In Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO), every second counts when ensuring that aircraft are safe, operational, and returned to service as quickly as possible. Amidst increasing pressure to streamline operations, reduce turnaround times, and cut costs, the tools you choose can make all the difference.
This is where the Job Scheduler within OASES, our airline MRO software, comes into play. It’s designed to give you more control over planning and reduce manual tasks by automating repetitive actions. As such, it enables MRO teams to operate more efficiently and with fewer errors.
In this article, we’ll explore how this feature can improve your workflows, ultimately helping to reduce aircraft downtime.
Planning Challenges in Aircraft Maintenance Operations
Maintenance planning comes with several challenges, such as the need to assign technicians, equipment and facilities across the fleet. In addition, coordinating maintenance schedules with flight operations requires precise planning and the ability to adapt based on unexpected situations that can disrupt planned schedules.
The Value of Automation in Aircraft Maintenance Software
Automation has transformed numerous sectors, including the aviation industry, and helps tackle the challenges mentioned above.
Manual data entry, report generation, and job tracking can be cumbersome, especially in complex environments where accuracy is vital. These tasks slow down operations and increase the risk of human error, leading to delays or costly mistakes.
Thanks to automation, aircraft operators can focus on higher-priority responsibilities, reduce bottlenecks, accelerate job completion times, and better allocate resources, leading to improved productivity.
What’s more, automation in MRO operations ensures data consistency, better compliance with regulatory requirements, and overall smoother coordination between departments.
Increase Efficiency with the Job Scheduler
So, what exactly does the Job Scheduler do? It’s divided into several key components, each designed to improve operational efficiency and reduce manual effort.
Display Job Queue
The Display Job Queue feature provides a comprehensive view of all the tasks that have been scheduled for automation, giving you visibility over what’s happening now and what’s coming up. At a glance, you can see which tasks are completed, pending, or in progress, ensuring that no step is overlooked.
This display acts as a central hub where your team can monitor scheduled jobs, enabling better planning and resource allocation. You no longer need to worry about losing track of tasks that need to be executed daily or weekly – everything is listed and accounted for.
Print Job Queue
Manually selecting documents to print can be inefficient. Thankfully, the Print Job Queue automates the printing of critical documents so that you always have physical copies when required.
Edit Job
The Edit Job component allows you to modify scheduled tasks as needed. Sometimes, maintenance priorities change, and you may need to adjust the schedule to accommodate urgent repairs or changing customer requirements.
The Edit Job feature offers flexibility by enabling users to alter job parameters, reschedule tasks, or change job settings without needing to delete and recreate entire jobs.
Delete Completed Jobs
Completed tasks can clutter your job queue, making it harder to monitor active jobs or schedule new ones. The Delete Completed Jobs feature allows you to easily clean up your job queue by removing tasks that have been executed successfully. As a result, your team can focus on current priorities without being bogged down by outdated information.
Run Jobs
At the core of the Job Scheduler is the Run Jobs function, which is responsible for executing the tasks you’ve scheduled. Once a task is scheduled, the system automatically runs it at the specified time, without the need for manual initiation.
Reporting and Exporting
The Job Scheduler automates reporting and data exporting functionality. You can set up the automated export of specific datasets, as well as schedule reports to be generated at pre-defined intervals, ensuring timely access to critical information.
Benefits of Using the Job Scheduler Within OASES MRO Software
To summarise, the job scheduler is helpful in the following ways:
- Streamlined workflows: Through automating tasks like printing and reporting, workflows are more efficient.
- Real-time visibility: The Display Job Queue provides instant insights into the status of all maintenance tasks, enabling proactive management.
- Flexible planning: The Edit Job feature allows for quick adjustments, accommodating unexpected changes or priorities.
- Enhanced compliance: Automated scheduling of compliance-related tasks ensures that regulatory requirements are consistently met.
- A better user experience: The function for deleting completed jobs removes clutter and distractions.
- Reduced delays and human error: Automation ensures tasks are completed on time and minimises the risk of mistakes due to oversight.
- Increased aircraft availability: All of the above contributes to better maintenance schedule adherence and reduced turnaround times.
What Else Can You Automate with OASES?
Our entire solution is aimed at streamlining workflows and automating repetitive tasks, but here are a few highlights:
- Work order generation: The Planning module automatically generates work package documentation and material pre-loads. In addition, airworthiness directives and service bulletins are tracked, with related actions automatically included in a work order along with all other essential documentation.
- Stock reservation: The Line Maintenance module is integrated with the Material Management module. This makes it possible to automatically reserve stock or forward a picking notification to stores if items are required urgently.
- Other stock management features: Automatic shortage management and the option to automatically log parts in and out are a few more ways to optimise inventory processes.
- Automatic reporting: Reporting can be automated across the board, not just in the Job Scheduler. This ensures you always have a robust audit trail of all your activities.
- Integration with KeepFlying: We recently announced our partnership with AI and aviation solutions provider, KeepFlying. This will give our customers more advanced functionality regarding CAMO and tech records, bid-to-cash MRO workflows, engine asset management, and inventory and supply chain optimisation.
- OASES Workflow and Gateway: Release 11 introduced these additional integration capabilities, helping our customers connect different aviation systems more smoothly than ever.
Conclusion
In aviation maintenance, every second counts, and the Job Scheduler is a tool that can save you valuable time and effort. It gives you more control over managing tasks, tidies up your workflows, and automates the process of printing results, running reports, and exporting data.
To learn more about how OASES can streamline your workflows – or to request a demo – contact us today.