Asset data management at the RAF

Citation

(1999), "Asset data management at the RAF", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 71 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1999.12771faf.002

Asset data management at the RAF

Keywords RAF, Information management, Catalogue

The support authority responsible for managing the RAF's test equipment has chosen Quillion's PETS technology to provide a cataloguing, monitoring and tracking system for more than a quarter of a million items throughout the world.

The Support Management 47 Group (SM47) currently publishes the information on all the test equipment it controls in huge paper catalogues, but the aim is to replace these with CD-ROMs and a new networked system, TEMATS (Test Equipment Management and Asset Tracking System). When it goes on-line later this year, TEMATS will, it is believed, give SM47 significantly tighter control of its assets, with the ability to reduce costs and rationalise its stock and supplier lists. It will also be possible to locate any item anywhere in the world immediately, with a full record of its source, technical specifications and maintenance history.

TEMATS is currently under development with specialist data management implementer QIC Solutions, but is already being accessed on a daily basis by 40 users at the Group's headquarters at RAF Wyton, near Huntingdon. Within the next few months, TEMATS will be rolled out over a Web-compatible intranet to more than 200 users at 60 locations worldwide, as well as to the mobile test units that accompany aircraft on active duty.

For every aircraft in active service with the British armed forces, a large amount of test equipment is needed to ensure its constant airworthiness. Responsibility for the 250,000 items of test equipment currently being used by the RAF, and by units operated by other forces such as the Fleet Air Arm and the army helicopter squadrons, falls to the SM47 section of the RAF's Support Management Group. SM47 purchases and maintains all the equipment, and supplies it as required to operational units throughout the world.

While some of this equipment is dedicated to individual aircraft, much of it is multipurpose, and individual items are moved from one location to another, often at short notice. For example, the mobilisation of the Air Force at the commencement of the current operations in Yugoslavia required the mustering of a huge amount of test equipment from locations in countries such the UK, Germany, Canada and the Falkland Islands for redeployment closer to the war zone.

SM47 was originally split between four sites, in Harrogate, London, Swanton Morley and Liverpool, but in 1995 it was relocated to new buildings at RAF Wyton, near Huntingdon. It was then that a problem was identified. The information related to each item of equipment was published quarterly in vast paper catalogues, which were issued to aircraft service and maintenance personnel throughout the world. This information was collected from 13 databases and paper-based systems, including Cardex systems, documents held in filing cabinets and a variety of computer systems. There was a large amount of duplication and inaccuracy, and little, if any electronic data sharing. An enormous amount of work was therefore needed to collect and check the data in order to produce the catalogues and, by the time they were issued, much of the information they contained was out of date. There was a clear need to collate, cleanse and centralise all the information into a single, readily accessible system.

Business analysis exercise

In 1997, with the help of an external business consultancy and DERA Aquila's asset management team, SM47 began a business analysis exercise to determine the precise requirements for a new, central test equipment management system. This looked specifically at:

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  what database and other systems were currently being used and how they could be rationalised;

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  ways in which the data would be accessed - on the basis of parameters such as technical details, contract, location and use;

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  the existing business procedures and the flow of data between them;

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  the life cycles of the equipment to be managed;

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  the type of database methodology (i.e. relational or object oriented) that would best suit SM47's requirements;

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  the ways in which they were presenting and distributing information to their customers;

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  the potential to utilise existing networks and the need for new network components.

The study confirmed that, by rationalising the data and formalising workflows, SM47 could operate more efficiently, provide a better service to customers and save money at the same time. A full specification was drawn up, followed by a visit to the PDM/EDM exhibition at Olympia and an in-depth investigation of all the available systems. Most of these fulfilled part of the specification. However, of those systems that were assessed, Quillion's PETS was the only one that could be fully integrated right from the start, gave easy access to all the required information about each item of equipment in an instantly useable form, and offered the flexibility, once the system was up and running, for SM47 to make its own modifications to the software without involving a third party software specialist. Quillion recommended integration specialist QIC Solutions Ltd (QIC) to implement the new system, which had to satisfy a number of requirements. First, because equipment is constantly being acquired, the processes for managing it were complex, and had to be controlled tightly. Second, equipment must be serviced and calibrated regularly, and this had to be auditable. Third, users had to be able to search on parameters such as "performance range", and it had to be possible to search on other characteristics, such as cost and data acquired. Fourth, it was vital to be able to track equipment as it moved around between different sites "on loan" or for calibration or servicing. Finally, to ensure consistency and security, data should only ever be changed in one place.

