Tips & Tricks: Important points to consider during a data migration project to avoid airworthiness data issues in the long term and save costs
Migration of an airline’s fleet airworthiness & maintenance data is not something that happens daily. Typically, it becomes relevant when the airline’s maintenance & engineering department selects to implement a new MRO/M&E software system to manage its fleet. However, the way HOW the data migration is performed as part of the MRO/M&E software system implementation is of great significance and will have a long-lasting effect in the years to come.
Data plays a critical role in aircraft maintenance software and has a significant impact on the management of aircraft airworthiness. The MRO/M&E software relies on data to inform and guide maintenance activities, and the quality and accuracy of this data are essential for ensuring the safe and reliable operation of aircraft.
If you do not get the data migration right from the start of the implementation of your new MRO/M&E software, it will cost you lots of money in the long run. After 5 to 10 years of using the new MRO/M&E system instead of having smaller data issues, you have more than 1000 issues and more will be lining up. At that point, the MRO/M&E system will be so full of issues of inconsistent data that probably even workarounds have been introduced by engineers (again). So you definitely want to avoid this and we will tell you how, but first, we show you three Below are three examples of data issues we encounter that can be related to data migration that was not properly conducted in the first place:
Examples of data issues
1. Counters Control For Aircraft - Counters End Up Not Having A Consistent History
The life cycle of an aircraft is measured by the value of its life counters. The number and complexity of the counters vary per aircraft type and operation type, but all have at least 3 basic counters, flight hours, flight cycles, and Calendar Days. So, it is of utmost importance to make sure these are kept under control.
One of the main issues we encounter in many airlines is that because of work procedures or interfaces between operations and maintenance, the counters end up not having a consistent history. Sometimes it's just 5 minutes per flight.
However, if one accounts for the thousands of hours that an aircraft flies, 5 minutes per flight can quickly become an issue.
2. Configuration Control/Management
Another common issue we encounter frequently is configuration control/management. This can be divided further into two areas: modifications control and components control. In the first area, it is common to see issues related to incomplete information about certain modifications embodied on aircraft, especially on older fleets. In some cases, due to the complexity of the modification or the airworthiness documents that require the modification of the aircraft, some engineers end up not filling in all the required information for maintenance to know the exact status of the aircraft configuration. That may lead to issues, especially when the aircraft is transferred between airlines and the knowledge of the configuration status is dependent upon individuals working in the previous airline. In the second area, a common issue we find is the systems having incomplete information about the components that are installed on an aircraft.
It can go from a component being completely missing in the system but physically being installed, to having a component that is installed but in the wrong place, or in a more critical case having a life-limited component that is installed in the system but lacking the counter information required to control its life cycle and maintenance.
3. Setup Of The Static Data
Other issues that sometimes exist are related to the setup of the static data (i.e. data that does not dynamically change on a daily basis) like a maintenance program. The maintenance program is the document that compiles all the relevant information to keep an aircraft airworthy. Of course, when a written document is converted into the rules of the system, some adjustments must be made.
Therefore, it's not uncommon to see that the conversion of the written MP to the systems MP ends up missing or changing the way a task is to be controlled. In some cases, the issue might be just that some maintenance is done before the necessary time but in others, it can result in completely missing a maintenance activity.
Often these issues are identified when operators.
Want to sell an aircraft or deliver it back to the owner;
Replace their current main MRO/M&E system;
Or perform an Airworthiness Review
Where to focus on during the data migration
Based on years of experience we would like to take the perception away that conducting the data migration during an MRO/M&E software system implementation is just transferring data from A to B. Below we outline three important points:
1.Garbage In Garbage Out
Probably you have heard many times the phrase ‘garbage in garbage out’; If you only focus on transferring data from the old MRO/M&E software system to the new MRO/M&E software system the issues an engineer has experienced in the old system will not be solved. An error in system A will be an error in system B. You need to work on the data quality, and that means actually looking at the data itself and the existing data issues one has experienced in the past. If you just transfer the data nothing changes albeit having a new MRO/M&E software system.
2. Source Of Truth
When you are talking to the people that work with the system day by day, ask them to show how they do their job. Often these kinds of talks end up in alternative work methods, where you are introduced to Excel sheets or references to another system to double-check if the main system is correct. They have created their own workarounds to make a process work because something is not working properly in their current MRO/M&E software system as the data that resides in the system is not up to date or even false and thus causes issues. This also means that the current MRO/M&E software is not the exact source of truth. This means during the data migration you need to focus on identifying all sources and not only consider the old MRO/M&E system, otherwise you might ‘lose’ data and even worse might not even transfer the latest airworthiness status of an aircraft as it was registered in an Excel sheet.
