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White Paper: aviationexperts, AeroSoft Systems, ATA Case Study: Alaska Airlines with BoeingVendor Job Card: ADSoftware PLUS… How I see IT, News, Upcoming and Past Webinars, MRO Software Directory
V3.3 • JULY/AUGUST 2014
FLYING HIGHAlaska Airlines & Boeing MobileLine Maintenance Success Story
MRO AND BIG DATA The future of MRO IT today
MRO STANDARDS Supporting better processes
Editor’s commentWhether integrating systems or helping engineers be more efficient, technology and processes are usually the answer.
The person who first coined the phrase ‘plug and play’ has a lot to answer for. Even on the scale of our desk-top and lap-top PCs, it’s unusual for all but the simplest software or function to work right after it has been installed or set-up. Cloud based applications and solutions might have helped, but there will often still be glitches and blockages to be overcome before the new package starts to do what the advertising said it would do.
Often these delays occur when two systems find that they cannot work together or that add-ons from one program are not compatible with a new or upgraded program. Now, if MS Outlook has compatibility problems with some aspects of, say, an Adobe package, imagine the challenges when trying to get two major systems fulfilling different functions for maintenance and engineering to work together and talk to each other. And yet, in order to make best use of the IT and digital capabilities available from the latest software
solutions, airlines, aircraft operators and MRO providers need to do just that; to get diverse systems doing different things and from different suppliers to all talk and work together.
On top of that, there is the growing issue of mobility – engineers are not always in or even near their workshop in the hangar or the right part of that large building. So how can they continue to operate without the need to constantly be walking back and forth in order to complete each stage of a job?
In this issue we look at the challenges of and some solutions for the introduction of mobility to maintenance and engineering; also, we review the application of big data to bring predictive analytics into improve the efficiency of maintenance planning. We have the first part of a keynote article on systems integration and a consideration of how standards can contribute to better business processes.
How Michael Denis sees IT is as thought provoking as ever and you’ll be able to get an overview of the news and information that is affecting your sector.
Also, Aircraft IT live demonstration webinars are previewed and reviewed to help readers research the software market from the convenience of their own desk and to find a package that could meet their needs by accessing past webinars with more focus than ever and booking their place on future webinars, a valuable resource for which readers simply need to register.
At Aircraft IT MRO we’ll continue to bring you the best and latest information from your sector.
Ed Haskey
04 NEWSThere’s always something new for an MRO IT professional to consider. Fortunately, Reading Aircraft IT MRO News at www.aircraftit.com/MRO/Index.aspx and here in the Aircraft IT MRO e-journal will help busy professionals to keep up to date with developments.
20 WHITE PAPER: WHY YOU SHOULD INSIST YOUR MRO SOFTWARE IS STANDARDS COMPLIANT Kenneth N. Jones: Director of Electronic Data Standards, ATA e-Business ProgramStandards are not simply a way for different systems to ‘talk’ to each other: they are a catalyst for more efficient and effective processes throughout the business.
24 UPCOMING LIVE MRO SOFTWARE DEMONSTRATION WEBINARA preview of the live MRO software demonstration webinar featuring Hexaware on 31st July 2014.
25 VENDOR JOB CARDFrédéric Ulrich and ADSoftware In this Job Card, Frédéric Ulrich, CEO at ADSoftware explains the philosophy behind AIRPACK and what the business aims to achieve for its customers.
26 CASE STUDY: ALASKA AIRLINES MOBILE MAINTENANCE CASE STUDYRob Lowy, Project Manager, Maintenance & Engineering at Alaska Airlines and Sherilyn Segrest, Program Manager, Fleet & Maintenance Solutions at BoeingMobility is coming to Maintenance & Engineering and, if the project is properly managed it will improve processes, enhance information availability and support better decisions.
30 WHITE PAPER: MRO AND BIG DATABenjamin Walther, CEO, and Marc Borkowsky, Business Analyst, at aviationexperts Big Data and predictive analytics can take the vast data generated by modern aircraft and leverage them to improve the efficiency of maintenance and planning.
