British Airways  (BA) has completed a six-year project to move its entire fleet of aircraft to an integrated maintenance system and replace more than 150 legacy systems.

The Engineering Wide System (EWS) is the largest system implementation ever undertaken by BA Engineering.

Benefits include improved accuracy in tracking and managing components and maintenance requirements, quicker processes for ordering parts, enhanced overtime control and financial benefits from streamlining the system.

Using SAP software BA replaced legacy systems, many of which had become obsolete, and changed every process the department uses.

BA project general manager James Priestly says it was the largest implementation of SAP in Europe and the world’s biggest aircraft maintenance SAP implementation.

‘The project has resulted in clear benefits to our business and all indications are that the system is capable of providing more in the future than originally envisaged,’ he said.

The system is now used to control every aspect of aircraft maintenance in 26 hangars and at 142 airports worldwide. EWS also controls engineering’s staffing needs, spares supply, airworthiness data, finance and component workshops.

BA chief information officer Paul Coby says more than 6,000 staff have been involved in the project and 23,000 man-days of classroom training required, with on-the-job training supported by 1,000 system advisers and 200 process transaction manuals.

‘Transforming the engineering business has been a major undertaking,’ he said. ‘Together the engineering and IM departments have delivered a fully integrated system, which is now yielding substantial benefits and more efficient and effective business processes through simplification.’

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