The proposed solution was for a STEP-principled, object-oriented data vault. This would provide the most accurate, flexible means of coping with the large quantity of equipment to be managed, the complex nature of the information associated with it, and the need to maintain this information throughout the lifetime of each item. It would be combined with centralised asset data management, which would permit SM47 to control the development and implementation of its asset management strategy.

The new TEMATS system would therefore be modular in design. At its heart would be a secure data vault with a centralised data search and retrieval facility. This would be linked to business processes including bid creation and justification, equipment demand, asset tracking, document management, supply management and commercial off-the-shelf software such as Microsoft's Office suite.

Four phases

The work was planned in four phases. Phase 1, which went on-line between February and April 1999, involved the consolidation and rationalisation of the data into a single, object-oriented data warehouse. This phase also saw the introduction of the workflow and centralised asset data management, and the development of the first PETS-based applications. Phase 2, begun at the end of April 1999, makes the data available to other SM branches across a new network, including DHSA (Defence Helicopter Support Agency) at Yeovilton. Phase 3, started in June 1999, TEMATS access will be provided over the military WAN to TMECs (test and measuring equipment controllers), who are responsible for controlling the test equipment on-site, and to Royal Navy and Army agencies. Phase 4 will extend TEMATS for use across a Web-based intranet, which will also be used to distribute the catalogue in electronic form.

Much of Phase 1 has involved the amalgamation of the legacy data from more than 13 different databases into a secure, object-oriented, STEP-principled data vault. QIC has configured PETS to merge the legacy data from these databases and highlight discrepancies and irregularities so that a decision can be made on which should be stored as the definitive version. Search facilities have been added, giving instant access to information on any item of test equipment by inputting the serial number, a description or the supplier's name. Routines are also in place for dynamically updating the information in the data vault, providing full, instantaneous asset management.

Phase 1 has also seen a streamlining of SM47's TMEC procedures for bid generation and the equipment calibration. These are now accessed daily by 40 users at RAF Wyton and, with details of more than 20,000 line items already in the database, demonstrable benefits are emerging. For example, information about any item of equipment is now quick and easy to locate, and is always accurate and up-to-date. The most usual way to perform a search is by entering the 13 digit NATO stock number.

In addition, TEMATS provides far more information on each item, including a description, technical details, calibration requirements, the supply manager, the supplier and three text fields. It is also possible to check changes, identifying any item that has been superseded with all the associated information, relationships to other items of equipment, and details such as when and why it was discontinued, and other equipment affected by this.

Currently details of new equipment can be input and scaled for easy access. Eventually, it will be possible to list every serial number of every similar item (all multimeters or oscilloscopes, for example), together with its location, how often it has been repaired, the cost of each repair and the cumulative cost. This will enable SM47 to monitor the performance of each item and identify persistent failures.

Suppliers' contracts

TEMATS will also provide SM47 with a far more efficient maintenance management system. Whilst the existing system produces a list of tasks to be done, TEMATS will go further by producing a weekly report of items needing calibration; it will also generate job cards and maintenance reports. This will save a considerable amount of time and ensure that maintenance is carried out on time and to plan.

Another area where TEMATS will reportedly improve business practice is in the management of suppliers' contracts. SM47 currently uses a large number of suppliers and operates many different contract types. For example, some suppliers are on fixed term contracts, while others are on supply only or on one year maintenance agreements. A different contract is prepared for each item of equipment. This involves a huge amount of paperwork.

Once TEMATS is fully operational, it is hoped there will only be one contract per supplier, covering all the equipment supplied and with the inclusion of provision to add new or replacement equipment as required.

The ease of locating equipment with TEMATS, and of identifying items that fulfill broadly similar purposes, will allow SM47 to rationalise its equipment and supplier lists. In the past, it sometimes took several days to locate an item and transfer it to a new site. This information will now be instantly available, so SM47 will be able to hold less equipment in stock. In addition, the increased visibility of data will make it possible to use the same item of test equipment for several different purposes, rather than rely on system manufacturers to supply dedicated test equipment for use with their core products.

Many of these benefits are already said to be coming on-stream with the implementation of phase 1. For the future, the development of TEMATS applications will continue, and the system will be extended for use over the RAF's intranet, giving access to more than 60 TMEC sites around the world.

Further details are available from Quillion Group Ltd. Tel: + 44 (0) 1223 716500; Fax: + 44 (0) 1223 716596; E-mail: jeremy.anderson@quillion.com; http://www.quillion.com