6th February 2008

Development of new Fleet Planning Tool

Critical Software’s software engineering team has been closely involved in the development of an all-new Fleet Planning Tool for AgustaWestland, one of the world’s leading helicopter manufacturers. Initially destined for use with the UK’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Merlin helicopters, the new Fleet Planning application can be used by any operator for any type of aircraft or vehicle, and is set to become the industry standard for global fleet aircraft planning.

According to Mike May, Head of AgustaWestland’s Logistic Support Systems: “Critical Software’s dedicated team has been a key resource in the design, development and testing phases of the project, resulting in a product that has met or exceeded all of AgustaWestland’s expectations”.

The Fleet Planning Tool uses a combination of data sources to produce an up-to-the-minute picture of fleet availability and disposition. Data can be imported from external systems (such as flying hours per airframe, modification state, role-fit, maintenance due) and then overlaid by additional input from the operator on the front line (e.g. mission parameters, crew availability) to give the fleet managers a dynamic decision-support capability to provide the maximum level of asset utilization.
The application features a predictive capability, based on interactive planning and historical information controlled by business rules. It also provides a “what-if” simulation facility, allowing users to run different scenarios driven by selectable operational and maintenance parameters. To make this possible, the software integrates seamlessly with the user’s existing logistic systems through an intuitive and powerful user interface, enabling multi-level tailorable access to networked and centralised data sources to support queries.

By accessing the comprehensive built-in reporting suite, supplemented by self-generated customised reports to meet special needs, operators will have instant access to their overall fleet availability picture. They can then use this information to greatly reduce operating costs by making the optimum use of each aircraft by exploiting the full capacity of maintenance facilities, thereby minimising aircraft out-of-service time.