Robotic Process Automation in the Aerospace Sector

Aerospace technology generates an endless stream of data. Indeed, only a single Boeing 737 flight between New York and Los Angeles produces 20 terabytes of data an hour. The sheer amount of data in aviation is growing exponentially in the demand to streamline collection and analysis and turn such information into actionable insights using RPA.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is one of the best solutions and it can deal with routine and rule-based tasks through intelligent bots. RPA assists aviation organizations to complete many daily tasks and checklists that demand consistency and maximum accuracy.

 

What is RPA in the aviation industry?

The aviation industry is moving more and more to automated and digitalized solutions to minimize manual and time-intensive activities in the process of processing its vast data streams. As a matter of fact, global RPA was 7.35 billion in Aerospace in 2021.

The current innovations in RPA technology have added new AI and machine learning features. The result of this integration is improved software bots with enhanced cognitive capabilities capable of making decisions that are more intelligent and thus of great assistance to the management and operations planning in the aerospace industry. The aviation industry can use RPA to embrace software bots to automate most of the critical business aspects, including airports administration, tickets reservation, quality assurance, customer service, aircraft navigation, air traffic control and others.

 

How can RPA help aerospace organizations?

The best advantages of RPA implementations in aerospace sectors are:

• Operation 24/7 in order to achieve maximum productivity and efficiency.
• Better minimization of errors.
• Better safety and regulatory compliance.
• Good quality management.
• Better customer service
• Continuous record updating
• Complete audit trail so as to simplify accounting problems.

What are examples of RPA uses in the aviation industry?

RPA can be used to enhance different aerospace operations in order to increase productivity and quality. The following are eight best uses of RPA in aviation businesses.

1. Administration: The aerospace field is full of administrative departments and processes that have varied requirements, such as maintenance, finance, cargo, testing, and airworthiness. Each business unit employs different software programs and produces paper work that is voluminous and has different compliance needs. As an example, most aviation documentation has to be held until the end of the aircraft service life, and should be easily accessible to the regulators, customers, and suppliers when they are needed, which include:
   • Maintenance records
   • Toolbox and control cards
   • Supplier invoices
   • Release notes
   • The work packs, such as airplane service records.
   • Travelers documents and Certificates of Conformity.

   These disparate systems can be integrated into a workforce of RPA bots, data in these systems can be migrated, and its structure can be arranged so that it can be accessed with ease and flexibility by the personnel who have access to it. It is also able to automatically arrange and refresh documents and reduce human error and keep information current, precise and always delivered to the right location.

2. E-Invoicing The distribution channels and revenue management of airlines is more complex since they are collaborating with hundreds of international travel agencies to sell airline tickets:
   • All over the world, airlines are given invoice lists in various formats that take a lot of time and energy to be processed manually and are highly prone to errors.
   • They are expected to monitor invoicing process with strict attention to prevent a deficit between the ticket fares and the amount received by the different agencies.

   Many invoicing tasks can be automated by RPA bots and they include:

   • Inventory, authorization and recording invoices.
   • Reformatting invoice data when they arrive in a non-structured or non-standard format.
   • Supplier statement reconciliation and accounts.
   • Checking and validating payments.
   • Credit checks

   This automation will decrease the work and improve accuracy to make sure that there is no revenue leakage.

3. Customer Relations Passengers complained about delayed flights and unsized seats, lost luggage and rude other passengers, U.S. airlines got 102,550 complaints in 2020 alone, a 568 percent increase over 2019. These complaints come in different format, length, and significance and it is cumbersome and time consuming to sort, classify and deal with these complaints. RPA bots may facilitate and enhance customer relations by:
   • Complaints, the creation of case tickets, and sorting them into the categories of the level of importance, those that require urgent response.
   • Knowing types of complaints and automatically forwarding them to appropriate department or employee to act on the complaint.

   A dramatic rise in customer satisfaction can be achieved in the aviation industry through a reduction in the amount of unresponded complaints that drop through the cracks where they are not attended to by overwhelmed employees.