33 COLUMN: HOW I SEE ITPaper or Plastic, does the medium of content make a difference?Given the choice of media today, how does plastic stack up to paper and which is the one that will serve us best? As always, Michael’s conclusion will make you think.
34 PAST WEBINARS: KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND ACCESS FOR INDUSTRY EXPERTS View Video Recordings of our Past Live MRO Software Demonstration Webinars. See full information and view video recordings of past Live MRO Software Demos, including: AviIT, Ramco and Mxi Technologies.
36 PAST WEBINAR FOCUS: END-TO-END MRO IT SOLUTIONSFinding the right End-to-End MRO IT solution to match your requirements is so much easier if you search the library of recordings of Aircraft IT Past Webinars by category.
38 WHITE PAPER: CMS AND MRO SYSTEMS INTEGRATION. PART 1.Thanos Kaponeridis, CEO & President, AeroSoft Systems Inc.This first in a two part series considers the history of IT in the sector and how that has led to a seeming inability to integrate the different systems we use.
44 MRO SOFTWARE DIRECTORYA detailed look at the world’s leading MRO IT systems.
CLICK HERE: Send your feedback andsuggestions to AircraftIT MRO
CLICK HERE: Subscribe for freeAircraftIT MRO is published bi-monthly and is an affiliate of Aircraft Commerce and part of the AviationNextGen Ltd group. The entire contents within this publication © Copyright 2014 AviationNextGen Ltd an independent publication and not affiliated with any of the IT vendors or suppliers. Content may not be reproduced without the strict written agreement of the publisher.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of their companies or of the publisher. The publisher does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.
AircraftIT MRO Publisher/Editor: Ed Haskey E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +44 1273 454 235 Website: www.aircraftIT.com Copy Editor/Contributor: John Hancock E-mail: [email protected] Magazine Production: Dean Cook E-mail: [email protected]
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iSPEC2200, S1000D, DITA, SPEC2000, SPEC2300 www.aerosoftsys.com
12 | NEWS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | JULY/AUGUST 2014
Acquistion, industry leadership and new customers make for a busy and successful time at Flatirons Solutions
FLATIRONS SOLUTIONS ACQUIRES AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE SOFTWARE LEADER CORENAADVANCES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN CONTENT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONSFLATIRONS Solutions, announced in late April 2014 that it has acquired CORENA, a European-headquartered software development house specializing in S1000D-based solutions for the aerospace, defense, marine, rail, and energy industries. This represents Flatirons Solutions’ third acquisition in the past two years, reflecting the company’s dedication to expanding the capabilities for specialized CLM solutions that enable more efficient operation of highly regulated, capital-intensive assets where material or labor productivity is a critical factor.
Organizations that rely on mission-critical data to design, manufacture, operate, or maintain complex assets — such as civil or military aircraft, trains, ships, power plants and energy equipment — are faced with increasingly complex requirements for creating, delivering, consuming, and optimizing technical content over the product and service lifecycle of these assets and across a highly fractured ecosystem. These evolving requirements stem from new
information standards such as S1000D, a shift from paper-based to electronic documentation systems, and benefits made possible by tablet devices. CORENA and Flatirons Solutions’ consistent and on-going R&D investments deliver the innovative solutions to help customers meet these complex requirements with user-friendly solutions.
“The demand for specialized CLM solutions is increasing dramatically,” said Toralf Johannessen, CEO of CORENA. “We are excited to come together with Flatirons Solutions to keep pace with increasing functional demands and geographic coverage that respond to constant change and user expectations.”
