SAP: Ending the IT Madness?

Full integration of an entire business process has long been a goal of software providers. SAP is helping Pratt & Whitney and British Airways do just that.

Total software integration: it’s the holy grail for any aviation maintenance chief information officer. If only everything from parts procurement through repair reports and work scheduling could be managed through a single database . . think of the savings in time, labor, and money.

Such integration has already been achieved in other industries, using ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems. But, until recently, aviation maintenance operations haven’t benefited from ERP. The reason? Maintenance’s unique information technology demands, combined with its relatively few players, led most software developers to focus on other, more lucrative, businesses.

German software developer SAP is an exception. It created an ERP program–mySAP Aerospace & Defense–designed for maintenance. The product is being deployed by aerospace companies like British Airways, Pratt & Whitney, and Pratt & Whitney Canada.

But be warned: to create a customer base big enough to make mySAP Aerospace & Defense profitable, SAP has had to generalize a bit. The result? Even though mySAP Aerospace & Defense goes a long way toward integration, it requires customization to fulfill all of maintenance’s IT needs.

Why SAP?

Just how much customization can be gleaned from British Airways’s efforts. To deploy mySAP, the airline had to reassign 50 of its best engineers and 35 to 40 IT specialists plus a few people from finance and human resources, according to Kevin Middleton, the airline’s general manager of engineering systems. "And that’s before we start the rollout!" he said. "All told, our regular operations have taken a real hit."

Add to this the fact that mySAP can take years to deploy, and one might ask, "Why bother?" Middleton has a clear answer: mySAP provides a vast improvement over British Airways’s state of affairs.

British Airways Engineering had 7,500 people worldwide, using a total of 300 legacy systems, he said. Most of those systems weren’t integrated with each other. "When we needed to both replace a tire and the brakes on the same inventory, today’s systems automatically produce duplicate tasks to remove and refit the wheel," he said "Two removes, and two refits!"

Inefficient? Yes. Middleton said 20 percent of scheduled maintenance doesn’t get done when aircraft are in the shop. "Obviously, this is the small stuff–nothing that would threaten safety," he said, "but this results in re-planning, extra downtime, and much more expense."

Then there’s the complexity of managing the airline’s maintenance needs. To plan an aircraft input, a British Airways engineer had to cross-reference eight different screens from four different legacy systems simultaneously. "This required quite a high level of systems expertise and knowledge from our engineers," said Middleton.

Engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney had different reasons for choosing SAP. It wanted to harmonize key processes used across its research and development, manufacturing, and maintenance operations.

"We have many different legacy IT systems in place," said P&W’s vice president and chief information officer, Peter Longo. "Some of these we bought over the years, others came in-house as we acquired other companies." These systems support more than 7,000 users worldwide.

Initially, Pratt & Whitney choose SAP primarily for its OEM division. However, "where an ERP system really pays off is in the aftermarket business," said Longo, which is much more complex, covering makes and models of engines stretching back 20 years or more. "With SAP, our people can access everything from a single source, which will help us manage it more efficiently and cost-effectively."

High hopes

British Airways and Pratt & Whitney expect a lot from SAP.

"From the outset, our goal has been to integrate the entire maintenance process," said BA’s Middleton, including the technical side, production and planning, quality control, financial, and human resources. The airline wants its planners, with one screen, "to be able to see what needs to be done, to schedule it, and to monitor it all. We want to eliminate that 20 percent."

Pratt & Whitney wants "a single system across our entire business," Longo said.

Middleton said SAP offers "the closest match available" to BA’s needs. Longo was impressed that SAP spends "over a billion dollars in ongoing development a year, and they have thousands of programmers keeping SAP’s software up-to-date."

Middleton added that BA did not have to customize the core SAP product. He said the airline modified SAP’s templates as required. "In some cases we simply put a BA logo on it," said Middleton. "In others, we took their basic concept and adapted the fields to meet our requirements."

"This said, occasionally we do identify gaps in SAP’s system that need addressing," he said. "When this happens, we let them know about it, and they take them into account. An SAP upgrade that came out last July included changes based on BA’s research."

Pratt & Whitney’s IT specialiasts are using SAP to create one-stop-shopping computer systems for their shop floor inspectors. They have built a Web portal within SAP that links the inspector to applications that provide technical data. This lets the inspector disposition and log the status of each part during an engine teardown. "He can also use the portal to search an illustrated parts catalog, check online manuals, and forward information to other parts of our company," Longo said. "It’s a pretty slick solution."

As any IT person will tell you, deploying an ERP system is no small deal.

First, you have to analyze your existing software applications, to see what you’re doing and why. You also have to blueprint the processes currently in use so that they can be translated to the new system.

In many cases, you may have to invent a new way of doing things–say, replacing a tire–to replace the 100 slightly different methods being used at your 100 locations worldwide. For this new process to be accepted, of course, you’ve got to get buy-in from the people who do the work. This means time must be spent in consultation and diplomacy.

In its second year of SAP deployment, British Airways had just wrapped up its blueprinting of processes. "We’re ensuring that the generic transactions supplied by SAP can be modified to do what we want them to do," Middleton said.

Next, you have to map out not just how these agreed-upon processes will be translated to the new system, but also which connections need to be made between departments. Once you know who has to talk to whom in an integrated ERP environment, you have to figure out what they’re going to be saying. After all, human resources won’t be sending parts requisitions to shipping.

Next comes the actual deployment: getting not just the software, but also the necessary data in place. After all, if people aren’t putting data into the ERP system, it can’t do its job.

Which brings us to training: the staff must know how to use the new ERP system or else the whole exercise falls apart.

Pratt & Whitney is certainly aware of this. That’s why 40 percent of its 20,000 users were trained on SAP while the rollout was still underway.

For the British Airways training process, "we estimate it will take anywhere from five to 20 days to bring each staff member up to speed," said Middleton, "using a combination of classroom-based and book-based learning."

In the case of both British Airways and Pratt & Whitney, the change is costing tens of millions of dollars, plus the shifting of much-needed staff away from regular duties.

"I liken it to building a new house," said Middleton. "We’re making a big leap from coal-fired to central heating; from everything being old and patched together to new and intrinsically integrated. It’s not surprising that it’s a big job, and a big paradigm shift for us."

What’s next?

Still, British Airways and Pratt & Whitney are doggedly upbeat about the work that lies ahead. The reason? They keep their eyes on the benefits that beckon; of a future where a British Airways planner can schedule both tire and brake maintenance without having to flit between eight screens to do so.

"My vision is that when an engine is 60 days away from overhaul, we are triggering SAP to search our world inventory for the right parts," said Pratt & Whitney’s Longo. "From there, the system will automatically arrange for the parts to be in the right place at the right time, saving customers time and money.

"Is it worth all the time and effort, and will it save us money?" he asked. "No question about it."