Aircraft technical records stored on microfilm – new solution

Citation

(2006), "Aircraft technical records stored on microfilm – new solution", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 78 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2006.12778daf.005

Aircraft technical records stored on microfilm – new solution

Aircraft technical records stored on microfilm – new solution

Keywords: Information technology, Aerospace industry

Waviatech, a London Gatwick-based company serving the aircraft leasing community since 2002, have just launched a new product innovation specifically to assist with the challenges of dealing with aircraft records stored on microfilm.

Commenting on the launch, Karl Scanlon, Aircraft Engineer and Director of Products and Services said “we have already been in the business of assisting aircraft owners manage paper- based technical records for years. Our custom made solution called Stream represents a fantastic leap forward for anyone concerned with extracting information from paper records. Our (airline records experienced) staff analyse the documents and scan them into Stream – our customers are given access to the entire aircraft or engine history on an accurately indexed and searchable DVD or on our secure web site.”

“Microfilm raised its head last year following an enquiry from a customer” follows Godfrey Ryan, Sales and Marketing Manager. “Our customer had taken 10 ex-United Airlines aircraft and found he was facing the almost impossible task of trying to prepare and remarket the aircraft using the dozens of microfilm cartridges.”

The solution was to convert the microfilm into digital images and process into Stream to allow the user to have a view of the entire aircraft and engine history from one DVD – complete with precise indexing and text searchability. The target was to give the user access just as if the images had come from scanned paper. This solution can also address the challenge of integrating CDs containing previously converted microfilm in PDF format along with various scanned images.

“Once complete, our customer allowed his potential clients real-time global access to the records online which dramatically speeded up the sales process” continues Ryan. “These airlines answered the majority of their own questions without having to make the trip to the USA or even see the microfilm cartridges, saving costs and increasing productivity over the marketing and lease transition stage.

Over the past 18 months, the amount of aircraft coming out of the major US carriers has meant there is more and more microfilm that needs to be analysed and processed as part of the due diligence process.

Details available from: Waviatech, Tel: +44 8704 112 111, e-mail: godfrey.ryan@ waviatech.co