During HAI Heli-Expo 2017, Flightdocs launched its new product, HMX — an electronic platform that replaces paper for maintenance and inventory record keeping for aircraft. One year since its debut, the cloud-based management platform has been receiving overwhelming responses from aircraft operators, with a positive outlook for growth.
HMX allows fixed- or rotary-wing operators to streamline their operations in numerous areas relating to maintenance, purchasing, and stock levels with an easy-to-use interface that can be accessed through the web or the HMX mobile app.
“We’ve had a lot of feedback,” said Greg Heine, Flightdocs’ chief operating officer. “It’s been overwhelmingly positive. Since the debut last year, we’ve brought on several hundred helicopters — it’s been a hit.”
In the past, aircraft operators have used paper-based systems to track compliance, which Heine says comes with risks associated with errors, backups, and accessibility. HMX eliminates those risks. The application is a one-stop-shop that allows pilots and technicians to access and record everything they need at the touch of a screen.
The application creates greater efficiency, allowing users to build work orders electronically, assign tasks to technicians, receive and open tasks while working on an aircraft, pull up instructions on how to do a task, sign off electronically, update inventory with ease, and create log book entries. The electronic aspect of HMX also prompts users to fill out each field correctly, and ensures that nothing is missed.
HMX also features the Pilot Dashboard, which allows users to view the maintenance status of aircraft, report non-routine maintenance, type up discrepancies, or use the app to take pictures or videos of aircraft and send them in real time.
“It’s a really neat feature,” added Heine. “It has really helped in closing the gap in communication between the maintenance and operation side of the house.”
The HMX application was created in response to helicopter operators seeking efficient in-house alternatives to paper-based systems. “We’re always working with our operators, listening to their feedback, looking at both industry trends and technology trends, and putting together new products to release to market.”
At this year’s HAI Heli-Expo, Flightdocs will be unveiling a new portion of the HMX app that offers customized digital checklists – either aircraft related or related to the user’s overall operations.
“That’s something that a lot of operators have been looking for,” said Heine. “They’re still doing [check lists] on paper, and they’re looking for an alternate solution.”
Flightdocs expects this feature of the app to be extremely useful for operators looking for a solution to carry out procedures such as pre- and post-flight checklists.
Visit Flightdocs at Booth #C4024 at HAI Heli-Expo 2018.
