Autumn is smack dab in the middle of trade show season and Enigma is right there too. We’ll be exhibiting at two Aviation/MRO related events during the month of October.

If you’re in the aviation, aerospace or the MRO field, you may want to check out these events and swing by the Enigma booth while you’re there.

October 17 -18, 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand:
Airline and Aerospace MRO & Operations IT Conference APAC 2012 by Aircraft Commerce

Touted as the world’s leading aviation MRO and Operations IT software solutions, this event, according to the Aircraft Commerce website “provides a one-stop solution for airlines, aircraft operators and MROs seeking to implement or discover more about how new technology can streamline and increase their MRO and Flight Operations efficiency as well as reduce costs dramatically. For those companies who already have systems in place, they will be able to view and demo the latest add-ons and learn how new software can be incorporated and provide further benefits.”

The event provides opportunities to see software demonstrations, listen to industry experts speak about the latest key issues and trends, and network with other senior management colleagues from the airlines/MRO industries.

Enigma will be on hand to share our latest InService MRO, InService Job Card Generator and InService Revision Manager software updates with airlines, aircraft operators and MRO providers. Find us at booth E24.

October 22-24, 2012 in Scottsdale, AZ:
ATA e-Business Forum by ATA e-Business Program

The ATA e-Business Program website reports that this event is “the industry's premier event to learn about the latest developments in information exchange to support engineering, maintenance, materiel and flight operations. This conference is the most comprehensive event dedicated to information exchange standards and technologies in the global aerospace industry. This educational forum provides a high level overview of the ATA e-Business Program and the many specifications and industry initiatives underway to facilitate effective and efficient information sharing between trading partners.”

At this event, attendees will learn about the industry's most widely accepted e-business specifications (Spec 2000, S1000D, iSpec 2200, Spec 42 and Spec 2300), and gain insight on how the industry has earned significant savings and operational efficiencies through the use of global standards.

Enigma’s John Snow, VP of Global Marketing and Strategic Alliances will be an industry expert speaker delivering presentations on both days of the event. His topics are (presentations will be posted following the live presentation):  

• Tablets on the Tarmac - Connecting MRO Diagnosis, Planning and Execution to Minimize AOGs
• When Standards Collide - Case Studies for a Unified MRO Process that Supports S1000D, iSpec2200 and PDF

If you’re in engineering, maintenance, or material and flight operations, be sure to stop by the Enigma booth to learn about our latest InService MRO, InService Job Card Generator and InService Revision Manager software updates with airlines, aircraft operators and MRO providers.

We’ll see you at the Shows.

The main task of a construction equipment fleet manager is to extend the useful life of equipment, regardless if it’s for a construction equipment rental house or a construction company with its own fleet.  

Fleet managers have a big responsibility. They control a highly valuable collection of assets, managing the overall cost of operating, maintaining and repairing tens, hundreds or possibly thousands of vehicles and equipment within that asset group.  

So why is this important? Construction Equipment magazine suggests that “fleet accounts for as much as 80 percent of an organization’s assets, so managing it well best serves the future of the organization.” That’s a pretty big piece of asset pie and how it’s managed can have a huge impact on a company’s bottom line.

If that’s not enough, here’s another reason. Like the auto industry and the medical devices industry, Rousse Asset Services, in their monthly Equipment Reports, observes that the age of construction equipment has risen, meaning that equipment is being forced into service for longer periods of time.  Fleet managers are now even more challenged to properly manage the equipment, especially if they’re with one of the many construction equipment rental houses, which are expected to grow by 7 percent this year according to forconstructionpros.com.

So how do companies and their fleet managers take advantage of this possibly lucrative management of their business operations and assets (or avoid potentially unprofitable decisions)? How do they capitalize on various factors mentioned above to ensure they capture its full opportunity?  Answer: by managing the process itself.

Good fleet managers know that there is money to be made in the operational details of equipment ‘uptime’. Proper repair and maintenance information can help reduce the time needed to find the right part, reduce the time to determine part availability and then waiting for parts to arrive, and reduce the time needed to review maintenance manuals for troubleshooting.  

For years fleet managers have relied on either hard-copy, printed catalogs or electronic documents stored in disparate places and formats. Electronic parts catalogs like Enigma’s InService EPC are changing that antiquated system. Electronic parts catalogs are becoming valuable repositories of information centered completely around repair and maintenance, giving users the tools they need to streamline the parts and service structure.  And as any good fleet manager will tell you, a well run maintenance and repair department can manage your construction equipment assets to not only best serve the future of the organization, but generate service driven profits.

Mechanics know a lot about the tools they use and the equipment they repair. They are a rich source of information, if only someone would listen. Dealers and field service organizations count on mechanics and technicians to properly maintain and repair equipment, but often overlook the competitive advantage of experienced service technicians.

We were curious about just what sorts of insights top performing equipment mechanics could bring to the topic of parts catalogs, so we asked a handful of equipment service technicians what common service related challenges and roadblocks they encountered during their workday.

Here’s what we found.

Time. Overwhelmingly mechanics and service technicians agreed their most common challenge was time – they’re under great pressure to fix equipment quickly and correctly in order to minimize equipment downtime.

One task that slowed them down and ate into their repair schedule was looking up parts. For mechanics still using printed parts and service manuals, this made sense. But surprisingly mechanics using digital documents, PDF parts lists and service manuals, also experienced the same frustration. They noted that it was difficult to lookup parts or search for information. To make matters worse, the information they needed was spread among many different documents, in many different formats stored in many different locations.  Additionally, the programs used to browse, sort or search for parts were hard to navigate and not intuitive. And, once they finally found the right replacement part, they had to use a different system to order it, or have someone else order it for them.  

