Yes No

IDMR www.idmr-solutions.com Israel Revivo [email protected] InForm .NET 11 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes+1 888 675 4527

InfoTrust www.infotrustgroup.com Julie Fouque [email protected] TechSight/X J2EE N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesGroup +1 303 627 6536

Terra XML www.terraxml.com Helmuth Naumer [email protected] TerraViewTM, Java None, Yes No Yes Yes No Yes+1 720 224 4175 TerraMROTM helicopter

operators

POINT SOLUTIONS

AerData www.aerdata.com Godfrey Ryan [email protected] STREAM, EFPAC, ASP, .NET 22 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesCMS & AtlasData

ARMAC www.armacsystems.com Michael Armstrong michael.armstrong@ RIOsys Java J2EE N/A Yes No Yes Yes No Yesarmacsystems.com+353 41 987 7480

Conduce www.conduce.net Paul Saunders [email protected] Bespoke COTS .NET, Apple N/A Contact for Unknown Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown+44 888 4066 solutions xCode details

Hexaware www.hexaware.com Ashley Peterson [email protected] HMRO Analytics Hosted all 8 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes+1 609 409 2328 Framework platforms

Holocentric www.holocentric Geoff Zuber [email protected] Modelpedia, .NET 2 Yes No Yes No No No+612 8705 3308/ Modeler +61 409 773 840

InfoTrust The InfoTrust Group is based in

several cities in the US, as well as havinga software development office inShanghai, China. Main contact is JulieFouque (see table, page 61).

It offers its TechSight/X solutions.The suite embraces XML technologies.The main modules are: TechSight/XAircraft Maintenance Edition,TechSight/X TechOps and EngineeringEdition, TechSight/X Flight Operationsand Company Manuals Edition, and iPadand Android EFB and ETL.

TechSight/X suite is designed toaddress the complete life-cycle ofmaintenance information in an aircraft. Itfunctions on the basis of converting alldocuments and manuals to XML format.

Functionality starts with contentcreation and management, and deliveryof content into several channels thatinclude PDF, Interactive ElectronicTechnical Publication (IETP), portals,iPhones and Android tablets. The suite ofapplications can handle documents inPDF, SGML and XML formats.

TechSight/X is available on an ASPbasis, and can be paid for by number ofconcurrent users or specific named users.

InfoTrust’s largest users of theTechSight/X suite of products include:Delta Airlines, United Airlines, AmericanAirlines, US Airways, FedEx, and UPS, allof which use old legacy M&E systems,such as Sceptre and Maxi Merlin.

The main functionalities of theTechSight/X product suite are: authoringand editing content; styling content forHTML viewing on tablets and computerscreens; publishing content in formatsthat include PDF for printing or throughan IETP viewer; ordering parts whenmechanics have viewed manuals such as

the AMM and IPC; and generatingroutine and non-routine electronic taskcards.

Terra XML Terra XML is based in Lafayette,

Colorado, USA. It offers its TerraViewTM

and TerraMROTM CMS/DMS products,which are based on Java technology.Main contact is Helmuth Naumer (seetable, page 61).

The company has so far sold itssolutions to mainly military customers,but is increasing its presence in civilaviation. Its largest users include theBristow Group, Weatherford, Kohler,Goodrich and Bell. The Bristow Groupoperates mainly helicopters, and has afleet of 350 aircraft. The system isavailable on an ASP basis, and is paid forby licence fee.

Terra View supports content in PDF,SGML and XML formats, and anygraphics that are supported by a webbrowser, operating system or a third-party viewing tool. Data standardsinclude ATA Spec 2200 and S1000D, aswell as proprietary data models used byAirbus and Boeing, and other customtypes created by TerraXML or thosesupplied by customers.

TerraView integrates with the mainM&E systems that include AMOS,Maintenix and Trax. It is a specialiseddocument delivery and managementsystem that understands popular aviationdocument types, and is also customised toincorporate operator-specific content.

TerraMRO is an extension ofTerraView that is aimed at aviationoperators and MRO providers. Itfunctions include M&E, minimumequipment list (MEL) management, jobcard production and MPD management.

Point solutions Despite the many levels of

functionality, M&E and ERP systems donot have everything required by anairline. More detailed functionalitiesrequire specialist point solutions.

One particular specialist function isthe optimisation and management ofrotable inventories. M&E and ERPsystems generally lack the capability toprovide detailed analysis of the stock ofrotable inventory held at each main baseand outstation for each aircraft type. Thiscapability, which results in optimisedinventories of rotables being held, andtherefore large savings for airline users,requires a specialist point solution.

Other types of specialist pointsolutions include: managing and keepingtechnical records; performing enginemanagement and engineering functions;monitoring check and workpackageperformance and progress; and analysingmaintenance inputs and performance.

AerData AerData is based in Amsterdam, the

Netherlands; London Gatwick, UK;Dublin, Ireland; and Washington DC, US.Main contact is Godfrey Ryan (see table,page 61).

It supplies several point solutions thatinclude EFPAC, STREAM, and AtlasData(see table, page 44). The solutions arebased on ASP.NET, and are usedexclusively by airlines and civil aviationcompanies. At the end of 2012 AerDatahad 22 live airline customers, 16 of thesegained over the past two years. Its biggestcustomer for EFPAC is AmericanAirlines, which operates 600 aircraft.

