In the Know | MRO Management

This article was originally published in the April 2023 edition of MRO Management Magazine

by Mario Pierbon

Continuous improvement is necessary for the upgrade of maintenance planning and scheduling software. The incorporation of feedback from customers and users is achieved in various ways by aircraft maintenance software developers. This relationship with customers allows these companies to keep on top of emerging needs and understand where to focus research and development.

Customer Relationship Management 

Indeed, there are multiple ways to feed ideas into product roadmaps, but the most important is feedback from customers. That’s according to David Purfurst, global pre-sales director at Rusada, the creator of MRO software platform ENVISION.

“Sometimes it may just be a case of re-configuring the system or adapting its workflows, but if new functionality is needed our development teams will fully investigate the requirement and the proposed solution to ensure that any change to one area of the system does not negatively affect others,” he says.

“Another key avenue for us is new advancements in technology, which can allow us to build functionality that was not possible or practical before. This includes new methods of integrating with third party systems, allowing us to bring data from different sources into ENVISION and manipulate it new ways”.

Future Upgrades

Connected aircraft are driving the development of new functionality in maintenance planning and scheduling software, observes Purfurst. “These are the onboard systems in place on new generation aircraft that capture real-time data and seamlessly send that information to maintenance planning and schedule solutions such as ENVISION,” explains. “Our system can then combine real-time data with that of the operator’s past, enabling them to adopt a predictive approach to maintenance.”

The inclusion of real-time data into maintenance planning and scheduling software, coupled with the use of AI, will allow aircraft maintenance software not only to alert of upcoming maintenance events but also to advise when and where maintenance should be scheduled, according to Purfurst. “This is done by taking a whole host of supporting information into account, such as periods of high aircraft utilisation, maintenance events of other aircraft in the fleet, and even the terms of the aircraft’s lease agreement,” he concludes.

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