3. Workarounds
This also brings us to the next important point – eliminating workarounds: A new MRO/M&E software is not only an opportunity to have a more modern system but also to work on the processes and data consistency and quality to maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and have a future-proof organization. If the data in the new system has been cleaned and adheres to the newly implemented data standards no workarounds should be introduced by any engineer as the system is exactly doing and showing what the engineers want– they can trust the system. This needs to be supported by standard process descriptions and workplace instructions. As a result, engineers can do their job much quicker, and as we all know, time is money.
What to do after the data migration
1.Create awareness for data quality
Educate and train users on the importance of data quality and integrity and provide them with the tools and resources to maintain it.
Remind them of the existing Business Process (BP) and Workplace instructions (WP) in place. Otherwise, over time and with staff changes, the risk increases that BPs/WPs are not kept up to date or are lost.
This can lead to new staff relying on the experience of peers instead of using the existing BPs/WPs and following data standards, which can lead to the use of auxiliary files that may be more accessible or deemed as "reliable" than the actual MRO/M&E software system.
In the end, you want to make everyone’s job easier. Relieving engineers from manual data entries, double data entries, and being frustrated that data shown in the MRO/M&E system might not be adding up.
2. Automate data exchange between systems
When working in aviation, it is common for different departments within a company to rely on separate information systems to manage their data and comply with relevant regulations. For example, Flight Ops, Engineering, Maintenance, and Finance may each use different systems to perform their tasks.
However, this can result in inefficiencies such as manual data entry, duplication of effort, and the use of intermediate files between systems. These practices can lead to data gaps, inconsistencies, and errors.
Automation and creating interfaces between systems can help ensure that all data is accurate, reliable, and consistent.
3. Conduct automatic quality controls
Implement automatic data checks. These checks will ensure continuous monitoring of the quality of data within the MRO/M&E system. Given the large volume of data that is entered into the MRO/M&E system on a daily basis, especially for airlines with a large fleet and/or MRO operations, it is easy to miss minor errors or inconsistencies that can accumulate over time and lead to airworthiness problems and aircraft on ground (AOG) situations.
However, if these issues are identified early, they can be resolved by creating or updating business processes and work procedures, modifying interfaces, or providing training to users. Implementing controls that monitor the quality of your system data is an effective means to continuously track the current state as well as identify problem areas such as:
· Aircraft components with a missing installation date
· Serialized components showing both on stock as well as installed on aircraft
· Mismatch in TAH/TAC sequence of aircraft between flights
· Material warehouse receiving without accompanying Materials order
Have you implemented your system quite a while ago and want to check the data quality?
To get an idea of the data quality in your MRO/M&E system start with:
1. Identify all sources of truth
Make a list of all the systems, platforms, and tools that generate data for your airline. This could include internal systems and third-party systems. Ask the engineers how they use the system and how they keep track of the latest airworthiness status, as said it might be even an EXCEL sheet. You need to classify the data sources based on the importance of the data they generate.
2. A full data health check & impact assessment
You need to conduct a full data health check to Identify the full scope of issues and their impact as well as corrective and preventive actions required to correct the data. Some items might be more difficult to solve, and others might be easier to fix. Subsequently, each correction of data might have a different impact. Assessing each observation in an ease-impact overview allows one to identify a proper sequence of corrective & preventive actions. Check existing data sources to understand the quality of the data. You can do this by using either automated tools (recommended) or manual checks. Analyze the results to identify gaps in the data and processes that generate it. Determine which data sources are not meeting the defined quality standards and identify the root cause of the issues.
3. Define standards
Create a plan to address the identified gaps and improve the quality of data from each source. Define the data elements, data definitions, data types, and data formats that need to be standardized. Data standards should be specific and all-encompassing, leaving no data behind (once again have you identified all workarounds and EXCEL sheets in the previous step?). Create a comprehensive document that outlines the data standards and provides guidelines on how to implement them. This may also include updating processes with data standards implementing new tools, or providing training to staff.
How EXSYN helps
At EXSYN we help our clients with all the above to enable a future-proof organization. During the data migration, we are starting off with a detailed data mapping of the old and new MRO/M&E software. Identifying ALL sources of truth, so we look for all the workarounds and Excel sheets that have been used.
Next, we extract the data from the old MRO/M&E system, read it, process the information, and compare it to what is needed in the new MRO/M&E system. We inform the customer if something does not make sense such as having three engines installed on an aircraft, or data is inconsistent, or identify something that might be causing issues in the future. So together we work on the data standards, correct issues and inconsistencies, and enhance the data to make the organization future-proof.
Afterward, our customers use our software solution NEXUS to conduct automatic data quality controls and enable data exchange between the different systems in place.