The systems are available on an ASPbasis, in the form of SaaS. They are paidfor based on fleet size.

STREAM is an aircraft recordsscanning, archiving and search solution.It uses optical character recognition(OCR) technology to search throughscanned records.

EFPAC is an engine M&Emanagement solution that was purchasedby Total Engine Support (TES). EFPACtakes engine health monitoring (EHM)data and uses other data such as LLPlives, engine utilisation data, ADs and SBsto optimise the removal timing and shopvisit workscope of each engine to achievethe overall lowest maintenance cost per



2MoRO Solutions provides Aero One and Aero-Webb ERP solutions. The systems are usedprimarily by OEMs, including Safran Snecma.

engine flight hour (EFH) for the enginefleet. It requires data inputs relating toengine shop visit workscopes and relatedcosts, as well as practical issues of shopvisit turnaround times and spare engineavailability.

ARMAC ARMAC Systems is based in

Drogheda, County Louth in Ireland. Itprovides RIOsys, a specialist applicationfor optimising rotable componentinventories. Main contact is chiefexecutive officer Michael Armstrong.

The system is based on Java J2EEtechnology. RIOsys can be provided tousers on an ASP basis, or can be installedlocally at the client. ARMAC pricesRIOsys according to the value the systemcan deliver.

Most of ARMAC’s customers andusers are civil aviation companies, and itsbiggest users are SR Technics andThomas Cook Airlines.

RIOsys is interfaced with M&E andERP systems, and is able to handle a largenumber of data formats.

RIOsys uses algorithms to determinewhat number of each rotable componentto hold at each location on a routenetwork to maintain a particular serviceand reliability level. The algorithms usedata from the user’s M&E system thatrelate to component removal andinstallation dates, and aircraft utilisationinformation. RIOsys also considers thepurchase price of each unit, and itscriticality with respect to the user’soperation.

Conduce Group The Conduce Group is based in

Nuneaton in the UK. It specialises inproviding micro point, custom-built pointsolutions. Main contact is Paul Saunders,operations director (see table, page 61).

The point solutions it provides arebased on mainly MS.Net for Windowsand web applications. For native iPhonedevelopment Conduce uses Apple xCodeand Objective-C.

Conduce says it is flexible on pricingand hosting solutions. It uses Amazonweb services for all of its primary hostedsolutions, although some of its clientsprefer to arrange hosting themselves.

The specialist custom-built pointsolutions it provides are to solve unique

problems that are not solved by the largeIT vendors. One example provided bySaunders is an iPad application formechanics to remotely solve ortroubleshoot a problem, and then orderparts. Another is a system for flightattendants, called Defexx, to record cabindefects on a defect log on an iPad toreplace paper records kept on clipboards.

Conduce also has an eTechlogsolution at Thomas Cook Airlines, whichoperates 36 aircraft. This has beenapproved by the UK’s Civil AviationAuthority as a system for paperlesstechlogs.

Hexaware Hexaware is based in Mumbai, India.

It also has offices in the US and Mexico.Hexaware’s point solution is HMROAnalytics Framework.

It has several functionalities thatinclude maintenance schedule and events,cost analysis, operation analysis,inventory positions analysis andprocurement analysis. The system isagnostic and can be hosted on any BIplatform. Main contact is AshleyPeterson (see table, page 61).

The system is used by airlines andmilitary customers, and it had eight liveairline customers at the end of 2012.

Hexaware says that it saw a clear gapin analytics solutions, and businessintelligence reporting. Its systems providehigh level dashboarding, and an ability todrill down on specific key performanceindicators, such as: average maintenancecheck turn time; maintenance costs; andlevels of inventory held. Hexaware hasdeveloped these systems for M&Esolutions Trax and cMRO, and isdeveloping them for Mxi’s Maintenix.

Hexaware is also developing a new

product for accelerating data migrationwhen transferring data from a legacyM&E system to a new pureplay solution.Hexaware’s solution will be anintermediate application, which is beingused by Saudi Airlines Engineering whileit implements Swiss-Amos. The system isnot yet available, however.

Holocentric Holocentric is based in Sydney,

Australia. It provides two point solutions:Holocentric Modelpedia and HolocentricModeler based in .NET technology.

These solutions provide airlines withthe ability to build business managementsystems (BMS) that can help employeesachieve operational efficiency excellenceand manage business information.Customers use Holocentric BMS tounderstand and optimise the complexdetails of strategy and processes.

Holocentric Modelpedia delivers theserver-based information store and web-based access, and Holocentric Modelerdelivers a powerful desktop-basedmodelling tool. Holocentric softwareallows the user to model completesystems and processes. An example isProject Marlin at Qantas Engineering.The Project Marlin team is workingtowards implementing one of its mostsignificant business transformationprojects in Qantas Engineering’s history,which involves redesigning andstandardising 512 business processes,reducing the number of computerapplications from 300 to 30, andimplementing a new maintenance, repairand overhaul process.




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Many airlines are considering implementingsystems to send fully-electronic task and jobcards to tablet devices and computer kiosks forfull electronic signature. This system is alreadyin place with a number of airlines.