“CORENA and Flatirons Solutions bring together the most recognized and respected experts in content lifecycle management for the aerospace, aviation, and other industries,” said Geoffrey Godet, CEO of Flatirons Solutions. “Together, we serve the world’s leading aerospace and defense manufacturers, the largest airline operators, and many defense organizations. With a presence across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, we’re pleased to reinforce around-the-clock support for mission-critical customer requirements moving toward Cloud/SaaS-based solutions demanded by today’s mobile workforce.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL SOFTWARE DETAILS AND FOR A DEMO
IDMR’s Technical Documentation Management System, InForm, has been designed to play a central role in the long-term survival and proliferation of technical documentation. InForm, written from the ground up as an airline document management system, will allow you to author and maintain virtually any document. Technical Documentation Management is now on aviation executives agenda’s worldwide.Technical documents are the primary source of aircraft, engine, and component reference InFormation which are constantly changing. On-going revision’s and updates by manufacturers, vendors and airline personnel add more complexity in controlling these documents. Failing to follow manufactures, vendors, and regulatory agencies approved maintenance repair and overhaul procedures can result in poor quality control or worse non-compliance fines.Without a centralized approach to Technical Documentation Management, these important documents are usually stored in multiple places, version control is lacking and in many cases different automated tools are used to create and maintain record keeping, perpetuating a process that is extremely time consuming and in most cases inaccurate. InForm offers a Technical Document Management Solution that provides a single repository for storing electronic documents received from outside sources such as manufactures, vendors, and internal personal.IDMR offers airlines, manufactures and third-party maintenance providers the industry’s most technically advanced, web centric, fully customizable, easy-to-use, all encompassing, mission critical and affordable suite of Technical Documentation Management solutions.
Tel: +1 888 675 4527
DOCUMENTS…MANAGED.
JULY/AUGUST 2014 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | NEWS | 13
CLICK HERE FOR FULL SOFTWARE DETAILS AND FOR A DEMOFLATIRONS COMPLETES MERGER INTEGRATION WITH CORENA, INTRODUCES NEW CORENA SUITECOMBINATION of the TechSight/X® Suite of Products and the CORENA Product Line creates Content Lifecycle Management Solutions offering the highest ROI
By late June 2014, Flatirons Solutions was able to announce that it had completed its integration with CORENA. As part of the integration, Flatirons has consolidated the TechSight/X suite of products and CORENA’s product line into a new CORENA Suite, creating the largest CLM suite available on the market today. The introduction of the CORENA Suite is the company’s next step in providing complete and easy-to-find solutions through the broadest CLM coverage available today from a single provider.
The CORENA Suite by Flatirons is the leading CLM solution developed specifically for organizations that rely on mission-critical data to design, manufacture, operate, or maintain complex assets over their product and service lifecycles as well as across multi-echelon business networks. It includes complete CLM solutions for aerospace, aviation, military, rail, and marine customers. The CORENA Suite also includes stand-alone products that enable the creation, delivery, consumption, and optimization of technical information for capital asset-centric, cash flow-sensitive industries.
“Today’s announcement is analogous to an airline achieving single operating certificate as our R&D, solutions management, and business process experts are now aligned to deliver high-value CLM capabilities to our customers across an expanded breath of industries,” said Flatirons Chief Solutions Officer JD Sillion. “With the introduction of the CORENA Suite and Flatirons’ preconfigured industry solutions, our teams are united on our core mission of Turning Content into Knowledge® to help customers succeed with new products that we believe will exceed their expectations…in the areas of efficient paperless operations, enhanced regulatory compliance, and high ROI achieved through the adoption of mobile solutions.”
Flatirons Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Michael Denis added, “We are excited to move ahead as an integrated company by unveiling new corporate and CORENA Suite brands that highlight our combined 25-year history of innovation and customer successes. The ‘orbit’ in our new logo represents how we apply content lifecycle management to bridge the gap between product lifecycle and service lifecycle management.”
Flatirons is rolling out the new CORENA Suite at the ATA eBusiness Forum / S1000D User Forum in San Antonio and at the MRO and Operations IT Conference in London. Flatirons’ CLM experts are giving a number of presentations at both events. They will discuss industry advances in S1000D, iSpec2200, Shipdex, and Spec 2300 flight operations standards as well as address building OEM/OPS/MRO technology networks that enable and
improve service lifecycle business network effectiveness. Participants at both events are invited to visit the Flatirons booth to learn more about the CORENA Suite first hand.
