ARINC HAS LAUNCHED a system for the on-line distribution of maintenance documentation. The Skydoc service provides secure access, via the Internet, to ARINC's maintenance-information database, which is updated continuously with the latest manufacturers' bulletins and regulatory authorities' directives. Atrial of the system involving Airbus aircraft is under way at Lufthansa.
Annapolis, Maryland-based ARINC says that the system will cut the time required to search for maintenance documents and verify revisions. The system will also allow manufacturers to track the electronic retrieval and opening of service bulletins by operators.
The Skydoc service uses a closed-loop intranet system to restrict access to authorised users, ARINC says.
According to the airline-owned company, the US Air Transport Association has calculated that a typical carrier could achieve annual savings approaching $500,000 by transitioning to an end-to-end (manufacturer to mechanic) paperless environment.
ARINC selected Lockheed Martin's Automated Conversion System software to translate maintenance documents into an interactive electronic database, which is viewed using Techsight software developed by General Dynamics Defense Systems. The system allows diagrams to be viewed, manipulated and printed out.
Source: Flight International
