Transport Canada’s AircraftServices is striving to be more efficient while transitioning to anew software system to be fully rolled out by 2008.
The new system – dubbed Teamcenter — is being implemented tomanage the maintenance, repair and overhaul of Transport Canada’s aircraft assets.
The MRO lifecycle management software and services are beingdeployed by Plano, Texas-based UGSCorp.
Currently, the Aircraft Services arm of Transport Canadaprovides flight operations support to a variety of governmentclients including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and theDepartment of National Defence.
The contract joins UGS partner Electronic Data Systems (EDS) andPublic Works and Government Services (PWGSC) in a deal that seesPWGSC receive 464 licensed seats of the MRO software.
“At the moment we’re using multiple databases to do the work,”said Transport Canada spokesperson Lucie Vignola. “We had beenlooking for a solution to integrate all that.”
Vignola added that the new software will mean moving to just onesystem that will help streamline functions.
“It will also help us track inventory and our own control of themaintenance performed on the different types of aircraft,” shesaid.
Having one system will enable Transport Canada to better planand execute the maintenance, and as a result, reduce inventory,according to Victor Mate, UGS Canada senior account executive.
“For example, when a plane comes in for repair a certain partthe system would tell them that within five hours of the flightyou’re going to have to replace something else,” said Mate. “Soit’s more of a proactive system.”
The approximately 73 aircraft that are operated by TransportCanada are for civilian and military roles.
Phil Taylor, vice president and general manager for UGS Canada,said that maintaining a fleet of aircraft typically requires a highlevel of collaboration that could be spread across an existingfacility.
“This system is providing one single system that allows(Transport Canada) to manage all their assets in a consistentaccurate manner,” he said.
Mate said that UGS has an extensive list of defensemanufacturers including Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
“We’re actually helping these other companies manufacture theparts using our tools and that becomes so much easier for them tomanage the planes if they already have that data pre-configured,”he said.