HEAVY LINEUP OF INFORMATION STANDARDS EXPERTS SLATED FOR SAN ANTONIOIN mid-June 2014, Flatirons Solutions confirmed that its April 2014 acquisition of European-based CORENA promises to deliver on the company’s unmatched expertise in information standards which was highlighted in its contributions to the 2014 ATA eBusiness Forum / S1000D User Forum, June 23-25, 2014, in San Antonio, Texas.
Flatirons acquired European-based CORENA in April 2014 (see above), creating an exceptionally experienced global team of experts in content lifecycle management (CLM) for the aerospace and aviation, military, shipping, rail, energy, automotive, and related industries. The company was proud to sponsor the 2014 ATA eBusiness Forum / S1000D User Forum and lead discussions on diverse topics that address the value of information standards as a cornerstone of an organization’s content lifecycle management strategy.
LATAM AIRLINES GROUP SELECTS FLATIRONS FOR ITS BOEING AND AIRBUS FLEETSRIGHT at the beginning of July 2014, Flatirons Solutions announced that LATAM Airlines Group, the leading airline in Latin America, has selected its manufacturer-independent, content lifecycle management (CLM) solution to manage LATAM’s maintenance and engineering documentation for the group’s Boeing and Airbus fleets of more than 300 aircraft. The choice of Flatirons’ suite of products enables LATAM to meet technical documentation requirements for its existing and new-generation aircraft, including Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350, in a single system.
LATAM is one of the largest airline groups in the world, providing passenger transport services to about 135 destinations in 22 countries and cargo services to about 144 destinations in 27 countries. It is part of the oneworld alliance, which includes other Flatirons customers such as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas. In August, 2012, LATAM was the first airline in the Americas to operate the Boeing 787 and is the Americas launch customer for the Airbus A350. LATAM has 30 additional Dreamliner’s and 27 Airbus A350s on order.
“LATAM Airlines Group is at the forefront of the airline industry, as one of the largest airlines in the world in terms of network connections and in its leadership adopting the most technically advanced, new-generation aircraft,” said Geoffrey Godet, president and CEO of Flatirons. “Flatirons is pleased to support LATAM’s continuous operations of its modern, mixed fleet with a flexible system for both Boeing and Airbus aircraft.”
INTERACTIVE: GET INVOLVED!Why not get involved with the debate? Send
your comments or questions to Michael by clicking here.
On Memorial Day I was watching the perennial talking heads that dominate Sunday morning television and happened upon CNN’s Richard Quest interviewing European Parliamentarian, Michel Barnier. At the end of the interview, Mr. Quest asked Mr. Barnier if he preferred paper or plastic, when consuming books, magazines, news papers, and other written documents. By ‘plastic’, Mr. Quest meant computer- or tablet-based presentation of content. I found this an interesting question as it is one I have discussed many times with my father, born in the ‘30s, who is squarely in the paper camp. On the other hand I have my children, born in the late ‘80s who rarely read anything in print.
IS MEDIA CHOICE AN AGE THING?The question of ‘human consumption’ of content and information appears to be a generational preference or habit with an overwhelming trend toward plastic since the adoption of the Internet in the mid-90s. As my friend Paul Saunders says, “The people we hire today don’t know a world without mobile phones (and tablets), the Internet and Facebook.”
This also begs the question: do the media by which humans consume content make other differences besides preference? Do we comprehend, remember, and utilize content more effectively or more efficiently according to the medium by which the information is presented? Do electronic means that enable more robust search of interconnected information across multiple formats enhance knowledge formulation from data, content, or information?
WILL ELECTRONIC DELIVERY DO THE JOB?Since this is a column and not an academic research report, let’s assume the plethora of psychology and learning studies are correct and the ability to reference multiple pieces of electronic content from a single networked source does, in fact, enhance effective comprehension and its efficient use. Good; so now the question arises, does the use of plastic improve the other purpose
of content, ‘technological consumption’ of data, information, and knowledge development?Authoritative sources of content within aerospace, defense, and aviation are well specified but are not as well standardized or integrated across information technologies, companies, and countries. Technologically, it is easy to automate cascading updates of changing form, fit, or function of a part; rolling a part number, updating configuration in an IPC, updating of the content within an MPD, AMM, CMM, TSM, FIM… updating MRO IT systems’ maintenance plans, schedules, and logistics, creation of routine and non-routine tasks, integration of diagnostics, prognostics and health management systems, automation of records for regulators and lessors, and to the feedback mechanism from service lifecycle managers to product lifecycle designers.