4. Air Traffic Control Lack of good air traffic control (ATC) leads to delays in passengers and high operating costs. The Economist estimates ATC due to mismanagement has caused flight delays and cancellations costing the European economy nearly 21 billion in 2017 and ATC was the cause of approximately twice the number of delays compared to other causes. RPA may collaborate with machine learning technology to exchange the flight data of the airplanes in real-time. This capability automatically computes the most effective safe distance that aircraft must keep prior to landing, which accomplishes two important objectives:
   • Improves the number of landing aircraft without jeopardizing the safety.
   • Reduces the possibility of collision occurring as a result of unexpected conditions, like strong headwinds.
5. Travelers Communication In 2022 with 128,934 flight cancellations in the U.S. between January and July, this is higher than before the pandemic. Airline agencies and airports need to maintain this huge traffic and indicate to the travelers in a quicker fashion about the probable delays and cancellations. Moreover, on-the-fly updates usually emerge by the time travelers are boarding the plane that might influence their flight unless they are informed in time, e.g., a change in the gate or a change in the boarding schedule. RPA will be able to swap data among numerous applications automatically and keep the passengers informed about the latest news. Examples include:
   • Writing and posting push notices or email.
   • Giving background, e.g. a gate number was switched because a vacant jetway was not found in time.
6. Crew Scheduling The problem of effective crew scheduling in aviation is over half a century old. When allocating trips to employees, airlines have to contend with a long list of factors that include:
   • Employee contracts
   • Union stipulations
   • Safety regulations
   • Date and time of last flight
   • Availability
   • Experience

   The RPA software can be linked to the HR files and automatically extract the employees contract information, time schedules and other requirements. In doing so, airlines would be able to choose the most appropriate crew on any flight and circumvent the problem of scheduling remarkably easily without having to violate any safety or union policies.

7. Aircraft maintenance The aviation industry highly depends on aircraft maintenance. Checklists that require thorough filling every day are on top of the hands on workload that engineers need to undertake and most departments simply cannot cope with them. It is this backlog that leads to delays and efficiency in airlines. RPA bots can optimize such a process and support overwhelmed maintenance departments by:
   • Developing sophisticated computer programs that interlink airplanes and maintenance data and share among themselves real-time.
   • Creating the right checklists that would make the engineers aware of the problems requiring their attention.
   • Effective communication among the engineers so that all checks are completed on time by the relevant personnel and with the least use of time and resources.
   • Performing compliance and risk management supplier checks.
   • Monitoring aircraft parts inventory and placing the correct quantity order.
   • Automated notifications on where the shipments are prior to delivery.
8. Regulatory compliance One of the key requirements of the aviation industry is to abide by various authorities, including the Civil Aviation Authority or the European Aviation Safety Agency. It is a time consuming exercise, which leaves employees off other work. RPA provides high precision on processes execution and allows companies to quickly and effectively comply, including:
   • Screening of documents to ascertain that they are current and have all the necessary details.
   • Evidence of airlines performing the right risk identification, risk assessment and risk management processes.
   • Automation of HR functions and employee onboarding, e.g. right-to-work checks.
   • Placing orders on uniforms, PPE, and other, corresponding equipment.

 

The Bottom Line

The aerospace market is associated with data volumes that are so extensive that it would require human beings several lives to process manually. RPA works best in the aviation sector due to the consistency of the processes to be carried out and the lack of mistakes, 24/7 operation to meet the excessive demands. RPA is an indispensable instrument in the aerospace industry, whether it comes to maintenance and compliance, customers and crew scheduling; it has the capability of saving lives and making the activity significantly safer and more efficient.

Aviation enterprises have the opportunity to invest in innovation and development by making sure that employees have the ability to concentrate on priority activities. Today, contact with our automation experts to begin designing your automation vision.

Find out how qBotica can speed up AI-driven change and help your business get real results. Here, you can find out more about qBotica’s smart automation and digital transformation solutions.

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