{"id":154271,"date":"2018-08-30T12:32:38","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T11:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/?p=154271"},"modified":"2020-12-23T16:06:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T15:06:38","slug":"fa2-air-france-and-klm-subsidiary-epcor-predicts-future-failures-with-data-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/transform-en\/manufacturing-en\/fa2-air-france-and-klm-subsidiary-epcor-predicts-future-failures-with-data-and-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Air France and KLM subsidiary EPCOR predicts future failures with data and AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"intro\">EPCOR provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services, including state-of-the-art test facilities for aircraft pneumatic components and Auxiliary Power Units (APU). The APU is responsible for starting the main engines and provide power to essential aircraft functions. By harnessing cloud-based APU data using innovative analysis and machine learning, EPCOR is helping airlines meet their cost, safety and reliability goals; and we, as travellers, avoid the dreaded \u201cdelayed\u201d signs at the airport.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the Air France Industries KLM Engineering &amp; Maintenance Group,\u00a0EPCOR introduced APU repair to its pneumatic components repertoire\u00a0in 2006, harnessing its airline knowledge to provide maintenance and\u00a0availability solutions based on a spirit of continuous improvement. It was\u00a0in this evolutionary vein that, a year and a half ago, the decision was made\u00a0to modernise its IT estate, which was beginning to show its age\u00a0as the business grew from around 30 staff 10 years ago to the almost\u00a0200 of today. Using a legacy ERP solution specifically tailored for the MRO\u00a0market, EPCOR found its usage of the ERP solution and therefore data\u00a0was inconsistent, forcing the company to rely on time-consuming\u00a0processes involving Excel spreadsheets and various forms of tooling\u00a0to extract data of the requisite quality. \u201cThe challenge was to put in\u00a0a modern and secure IT environment, with an application layer on top\u00a0of it, that was not only suitable to support and digitise our business\u00a0processes, but also to future-proof and enable innovation,\u201d says EPCOR\u2019s\u00a0IT Manager, Jan-Willem Bult.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Discover how EPCOR is using technology to make aviation safer.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/H4CXpnpqZ_0?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:%2F%2Fpulse.microsoft.com\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Plotting a course<\/h2>\n<p>With a focus on efficiency, improving its service and differentiating EPCOR\u00a0from its competitors in the MRO\u00a0(Maintenance Repair Overhaul) market,\u00a0a roadmap was defined.<\/p>\n<p>EPCOR initially improved the basic IT Infrastructure before data became\u00a0the primary concern, with Dynamics 365 Finance &amp; Operations deployed,\u00a0along with a data warehouse and\u00a0Microsoft Power BI as a replacement\u00a0for SAP Business Objects. Finally,\u00a0having developed its proprietary tool for collecting and monitoring data from aircraft APUs into a more modern tool, called Prognos for APU, EPCOR\u00a0transitioned its data and workflows\u00a0to Microsoft Azure. This enabled the\u00a0business to achieve better visualisation\u00a0and management, extracting value\u00a0from previously dormant information\u00a0and creating the basis for more\u00a0advanced data science and analytics.<\/p>\n<h2>Focusing on the future<\/h2>\n<p>EPCOR is now able to take a more proactive approach to maintenance,\u00a0whether it\u2019s tracking traditional engine\u00a0wear and tear, or highlighting less\u00a0obvious faults such as Foreign\u00a0Obstacle Damage (FOD), where birds\u00a0and other objects enter and degrade\u00a0an APU over time. &#8220;The aircraft might not show\u00a0anything is wrong with\u00a0the engine,\u201d says Niels van\u00a0Hofwegen, EPCOR\u2019s Program\u00a0Manager for Prognos for APU.\u00a0\u201cThe engine can still be running, but\u00a0we can see that it is having trouble\u00a0achieving the performance it should.\u00a0This means that wear and tear is\u00a0increasing, which leads to greater\u00a0repair costs if you don\u2019t act quickly.\u201d\u00a0To combat these challenges,\u00a0Niels worked with data scientists\u00a0on projects to develop new\u00a0algorithms with predictive features\u00a0using EPCOR\u2019s cloud-based data,\u00a0and is already seeing its value.