WHAT’S HOLDING US BACK?So if both human and technological consumption of content improves outcomes (safety, reliability and efficiency) then what are the barriers to wide-spread adoption of electronic content within organizations and between businesses?Our industry is highly regulated and thus subject to inefficiencies mandated by regulatory organizations or, in many cases, regulatory individuals. Most regulatory bodies authorized the move to electronic content over a decade ago. But as one senior vice president of technical operations told me, “My PMI only believes what he touches on paper.” And yes, his PMI grew up in a world devoid of the internet, cell phones and social networking.The media used to deliver content makes considerable differences in improving safety effectiveness and financial efficiency of certification, maintenance, repair, and training of complex assets over their product and service lifecycles. The barriers to improving individual companies’ performance as well as the industry as a whole are self-inflicted, therefore, capable of self-healing. At least that’s how I see IT.
Paper or Plastic, does the medium of content make a difference?Michael Wm. Denis, Vice President Strategy & Marketing, Flatirons Solutions
How I see IT
38 | WHITE PAPER: AEROSOFT | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | JULY/AUGUST 2014
CMS and MRO systems integration – Part 1In an industry full of standards, the challenges of electronic data interchange. Thanos Kaponeridis, CEO & President, AeroSoft Systems Inc.
JULY/AUGUST 2014 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WHITE PAPER: AEROSOFT | 39
PART 1: WHAT CAUSES THE PROBLEMS AND WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?During twenty two years in this industry I’ve lived and worked through many developments and, as a sector, we’ve encountered more than a few challenges. Experience lends a long-term perspective to evolutionary changes and developments; to view challenges and solutions in the whole, from outset to the present day. These two articles draw on my own experience to review those challenges over the years and consider what solutions might be applied with a particular focus on examples from the past twelve to twenty-four months.
In this first part, I’ll expand a little about where and how I gained my experience and how that followed developments in IT. We’ll also consider some of the obstacles, identify some of the challenges and pose some of the questions that will need to be tackled to achieve true systems integration. Part two will appear in the next edition of Aircraft IT MRO.
Figure 1
CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN ITAs with many people in IT, my career started on dumb terminals; though I’d hate to think that anybody’s mechanics might be using those devices today. Anybody who recognizes the top row in figure 1 (above) either has a very good memory or their systems are totally outdated. We’ve been through many generations and developments since then. My first ‘portable’ computer was a 512K Macintosh, carried in a little backpack, but I had to move to PC technology in 1990 when the business world moved to that technology. In 1992 I joined Bombardier and, in the process, also became a member of the, at that time, ATA EMMC/TICC Text Working Group, which later became eText. I was also a member of the Flight Operations Working Group. So, for several years, I participated directly in the development of data interchange standards before founding AeroSoft in 1997. Now, of course, after many generations of technology, we’re working with mobile platforms and their like. As an example of how far things have progressed, the USB stick I carry in my wallet today has a capacity of 64GB… more memory than all the computers in North America when I went to university in 1972; and that was two years after the B747 started operating commercial flights.
Hardware, user interfaces, development language… the whole sector, has changed significantly over the years but the fundamentals of computer science, process modelling and data modelling (data types) have not changed at all. You could have written a very good assembler 30 years ago and you can write some appalling C++ and Java today: having a RDBMS engine does not make you a data modeler nor does it make you a domain expert; and XML is not going to get you out of the data mess by itself simply by putting two little brackets (<start /end>) around things. Most importantly, mechanics still have to look at a PageBlock or an IPC set of pages (graphic and parts facing each other) to execute maintenance on an aircraft. They can’t parse a CSDB extract of data modules (in S1000D parlance); some other programs have to do it.
LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS SIMPLE AND NOTHING CAN BEAT EXPERIENCEThere are certainly MRO and CMS vendors with very credible, recognized products in our industry for which they should be proud; while there are other vendors that not only over-extend themselves, either in their MRO or CMS capabilities, but also make incredible claims. Working on Bruce Lee’s dictum that ‘simplicity is the key to brilliance’ they simply claim that ‘Because of <XML> you can move the data from one system to another
automatically’; whereas, as we will see further on in this paper, it’s rarely that simple. HL Mencken’s words might be more apposite; ‘There is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.’
This white paper should help you perform better due diligence in your selection process before making major decisions as to which vendor’s solutions you acquire.
In the Software Vendor community we try to be creative in making solutions appear easy, affordable and attainable through rapid implementation plans: it is called the law of survival. After I’ve given a presentation, other vendors often ask whether I really have to tell audiences it’s that complicated; after all, ‘we’re trying to sell systems here.’ But there is no point in taking a ‘feel-good’ line for its own sake.
I value the views of CEO’s and executives in airlines and MROs, after all they sign the payments and the contracts… but they’re often far removed from what goes on in the trenches; from reality. In our small company we don’t have that luxury. We’re exposed to the realities with which I want to inform this paper — realities grounded in experience; not based on surveys, focus groups, interviews with executives or literature searches but on real implementation experience in digital data deployment in aviation over the past 22 years. What is more, the most striking examples are based on work within the last twelve to twenty-four month period.
40 | WHITE PAPER: AEROSOFT | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | JULY/AUGUST 2014
THINGS CHANGE — WHEN IS IT REALLY A STANDARD?If they don’t internalize the top statement in figure 2 below (‘Electronic Data is of little value…’) airlines and MROs will find themselves in the business of perpetual conversion but without adding any value to their enterprise or the wider industry.
Figure 2The B747 first flew in 1970 and its tech manuals were typed on an IBM Selectric. I worked next to one of its tech writers in 1992 and they were so glad when they progressed to Mainframe based ‘two-pass’ systems to edit those manuals. Today, 42 years later, the B747-8 is delivered with iSPEC2200 SGML or .PDF or Toolbox. There was no Microsoft in 1970 and, in around 1981, the first version of Word ran on an operating system called Xenix. Imagine using Word 8.1 to try and open a Xenix based document. Had someone committed to a de-facto or de-jura standard like that, imagine the problems there would have been over the years as software evolved.
Framemaker is also a very popular authoring tool, built initially around 1985 for the Aegis OS on Apollo Computers and then for Solaris on Sun machines. Only through luck in subsequent years (its acquisition by Adobe) does it enjoy its prominent position today. Yes, today you can have Release 12 Framemaker XML editing but you can’t magically create structure where one did not exist. I mention this for those in Flight Ops who prefer this tool. When Framemaker was launched it competed unfavorably against the then market leader, Interleaf, which had been around since 1981 and used LISP in managing/enforcing structures to very large documents. At Bombardier, in 1992, we built a complex content management system (CMS) called ‘EPS’ (Electronic Publishing System) with reusable and shareable content based on Interleaf and an Oracle database. For your information, the ‘per seat’ costs of this environment was above $100K (of 1992 dollars). But I doubt whether anybody today is using Quicksilver, Interleaf ’s last version after the various owners who acquired that product. So anybody with legacy Interleaf applications will be keen to get out from them. But today we need to ask, will there be an Adobe Acrobat (originally out in 1991) ‘Release 42’ by 2045 when the A350 will have been flying for 30 years? Incidentally, Adobe significantly changes the internal structures with each release — and any programming code built to work with it also has to be changed.
DELIVERING TECHNOLOGY VERSUS ‘STANDARDIZATION’ AND ‘VALUE ADDING’When someone tells you they have an application that runs on iOS 7.0 and that they will soon have it on Windows and Android, they’re actually telling you they‘re going to re-write it, with all that entails, because a proper iOS 7 application will not use architecture that could let it work as a native Windows or Android application; and the same is true going the other way.
