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MSR Avionics

 

BACKGROUND

 

This customer is a well-established electronics manufacturer within the aviation industry. Owing to the nature of the company's activities, business processes are strictly adhered to and recognised and understood by all staff. Product is manufactured following strict guidelines, full traceability is required and manufacture and purchase history is maintained for considerable time.

Up to 10 pieces of documentation are produced for each new piece of equipment and this had been carried out using templates in WordPerfect. Many items of data are common to several documents necessitating significant duplication with inevitable costs in time and increased potential for error. Historical records were kept on hand-written index cards, one or more per item of equipment; time consuming and bulky to store.

 

MY APPROACH

 

A series of meetings enabled me to understand the Company's systems and processes. Each document was reviewed in detail to understand the significance of each item recorded, as well as how the documents related to each other. These discussions also gave the customer an opportunity to look at and review its own requirements, for both the short and long-term - some information was irrelevant, whilst other additional information was now required.

 

REQUIREMENTS OF THE SYSTEM

 

From discussions, clear objectives were formulated:

  • Follow as closely as possible the current business processes

  • All paperwork produced by the system should look familiar to those using it, thereby minimising any disruptive aspects of the change

  • Remove the need for duplicate data entry, thereby saving time and minimising the potential for error

  • Make data entry as simple and efficient as possible, using multiple choice selections and pre-filled fields where appropriate

  • Detailed history to be readily available for parts produced in the company's lifetime, including the origin of all components

  • Produce all documents easily and quickly, using buttons located on appropriate forms

  • Simple checking of current job status, without the need for printing lengthy reports

  • Access to management reports to identify efficiency improvements within the business

     

    • IMPLEMENTATION

     

    Once confident I understood the business processes and aims of the project, I produced a first draft of the database, with the data structure and input forms in place. This was delivered for testing with live data. It is important to use real data as this helps to ensure there are no problems when something slightly unusual occurs.

    I then met with the customer to agree changes and enhancements not previously considered, and produced a second draft, this time including some of the paperwork outputs.

    This process of testing and modification continued until the customer was completely satisfied, in fact this process is still ongoing as new requirements become apparent.

     

    OVERVIEW

     

    The database has significantly improved clerical efficiency, reducing the paperwork processing time for each job by approximately 75%. By streamlining the amount and type of data entry, the production of paperwork can also be carried out quickly and efficiently by a greater number of individuals not particularly conversant with word processing techniques.

     

    FUTURE PROJECTS

     

    Following the enormous success of this project, the company has decided to streamline the purchasing, goods inwards and stock control side of the business using a second, linked database. For the first time, the company will be introducing barcode technology to its operations.

    A number of initial exploratory meetings have been held to determine the requirements of this new project, ensuring the existing purchase order process can be maintained whilst implementing new procedures to introduce the use of barcodes.

     

    REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROJECT

     

    The requirements outlined to date for Stage 2 software include:

  • All the efficiency and usability requirements as Stage 1

  • Uniquely identify all parts entering the factory using barcodes, whether these be individual mechanical or electronic components, sub-assemblies or free issue parts

  • Maintain accurate and up-to-date stock levels, including stock on order and re-order levels

  • Issuing of parts for jobs to be simplified

  • Improve traceability by making details available on screen rather than from paper records

  • Improve job costing by identifying price paid for each part, so changes in component costs can be accurately assigned to the correct job

  • Ultimately, to add timing information to job costing calculations using barcodes

    • This second project is at the initial test stage and further meetings with the client are scheduled to discuss enhancements prior to completing the database.

     

    CLIENT COMMENTS

    "The database has dramatically reduced the amount of data input required to maintain the administration processes surrounding the manufacture and despatch of our products. Sue Powell worked closely with both management and administration staff to fully understand the requirements of the overall system as well as the day-to-day use and operation of the system."

    "The system has proved extremely successful for MSR: it is straight-forward and simple to use, produces all documentation required with correct detail, and can be interrogated for relevant reports and analysis as required."

    "MSR have been so pleased with the work carried out to date, we have appointed Sue Powell to look at and implement a new order processing database for the company which will be linked to the administration system."

    Richard Shiers, Managing Director, MSR Avionics