\u00a0\u201cLooking forward, with the knowledge\u00a0we have right now, we will be able to\u00a0prevent significant damage to APUs\u00a0as well as the costs involved,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<h2>Customer-centric service<\/h2>\n<p>Working in collaboration with airlines in order to receive feedback and\u00a0input on its new operating model, EPCOR is targeting an industry-leading\u00a0role when it comes to innovation.\u00a0\u201cWe have APU engineers and all the technical knowledge about the\u00a0engines. The one thing we didn\u2019t have was the IT technology.\u201d says Niels.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s why we hired experts, and now it\u2019s all coming together.\u201d<br \/>\nBy understanding the kind of damage an APU has or where it has flown,\u00a0and combining that information with historical data or data from other\u00a0airlines using similar APUs, EPCOR can access, analyse and secure a wealth\u00a0of information from different sources with Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft\u00a0365 and Power BI. As EPCOR performs more maintenance, so its data set\u00a0grows exponentially both in size and value.\u00a0Predictability from its new cloud-based system provides an added\u00a0value to EPCOR, allowing the business to better predict and anticipate\u00a0the number of shop visits it will have, and forecast profitability based\u00a0on analysing predictive patterns. Jan-Willem sees Microsoft technology\u00a0not only delivering opportunities for innovation and, as a result,\u00a0differentiation, but also the ability to provide new assurances to\u00a0customers and performance of an APU.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We can predict the\u00a0performance of an\u00a0APU. We can therefore\u00a0optimise stock and\u00a0turnaround time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Key requirements<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Infrastructure to move\u00a0away from on-premise\u00a0while providing a strong\u00a0foundation for the future.<\/li>\n<li>A modern hardware\u00a0environment to standardise\u00a0the workplace, boosting\u00a0productivity and flexibility.<\/li>\n<li>A predictive approach to\u00a0harnessing data through AI\u00a0and machine learning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Onwards and upwards<\/h2>\n<p>As a modern, forward-thinking, cloud-based innovator, EPCOR has\u00a0come a long way from the spreadsheets and manual processes of\u00a0its past. Its technology investment has already brought about additional\u00a0benefits and opportunities across the business, with its approach to\u00a0\u2014for example\u2014machine learning and AI set to unlock further success.\u00a0EPCOR\u2019s achievements to date have also driven remarkable growth\u00a0which, as a result, will see the company moving to a larger location in\u00a0the coming years, to cater for the increasing number of APUs it handles.\u00a0With a goal to increase its workload during this time without significantly\u00a0increasing headcount, improving efficiency and productivity will be\u00a0crucial\u2014not least when it comes to the move itself. Fortunately, EPCOR\u2019s\u00a0modernised estate makes improving efficiency and transferring its systems\u00a0a far simpler task. \u201cTraditionally, it\u2019s an enormous project to move and\u00a0transfer all the IT infrastructure.\u201d Says Jan-Willem. \u201cWe are very happy\u00a0that now we are in the cloud and can simply plug and play using Wi-Fi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With more EPCOR-enabled aircraft in the air, over 100 airlines and their\u00a0passengers worldwide will surely be kept happy, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EPCOR provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services, including state-of-the-art test facilities for aircraft pneumatic components and Auxiliary Power Units (APU). The APU is responsible for starting the main engines and provide power to essential aircraft functions. By harnessing cloud-based APU data using innovative analysis and machine learning, EPCOR is helping airlines meet their cost, safety [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":523,"featured_media":154272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1804],"class_list":["post-154271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-stories-en","specials-transform-en","verticalIndustries-manufacturing-en","stories-data-insights-intelligence","stories-how-can-i-get-insights-from-my-data","businessPriorities-applications-infrastructure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/523"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154271"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239045,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154271\/revisions\/239045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}