And saying ‘it works on a browser’ does not make it a local application on any mobile platforms. So, another vendor might say that their application works on any device that supports a browser; but using an expensive mobile platform strictly as a browser requiring continuous real time network connection is of little value and hardly makes use of the intelligence on that device. It’s much better to use a local application running with network protocols that do the necessary synchronization and updates. Rather than adopt fanatical positions about hardware boxes, it’s important to query your suppliers to determine how effectively their solution will fit with your mobile strategy as that strategy evolves to take advantage of changes and improvements in technology and products.
Other vendors will push Cloud based M&E or CMS for which there is merit, but cloud technology won’t help in remote places where the Cloud might not be so accessible. More importantly they fall short in explaining how the various in-house applications (financials, MRO, CMS, etc.) and cloud based systems will interface and how the airline or the regulator will accept the Cloud as the only source of data validation and compliance integrity. Certain architectures were built assuming abundant and freely available LAN speeds up to 1GB in moving data between servers or between server/client infrastructures. Attempting such links ‘over the Cloud’ is simply a disaster in performance and costs.
There are other server based solutions (in IETP) that are superior to, say, self-contained applications that can be written to a DVD and delivered. But then, in locations where communications are ineffective, DVD based self-contained solutions still work, although they still carry the disadvantages when it comes to synchronization and updates.
S1000D AND/OR ISPEC2200The answers are not perfectly clear but below is a favorite subject which is often presented as an ‘either-or’ solution when it should be a ‘both’ solution.
Figure 3
Look at the list of aircraft that are iSPEC2200 then look at which aircraft are S1000D and, more particularly, pay attention to the revision levels. If you subscribe to a strategy of converting iSPEC2200 to S1000D, you’ll have to be doing that every 90 days for every revision you get and to be able to prove to your regulator that your conversion has produced an S10000D document that is 100% correct relative to the intent of Boeing, Airbus or any OEM in the iSPEC2200 document… and then you’ll have to present it to your mechanics. Also, the difference between S1000D rev3.0 (the Boeing 787) and rev4.1 amounts to about 350 changes. There are deleted attributes and there are elements — there are 343 additional elements and then some changes from attributes to elements. So if you have a repository built for rev3.0 it won’t fit on a rev4.1 repository: neither can you take Airbus A350 data as it comes and stick it in your perfectly working rev3.0 S1000D directory.
If you have followed the industry news, why has a prominent vendor who was proclaiming ‘convert iSPEC2200 to S1000D’ (and even converting S1000D to iSPEC2200!) in fact acquired another recognized and established vendor that has much superior S1000D technology and supports the ‘hybrid in parallel’ architecture?
As recently as September 2013, Boeing updated the B757 from rev17 to rev18 to include regulatory compliance tags (highly desirable for referencing compliance documents with other manuals but missing so far). However, if you had systems that were parsing the DTD as it came in and used XSLT/XSLFO transformation to create HTML and .PDF styles, they stopped working and you had to take measures to accommodate the new structure and display that structure and its change management and so on.
Some proclaim that XML is all you need to go from one environment to the other but I’d ask, what XML? Unstructured; well-formed; DTD compliant; schema based; using X-paths or based on X-forms?.. XML is made to look like a universal pipe that expands and contracts as needed but it is misleading to assume it is that way.
Gary Mayer from what was then called the InfoTrust Group, now Flatirons Solutions, gave an excellent presentation on the Real World Experience in converting iSPEC2200 to S1000D. Look up the entire presentation given in Montreal at ATA eBiz in 2011 by clicking here and, if you understand it, you’ll be well on your way to understanding the complexities of transforming iSPEC2200 to S1000D. The bottom line is that it cannot be done algorithmically. SME hands-on intervention is required for some aspects of it. And it’s a one-way thing; not a round trip process. So it’s not the case that you have to have two systems: what you need is a system that can accommodate the two data streams according to their structures and deal with them accordingly, as opposed to convert each revision as they come in.