Accuracy. A second irritation for mechanics was that the part and/or service information was wrong. A part may have been discontinued with no indication of what replaced it, there may be confusion about which part is actually the right part to order or service bulletins with the latest service tips may not have been distributed.  Inaccurate parts information, service manuals or bulletins could be important to what they were working on, especially in the case of discontinued parts that had been replaced with new parts altogether.

The mechanics were often left with two options: call the OEM or customer service manager to get the most current information and wait for a reply, or blindly order the parts anyway and take the chance that the new parts or service bulletins would ‘probably work’ about the same. That kind of guesswork was a risk they regularly took in order to keep the repair moving forward.

Portability. A third common thread for field service mechanics in particular was portability. Information that is available at the shop may not be available to the mobile technicians working on-site at a remote customer location.  As a result, field service technicians felt they had to do more preparation, more organization, and be more knowledgeable than shop mechanics precisely because they often had to work out of a van.

It would be easy to see how some operations executives may regard these three areas of concern (time, stale info and portability) as simply grumpy mechanics complaining about their work environments.  But astute managers may see them for something more – indispensable kernels of insight that any OEM would love to know so they can improve the number of parts and quality of support delivered to their customers.

If we take each point and deconstruct it, we begin to see the wisdom that mechanics add to our understanding of aftermarket parts and service repair.

Time

• Challenge: “It takes too long to look up parts and service information”
• Translation: slow data retrieval and order processing
• Opportunity:

    •  Easier, faster, more intuitive parts and service lookup

    •  Make ordering OEM parts easier  

    •  Speed rate of repair

Accuracy

• Challenge: “When I finally find the information, I’m not sure it’s accurate”
• Translation: Inaccurate info leads to guessing, parts ordering errors, and poor first time fix rates
• Opportunity:

    •  Put current, accurate parts and service information in the hands of mechanics
    •  Remove ‘guesswork’ from the equation

Portability

• Challenge: “I need information where I’m working, no matter where that is”
• Translation: Lack of access to information puts service technicians at a disadvantage
• Opportunity:

    •  Equip all equipment mechanics with online and offline access to parts and service information so everyone has access to best practices

Mechanics want to do their jobs well but they need the right tools to succeed.  After all, the success of each mechanic and technician contributes to the success of the OEM; they represent your brand to your customer. The insight and experience of mechanics can teach OEMs a lot about how to improve the efficiency of aftermarket part sales and equipment service to help make it more profitable.

Learn more about how Enigma InService EPC (electronic parts catalog) can help you translate your mechanic’s challenges into your operational efficiency and aftermarket parts profit.

Enigma and DCL (Data Conversion Laboratory) recently announced a strategic relationship that helps manufacturers, owners and operators of complex equipment deliver service and parts information to planners and technicians as they schedule and perform repairs.

By combining DCL’s data preparation with Enigma’s InService EPC software, the daunting job of producing an interactive electronic parts catalog (EPC) is simplified and more sustainable.

Because the quality of service and parts information has a big impact on the efficiency and consistency of maintenance activities, companies that work on complex equipment (or support others who do it) will find this partnership particularly important.

To improve equipment service and support, IT systems must deliver technical and product information that is always accurate—online, offline and mobile. In theory it sounds simple, in practice it’s not. That’s where DCL and Enigma come in.

You May Have a Mass (or Mess) of Data, But You Are Not Alone

For most companies, product information is stored in different systems using different data formats.  Technical content may have various layouts and designs for multiple types of documents (manuals, catalogs, supplements, bulletins, specs, videos, etc.). This reality often causes companies to delay these IT projects as they grapple with how and where to begin.

The partnership between DCL and Enigma assures companies that they don’t face these challenges alone; they always have experienced experts by their side to help them navigate the rough waters of cleansing, converting, publishing and revising technical content.

Outsourcing is Expensive…Again and Again and Again

The complexity of prepping data for publication can be so intimidating (see above) that many companies are tempted to outsource this process. That’s a bad idea because every time service and parts information is revised it must pass through the outsourcing process again. Depending on how often (and how much) technical content changes, outsourcing gets very expensive very quickly. Retaining control over maintenance and repair information and the ability to make updates in-house is a better solution and one that Enigma, along with the help of DCL makes possible.

The partnership between DCL and Enigma removes the recurring cost of publishing service and parts information. Once InService EPC is in place, publishing technical revisions is essentially free.

Accurate, Efficient and Automated End-to-End

Another problem with outsourcing service and parts publication is the issue of controlling the accuracy of the final product and the frequency of updates. Essentially, outsourcing the publication of technical content limits a company’s control over the most important tool they have for improving aftermarket sales/support and reducing maintenance/repair costs.

The partnership between DCL and Enigma allows companies to retain control over service and parts information ensuring the process is accurate, efficient and automated from beginning to end. This helps companies control the flow of information to and from the maintenance organization so that aftermarket parts and service generates the revenue and profits that today’s CEOs are demanding.

A Partnership Designed to Make Companies Self-Sufficient

The DCL-Enigma partnership helps companies deliver service and parts information online, offline and through mobile platforms. Together we ensure that technical content is published as a complete, portable library of product information composed of parts, procedures, bulletins, videos, etc.

The DCL-Enigma partnership reduces the confusion of data cleansing and eliminates the need for outsourcing of service publications—with the recurring costs, delays and loss of control (quality).  DCL and Enigma provide an end-to-end solution that improves the efficiency and consistency of a company’s service and support operations.

Companies that want to quickly turn the corner on aftermarket business as usual—by increasing first-time-fix rates, improving order accuracy, reducing repair times and increasing customer satisfaction—need look no further than DCL and Enigma. The key to optimizing a company’s maintenance and repair business is to ensure service and parts information is always accurate—online, offline and mobile. DCL and Enigma provide that solution.