Data Management Best Practices for Aircraft Maintenance
With the increased usage of more advanced technologies and new aircraft, data has become a key player in enhancing aircraft maintenance practices. Thus, the importance of effective data management is increasing as well and is crucial for ensuring the safety, reliability, and efficiency of aircraft operations. Aircraft maintenance relies heavily on accurate and timely data to make informed decisions and keep fleets in optimal condition. Therefore, today we will outline the key essentials to be able to make optimal use of data and the benefits of it for aircraft maintenance.
What is data management?
First of all, start with the basics, what is data management? generally speaking, data management is the process of handling data so that it can be used effectively. This involves storing, organizing, and accessing data, as well as ensuring its quality and security.
Without data management, data would quickly become unorganized and chaotic, making it difficult to find the right data and make use of it. Data management practices help to keep data organized and accessible so that it can be used effectively. A lack of proper data management can result in data silos, inconsistent data sets, and data quality problems that limit the ability of an airline to run, for example, analytics applications - or even lead to flawed findings.
Moreover, data means airworthiness compliance. Data indicates for an airline whether aircraft are airworthy. That is always the first and most important key consideration when talking about data. Data is used to identify potential safety issues, track the performance of critical systems, and make decisions about when maintenance or repairs are needed. It is used to monitor compliance with regulations and industry standards and to identify trends. The effective management of this data is essential for maintaining the safety of aircraft operations.
Issues related to airworthiness and maintenance data can result in audit findings, grounding of aircraft, or hindering an airline in following digitization initiatives. It can also result in heavy fines when returning the aircraft to the lessor.
Key essentials for successful data management
Data Collection
Successful data management begins with comprehensive data collection. Aircraft are equipped with various sensors and monitoring systems that generate a vast amount of data during each flight. This includes information on engine performance, fuel consumption, airframe conditions, and more. Often this data is stored in multiple systems. Collecting and identifying the data itself doesn’t provide any value—an airline needs to process it. The problem with this process is that it can take up a lot of time and effort for airlines to get the data they need into a usable format. An airline needs a way to quickly and easily transform data from its original format into the shape, format, or model it needs it to be.
2. Data Quality Management
Having large amounts of data available but the quality is lacking, the output is flawed. Everyone knows the world-famous rubbish in is rubbish out. To derive meaningful insights, data collected from diverse sources must be standardized and integrated. Keeping your aircraft data healthy and maintaining a single source of truth is a continuous job. It is necessary to be on top of things to prevent flawed data. Human error is natural after all, and more data is added to the systems daily resulting in constant changes. This means an airline needs a quick and trustworthy way to check all data to address any issues as soon as they appear and are still manageable, to prevent things spiraling out of control to keep trust and confidence in the aircraft data, at all times. Integration ensures that data from different systems and sources can be combined to prevent manual data entries to provide a holistic view of aircraft health.
3. Data Visualization and Analytics
The ultimate step is to drive value from data. For example by making use of predictive maintenance, engineering and maintenance teams can forecast equipment failures, optimize component life cycles, and schedule maintenance activities more efficiently. This proactive approach minimizes downtime, reduces operational costs, and enhances overall fleet reliability. Intuitive dashboards and graphical representations can highlight trends, anomalies, and key performance indicators, empowering maintenance teams to take timely actions. However, making a pie chart in Excel is not difficult but managing a data warehouse and presenting information in a logical cognitive matter that is easily understandable for end-users is a field of its own. This is only possible with the right people or external partner that have the skills and knowledge to create this value. (Read also our article 'Data Analytics In Aircraft Maintenance: From Insights To Action')
Benefits of data management for aircraft maintenance
Improved Maintenance Planning
Effective aircraft data management allows airlines to keep track of all maintenance activities, ensuring that they are performed on time and according to the required standards. With access to accurate data on an aircraft’s maintenance history airlines can plan maintenance activities more effectively, reducing the risk of costly downtime. Plus, it helps to enhance customer satisfaction by reducing flight delays and cancellations. By using data to identify and proactively address potential maintenance issues, airlines can minimize the impact of maintenance activities on flight schedules, reducing the likelihood of delays and cancellations.
2. Reduce System Failures
Airlines can use aircraft data to monitor the performance of critical systems in real-time reducing the risk of system failures and ensuring the continued airworthiness of the aircraft.
3. Cost Savings
It can help airlines reduce costs by optimizing maintenance activities and reducing downtime. Airlines can use data to analyze maintenance activities, spare parts, and downtime, identifying areas where costs can be reduced. By reducing downtime, airlines can also reduce the cost of lost revenue due to flight cancellations or delays.
4. Compliance With Regulations
Aircraft data management is essential for ensuring compliance with aviation regulations. Airlines must keep track of all maintenance activities and ensure they are performed according to the required standards. By having accurate and up-to-date data on an aircraft's maintenance history, airlines can ensure that they comply with regulations and maintain the airworthiness of the aircraft.
5. Improved Decision Making
It provides airlines with access to accurate and up-to-date information, which can be used to make informed decisions. For example, airlines can use data to analyze the cost of different maintenance activities, compare the performance of different aircraft systems, and assess the impact of different maintenance strategies.
Where to start
1. Set up a data management strategy and identify your business goals
As always, the first step is identifying the airline’s goals. Setting goals will help determine the process for collecting, storing, managing, cleaning, and analyzing data. Clearly defined business objectives ensure only keeping and organizing data that is relevant.
2. Analyse what kind of data is stored and where is it stored
Next, you need to identify what kind of data you need to achieve the goals and where to find it. But it does not stop here. As mentioned above it is important to have reliable data, thus it is necessary to put a process in place to improve the quality of that data. So also think of:
Do we lack any data?
Is all needed data digitized or still available in paper-based form?
What is the quality and integrity of the data?
How can we improve the data quality and uphold it?
3. Identify if all the tools and people are in place to roll out the strategy
Sometimes the biggest challenge in using data effectively is that the organization’s data owners are not data experts. A critical part will be to provide the knowledge and skills the airline needs to analyze and understand the data. This could mean putting data analysis tools in the hands of departments outside of IT or getting buy-in from the airline’s leadership to support data initiatives.
Want to make the most of your data in 2024 and lead the way to a data-driven future with increased cost savings and improved safety and efficiency? Send an email to hello@exsyn.com or click on the below button. One of our subject matter experts would be happy to help you.
