9 Reasons To Say Goodbye To Your MRO/M&E Legacy System
It does the job, doesn't it?
More often than not, people content with legacy systems running their airline or MRO operations have few complains. The system works for them. Because it was built for them at the time when all the customization was worth it. Maybe it still is. The system hasn’t changed, but more importantly and frighteningly, neither has the organization.
Scaling up in today’s digital world in an industry where time equals money implies embracing any form of technology that allows you to do more with the same. Whether it is digital task cards on the hangar floor, or an efficient records system that allows a single user to manage multiple aircraft airworthiness records, or an integrated system that plans for material based on work packs created by CAMO with the right references. MRO/M&E legacy systems were built at a time when such eventualities were not foreseen.
With the continuous digitization of aviation there is no other option than changing systems, yes it involves capital costs, user adaptation and a chain of change management activities to ensure that the benefits are realized post implementation, but if you don’t do it, …well check out the following 9 points…
Your Business Requirements are not being met
We humans tend to stick to old stuff out of habit. However, if you want your airline or MRO to evolve, you can’t adapt the business to the software. It should be the other way around. Here’s the shortest checklist ever of the tasks your MRO/M&E software must fulfil:
Demonstrate airworthiness & maintenance compliance without the need of requiring additional excel spreadsheets;
Support people in doing their day-to-day activities in an efficient and effective way;
Have a continuous development cycle to ensure compatibility with latest technology and industry developments
Integrate with other systems in the airline and vendor eco-systems
Did you actually know that over 80% of the Airlines and MROs are not wholly satisfied with the MRO system that they currently use? How well are you using your system? Click here to read the full article.
Difficulties with Integration
Running your airline or MRO efficiently is impossible without the ability to integrate your MRO/M&E software with other tools or applications.
In a world with ever increasing e-biz possibilities, modern MRO/M&E software systems are adapting to offer in-built connectors that allow airlines & MROs to communicate with the rest of the Aviation Ecosystem through online portals and data exchange standards.
ATA e-Business standards – encompassing the entire chain of departments within an Airline or MRO – allow faster and smoother exchange of data between various players within the Aviation Supply Chain – from raising procurement orders, receiving and comparing quotations, faster warranty claims processing, transfer of Aircraft & Component Statuses, among others.
Interfaces with OEM portals (Airbus AIRMAN, Boeing Toolbox etc.,) are harder to achieve and sustain with legacy systems compared to relatively modern MRO/M&E software.
Slow and Poor Performance
Spending endless time to perform a standard task is not okay for both your engineering team and your airline. However, it’s inevitable if your MRO/M&E software system is either outdated or of low-quality. Are you sure you have enough time to waste?
Data Islands & Integrity
Legacy MRO/M&E systems have been built with either limited specific functionalities, or broad unspecific functions that rarely mirror the business processes followed in airlines or MROs. This leads to alternative sources of managing data, thereby creating “Data Islands” across your airline or MRO.
Data Islands often lead to inconsistent data sets, duplicate data often requiring external integration(s) with one and other.
There is never a single version of truth representing the nature of operations within your airline or MRO – be it availability of spares for the next maintenance visit or the current status of compliance of an MPD Task, AD or SB.
Managing separate systems for CAMO, Part 145 and Material Planning with frequent Excel extracts feeding into one and other isn’t a feasible solution if your organization wants to realize efficiencies in productivity. Neither is running end-to-end systems with limited / outdated functionality. What’s the point if excel spreadsheets are still holding your airline or MRO together?Poor Security
It is maybe not the first thing you think of but in times when every 11 seconds a malware attack takes place and every 39 seconds a cyber attack it should be high on the list. Outdated legacy systems are much vulnerable to malware and breaches, and they are less resistant to cyber attacks.
Mobile Usability
Most modern MRO/M&E software systems have functions offered on mobile devices and tablets – from Panasonic Toughbook's used by the Hangar mechanic to analytical functions on iPads and mobile phones, users higher up an organization's chart often rely on their mobiles or tablets to approve transactions within the system or track KPIs.
Legacy MRO/M&E systems are not built ground-up to provide enhanced user experience and adaptive responses across devices and platforms.
Functionalities around RFID tracking of parts, bar code scanning and data loads exist in bits and pieces but nearly not with the depth required to match the pace of the industry today.
Imagine trying to carry out a stock check and cycle count with a mobile device equipped with bar code functions only to find out the inherent system isn’t capable of supporting it?
Overall, making decisions on the go require the tools we use to be accessible mobile – be it to approve transactions or monitor KPIs.
Absence of Vendor Support
In general using a third-party software system of course implies dependence on the vendor for an update and maintenance.
But the risk that a vendor stops the support for a MRO/M&E software system you are using, is much higher with a legacy system. Which means that you will be neither receiving updates nor getting the assistance fixing any issues. If the MRO/M&E system fails or data is lost, you want to be able to use your warranty. But that becomes absolutely impossible since your system provider might no longer exist.
Convenient Reporting
Legacy systems often do not come with a standard set of reports required for regulatory reporting or even internal department monitoring. It is safe to assume they were built with the idea that users would use external reporting tools that feed off information from the legacy system (as simple as the laborious MS Excel reporting, standard as SQL Reporting, or as capital intensive as investing in Crystal Reports, Cognos etc.,)
Although we also have to say that even sophisticated MRO/M&E software systems lack a good level of reporting functions, often leaving the onus of designing, creating and generating reports to the business users – most of whom are not IT savvy.
Templates of most of these reports are fairly well standardized across the aviation Industry, even if they aren’t as well documented. Why not templatize them?
Reporting must be inherent to the MRO/M&E software system being used. In other words, even business users (who aren’t IT savvy) must be able to configure and generate standard reports for both internal and regulatory purposes.
It’s Expensive
Finally, do you think that the modernization of your MRO/M&E system will cost you a fortune?
Well, the cost of a legacy system maintenance is incomparably higher. Inefficiency, staff training, outages… just a few obstacles, which get in the way of your airline's or MROs success.
Yet, there are some hidden costs you might not be aware of. Employee satisfaction AND attracting new employees. I mean who wants to work with a system your parents or even grandparents worked with?
What’s next?
Even if you think your airline or MRO is not ready to dive deep into the modernization process, consider a step-by-step approach. Sometimes an all-or-nothing attitude can be really dangerous, as the odds of doing nothing are too high. A good place to start would be to do a sanity check of your own MRO/M&E system, processes and data in place to gauge where processes can be enhanced, automated and where analytics can be implemented to track key KPIs with your existing info-structure. Technologies like OCR, RPA catalyse these processes. It all begins with a data scan to assess the health of your systems and processes.
As we said in the beginning transformation of legacy systems involves capital costs, user adaptation and a chain of change management activities but it is significantly less expensive than the precious time while dealing with prehistoric software solutions. So wouldn’t it be better to embrace the change, bring your airline or MRO to the next level instead of resisting it?
Examples
Who has doen it already? Here are three examples of our clients who said goodbye to their legacy systems:
Check case study El Al: From SCEPTRE to AMOS
El Al even announced on the 22nd of June 2022 that they have gone to completely paperless C-Checks.
Check case study Oman Air: From PMI to AMOS
Check case study Etihad: From Oracle cMRO to AMOS
For more information or to discuss your airlines or MROs specific situation contact us here
