In early April, our team enjoyed a wonderful experience at the largest aviation conference of the year: Aviation Week's MRO Americas. We were also invited to showcase during their first-ever Integrations Summit. Here's a recap of our experience on the floor.
Outdated Systems
There is a consistent trend amongst most of the aviation companies: paper-based processes. Parts and product data, safety certificates, and other compliance standards are tracked via paper physical copies in a secure location and then scanned to other locations as needed. This can make it difficult to manage regulatory red tape, such as the FAA 8130 form for aftermarket parts. For some of the bigger carriers, these burdens make keeping up with maintenance and repair operations for their commercial planes a major hassle.
Although various employees lamented about their use of spreadsheets for data storage, many did not know what kind of solutions would work for them, but they were ready to find out. After years of keeping things in the status quo, this industry is ready for a change.
Driving Innovation
The show floor was full of intentional stakeholders looking for opportunities to grow their business, increase efficiency, and expand market opportunities. To accommodate this growth, leaders in the aviation industry are actively hunting for software solutions to data governance issues that are inhibiting the industry's growth.
This industry-wide need is what led to this year's Integration Summit. Many companies are facing a need to drive innovation in a way that builds trust, supports standardization, and allows teams to collaborate more effectively.
"Necessity is the mother of invention." - Plato
Tariff Troubles
As the uncertainty of tariffs and how they will affect aviation supply chains grows, MRO leaders are left wondering what changes need to be made to avoid a financial burden. Without a PIM system like Convergence, which interacts with PLM and ERP systems and is tailored to for easy ingestion and analytics of supplier data, many teams will have to face the challenge of dealing with outdated spreadsheets and paper trails to see where expenses inflate and where costs can be cut.
The Need for Digital Transformation
Account Executive Matt Johnson noted, "If the industry wants to move forward, it has to be louder about outdated policies and more open to change. The message wasn’t about replacing people with tech—it’s about using tech to empower them and making sure digital tools fit within a compliant, forward-looking approach.”
Change is necessary for the aviation industry to keep up with the state of technology. By investing in digital transformation, beginning with digital storage of their parts data in a centralized catalog, modern aviation companies can set themselves apart from those who are falling behind in the digital age. Our team at Convergence Data is ready to lead your digital transformation and reduce costs while increasing efficiency across your MRO, engineering, and purchasing departments.
Contact us today to get started with a free discovery call to see how we can help guide your team to new heights.