In the May issue of Air Transport Word, the article titled "Balancing Act" by Jerome Greer Chandler addressed the issue of using the computing power of hand held devices to refine weight and balance and performance processes and delegate them to the user level. This is another example of industries search for efficiencies by decentralizing processes and removing costly infrastructure.
The article referenced "speed and accuracy" as being key in calculating weight and balance. Correctly, the technology and capabilities that have been integrated into the smaller hand held devices have opened new opportunities. Processing speed, information storage, Wi-Fi & telephony connectivity have brought these units to life for use as decision support tools. In addition to this, and not noted in the article, applications not mentioned that are available on these devices are airport and runway calculations, reduced thrust take-off calculation, optimal cruise thrust settings, training applications and technical publications. Applications of this nature require large amounts of computing and storage capability that are easily supported.
The article doesn’t fully address shared systems, but airlines should consider centralized administration and sharing operations data across their enterprise. Centralization allows processes that were previously placed on large centralized computers to be decentralized and performed on location in real-time. High costs and delays are eliminated when complex architectures pull the data into a central system for processing and distribution. To achieve maximum benefits from digitization initiatives, the system should be designed around a services oriented architecture that supports added functionality and scalability. This architecture should also support the horizontal integration of operations data to other operations within the company and enterprise systems.
Added efficiencies can be achieved with better planning and execution tools. Operational decisions can be pushed down to the point of execution eliminating delay and increasing on-time performance. Load planning can be used to optimize aircraft performance and fuel burn. Aircraft performance can be enhanced to achieve higher payloads. Integrated weight and balance with aircraft performance facilitates greater reductions in reduced thrust takeoffs.
Although, precision and predictability are enhanced with the addition of these tools, the risk of discovering the unknown is what keeps airlines searching for better "speed and accuracy".
