Unisys expands maintenance and engineering solutions - helping airlines schedule maintenance to save time and money

Citation

(1998), "Unisys expands maintenance and engineering solutions - helping airlines schedule maintenance to save time and money", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 70 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1998.12770dab.013

Unisys expands maintenance and engineering solutions - helping airlines schedule maintenance to save time and money

Unisys expands maintenance and engineering solutions­ helping airlines schedule maintenance to save time and money

Keywords Aircraft, Scheduling, Software, Unisys

Unisys Corporation announces that it is extending its suite of maintenance and engineering solutions for the airline industry with the addition of the Aircraft Maintenance Event Scheduler (AMES), an industry-leading programme designed to help airlines use planned maintenance scheduling to allocate resources and increase profits.

AMES, demonstrated by Unisys and programme developer Omega Airline Software at the ATTIS Americas conference, is an advanced scheduling programme designed specifically for aircraft maintenance. AMES is an easy-to-use desktop system that assists aircraft maintenance planners in providing real business benefits to the maintenance department. AMES enables airlines to optimize maintenance resources, such as people, aircraft and hangars; increase profits through alternative maintenance programmes; maximize aircraft availability by planning for maintenance; and develop and communicate maintenance schedules more efficiently. It also makes it easier for airlines to track and comply with maintenance and safety standards and regulations.

"Omega is pleased to be working in partnership with Unisys to expand the availability of the Aircraft Maintenance Event Scheduler to airlines around the world", said Richard Reno, founder and president of Dallas-based Omega Airline Software. "Our agreement with Unisys will enable Omega to leverage Unisys proven expertise in delivering information solutions to the airline industry and open new distribution channels for AMES. It will provide an opportunity to introduce the cost-saving benefits of AMES' proactive maintenance scheduling to a wider audience."

Under the agreement, Unisys will market the product and Omega will provide support to Unisys and its customers. The AMES programme, the only programme of its kind designed especially for the airline industry, is already in use at Continental Airlines, as well as other major US and European airlines.

"Our AMES hangar planning software is the best in the industry for short and long range planning", said Manny Naeem, senior director of technical planning for Continental Airlines. "With AMES, we have put into place the most optimized short- and long-range maintenance plans, saving Continental Airlines several million dollars in unplanned maintenance costs."

AMES enables airlines to move from traditional, reactive maintenance scheduling operations to a proactive planning base. With AMES, airline maintenance and engineering divisions can produce "business plans" for future years based on corporate marketing plans and maintenance programmes. A forecast of maintenance events can be created in minutes for a medium-sized fleet, and the plan can be quickly analyzed to generate aircraft, labour, facility and material forecasts for the period. This information can then be passed along in a timely, seamless fashion to other maintenance scheduling and production systems, materials management and other support units to assist in the cost-effective operation of the airline.

"The planning of airline maintenance schedules is handled by airlines today using everything from whiteboards to in-house maintenance systems", said David Savage, vice-president of Maintenance and Engineering, Unisys Transportation Market Sector Group. "The introduction of AMES changes all of that. AMES provides airlines with a state-of-the-art system, designed especially for the airline industry. This solution will bring significant benefits to airline maintenance operations and deliver positive results to the bottom line."

AMES runs on a Windows 95 or NT platform. It can be modified to integrate with an airline organization's existing systems and is compatible with Microsoft's SQL Server and Dbase file systems. Using Windows applications and new user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) screens, AMES enables maintenance planners to solve operational problems quickly , as well as consider alternative solutions with maximum benefit and least cost. Planners receive immediate feedback, scheduling conflicts can be identified and resolved quickly, unplanned events can be incorporated easily and appropriate steps can be taken to minimize airline schedule disruptions.

Details are available from Unisys Corp., USA. Tel: +1215 986 7740.