“…Some proclaim that XML is all you need to go from one environment to the other but I’d ask, what XML? Unstructured; well-formed; DTD compliant; schema based; using X-paths or based on X-forms?.. XML is made to look like a universal pipe that expands and contracts as needed but it is misleading to assume it is that way…”
JULY/AUGUST 2014 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WHITE PAPER: AEROSOFT | 41
THANOS KAPONERIDISPRESIDENT AND CEO AEROSOFT SYSTEMS INC.
Thanos Kaponeridis is the founder of AeroSoft Systems Inc. established in Toronto Canada in 1997. He has brought AeroSoft from a start-up through organic and inorganic growth to become a unique niche player in the M&E Systems marketplace with
their two MRO products of DigiMAINT and WebPMI plus DigiDOC (CMS). Thanos has built up his aerospace and aviation experience since engaging at Bombardier Regional aircraft in 1992 where he managed the development of the iSPEC2200 compliant digital document systems for the CRJ and Q400. He was a long-standing member of the ATA/EMMC/TICC eText and FOWG since 1994 in the development of digital document standards. Prior to Bombardier, Thanos was an accomplished IT/IS senior consultant with his own practice and prior to that with the Canadian subsidiary of Gartner Group, offering strategic and tactical planning of IT/IS to multi-national corporations. Mr. Kaponeridis holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Toronto in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science from the University of London (UK) in Ergonomics / Human Factors.
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HANGING ON TO CONTROL OF DATANow we come to the gorilla in the room; what I call the OEM Data Fortresses.
OEMs are not really interested in releasing digital data; and the reason is obvious. On the one hand they are acquiring software companies who deal with digital data; but they’re not really trying to get into the software
business. They’re using the software and the digital data to provide end-to-end total services, especially for the smaller operators, because they realize that there’s not much margin in selling the airplane anymore (or selling the paper to the lessors); the income and the margin lies in controlling it over its entire maintenance life cycle. So, if they can generate one-stop shopping where users can go for all the programs, all the data that they need, including execution of maintenance and engineering services, that’s where they’re going to make their money, that’s why there is intentional controlled release of this digital data.
Consequently the OEM’s have their in-house solutions… Boeing — ToolBox; Airbus — Air@Nav; Bombardier — Navigator. So in spite of all the open standards we have today, airlines now ask of MRO software vendors: do you interface with Toolbox?.. to Air@Nav?.. to Navigator?.. to Embraer CD?.. as opposed to asking about compliance with open standards.
Last but not least, OEM’s like Boeing refuse to issue digital data collections based on the complete MSN range of aircraft in a model. Instead they issue ‘customized ranges’ for the MSNs purchased by each operator. Consequently an MRO provider often is forced to keep 7-10 versions of AMM, IPC, etc. because each is for a separate MSN range depending on the original purchaser for which it was produced and who is servicing their aircraft at this MRO. Similar challenges occur when an operator acquires some aircraft originally built for a passenger airline (say Delta) and modifies them for cargo; then they supplement their fleet with aircraft originally acquired by another passenger carrier (say Qantas). You can’t even imagine what the different ‘digital data collections’ look like and the variances in effectivity models, COC/STC tagging, and revision tagging. But it is all ‘digital data’.
Now superimpose on that the OEM’s view of MPD and TaskCard model (with the tags allocated for items such as Interval) and how the classic ‘MRO System’ used to manage the interval(s) per their phased / allocated packages …. But it is all ‘digital data’… n
COMING IN PART 2So, that’s the bigger picture, some background to and underlying causes of that seeming inability to integrate the various systems that we use. In the next issue, we’ll look at what all this means for the sector today, and consider some specific issues and thought processes that might just take us forward to the more integrated environment that would make for more efficient and better run businesses.GLOSSARY OF TERMSAMM (aircraft maintenance manual)CMS (content management system)COC (customer originated changes)CSDB (common source database)DTD (document type definition)IETP (interactive electronic technical publications)IPC (illustrated parts catalog)MPD: (maintenance planning document)MSN (manufacturer’s serial number)RDBMS (relational database management system)STC (supplemental type certificate)
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