Hello Hiwot,

Yes it is possible to integrate these two systems. Depending on your expectation and needs, the Human Resources API can be used to load Maintenix with information in real time. The initial setup is done using UI workflows to assign your users to regular shifts, and the HR API’s Shift adjustment scenarios can be used in cases where someone is assigned temporarily to a different shift or a different work crew.

Hello Robert,

Thanks for your reply. I was wondering what the outcome will be like once the two systems are integrated. How will the Maintenance Production Planning team benefit from it in terms of managing crews? Are there MROs that have implemented this and who will be able to share their knowledge and experience?   

Hi Hiwot,

We have reached out to the customers who have implemented this feature and we have asked them to contribute to this conversation.

The main benefit is in PP&C and your execution of heavy maintenance. I see that you organization is an active adopter of PP&C. The skill histogram in PP&C uses the existing HR information (crew assignments, user shift patterns, primary skills, absences) to compare available people against the skill demands of the job cards.

As a planner, you will benefit by having the histogram broken down by primary skill to detect where the plan will have skill shortages over the life of a work package, and day-to-day as you see who is missing from today’s shifts. You will see issues before they occur. This could lead to decisions where you reschedule the work package execution plan, or you bring in skilled labor from a different part of the organization to address the shortfall by using temporary crew assignments. The HR API can be used to temporarily assign technicians to different crews. Assigning crews to checks and work areas is a responsibility of the planners through PP&C publishing.

As a crew lead, you use the published plan via the Assigned to My Crew page to distribute the work for the day. Using the Plan Shift page on the work package you can send scheduling and assignment information back up to the planners for review so that both teams have levels of autonomy and work together.

As a technician, being on a different crew will change the list of work in the My Tasks, Assigned To Your Crew, and Assigned Work List tabs so that you know what you are working on that day and have easy access to sign off the work with the effort that they put in that day.

Some customers are using the execution information and the HR API to run Timesheet features. This feature is used for payroll, but it can also be used to track the accuracy of the expected labor defined on the task definition. As the actual execution data is collected the Task Labour Summary feature helps the Engineering department adjust the scheduled hours in the baseline.

This cycle of information ultimately feeds back into PP&C in the form of adjusted templates, and helps planners find efficiencies in forecasting long-term hangar’s bay usage, turn around times, and aircraft availability.

The intent here is for each part of the process to share information with the next, and create a feedback loop where the business can continuously make improvements and refinements to its forecasting and execution.

Hi Robert,

Do you know any other way of Maintenance crew management other than the one we're discussing here, a separate software or system, may be? 

Hi Hiwot,

I am a software engineer with the company, so my realm of expertise is to know what Maintenix is doing, and how it should be changed to better meet the requirements of our customer. I have solicited feedback from the Solution Architect team as they have a better understand of the business and the product landscape. I hope to see them participate in this conversation.

There are a few known issues with the Maintenix HR API for crew management, these were discussed at the last ADUG (Airline and Defence User Group) meeting.