Computerized Maintenance Management System

[mnttech]

Is any one using an off the shelf Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) program? The two I have used were both in house written, and I'm going to work for a new company that does not have one. Need to be able to do writeups and PM tasks.

[NFF PLS RTFM]

Have a look at SaSiMS - Aviation Maintenance and Operations Planning, Forecasting and Tracking Software (http://www.sasims.com)

[Rigga]

Better still - Google "Aircraft Maintenance Management Systems" - I did and I got about 60+ of all types sizes and, most importantly, cost!

SaSiMS is good but costly - It also has some good Bolt together bits for OPs and finance. Perfect if you're a wholly owned and self contained profitable operation.

But what you need depends on the size of your operation and more importantly, your budget.

Most systems are priced according to the amount of aircraft you use and the revenue you create. If you're commercial it wont come cheap unless you can use the cheapest of all - which is an excel spreadsheet!

After reviewing, sampling and even visiting companies with a variety of systems, my last company eventually settled with AeroTrac TracWare (or is it TracWare - AeroTrac?) It's not the best and certainly not the worst, but it fitted the budget and had the right capability that we were looking for.

I don't work for, or have any connection with, any of the above companies, nor do I even work with either of those systems anymore!

One myth to destroy is that there is NO EASY SYSTEM if you want it to do a good job!
The "easy" systems - generally don't work well. And you'd be surprised who purchased them without doing their homework first! I was really surprised.

Its all there if you look for it. - Good Luck with your hunt.

Rigga

[Dodo56]

As you say many people use in house systems. The advantage is they can be tailored to fit the operator's exact needs and interface with other areas such as materials and finance. The disadvantage is they don't provide a set of records that can be easily transferred with the aircraft when it changes hands, which of course hits the value of the aircraft.

In house systems include Excel spreadsheets and CAFAM. They are cheap but only as good as the logical expressions built into them, and then you need to maintain the cost of expert users in-house.

Third-party managed systems may cost you more but the manufacturer of the system can construct a programme for your aircraft, either customised or straight from the MPD. Many of them will also update the plan as MPD revisions or service bulletins are issued. The records stay with the aircraft and are transferrable, whch is an improvement to residual values. We use off the shelf externally managed systems and in general they are good and user-friendly, accessed through an internet portal. No problems with accuracy though each has its own quirks.

There are many systems out there. If you want feedback on specific ones name names and I'm sure someone will have some experience to share.

[Papa2Charlie]

Hey,

As many people have already mentioned, there are variety of systems out there and the one you pick depends on budget, requirements etc.

The best system I've come across is AMOS (www.swiss-as.com (http://www.swiss-as.com)). It's very user friendly and the latest version can be accessed remotely. That said I'm told it's quite expensive. I'm also told TRAX (www.trax.aero (http://www.trax.aero)) is quite big in the U.S. so that may be worth a look also.

Cheers,

P2C

[mnttech]

Thanks very much too all.

[Kiwiconehead]

We used TRAX at Qantaslink - wasn't too bad.

Stay away from Winair - sucks giant monkey balls