Avtrac WA Pty Ltd is a Perth-based company which provides maintenance tracking systems for corporate jets and commercial aircraft.

To manage their in-house maintenance schedules, Paul Carey, manager of Avtrac WA, was able to develop his own system—Avtrac Pro—using an early version of FileMaker Pro. As he says:

“I joined Apple user groups but primarily was self-taught—a testimony to the ease of use of FileMaker.”

Paul has progressively upgraded Avtrac Pro over the years but it was the release of FileMaker Go 12 that provided the quantum leap. He continues the story:

“When FileMaker Go 12 was released, I downloaded it directly to my iPad. I then e-mailed Avtrac Pro to the iPad. I was able to open and use it immediately. I was amazed.”

Paul then offered Avtrac Pro as a trial to his major client. He had it up and running very quickly and was very impressed.

This breakthrough has also been taken up by Paul’s other clients who use Avtrac Pro to plan and schedule their daily maintenance. Paul has no doubt that the free version of FileMaker Go sealed the deal:

“The fact that we can give our clients FileMaker Go 12 for free, and get them started in minutes is impressive.”

A key position in an aircraft operator’s organisation is the Head of Aircraft Airworthiness and Maintenance Control (HAAMC). Their responsibility is to plan and schedule maintenance. Paul had found that HAAMCs wanted better tools to help them co-ordinate staff and manage schedules with a preference for tools they could use on-site.

With a current copy of the Avtrac Pro data on their iPad, HAAMCs can now do their maintenance tracking quickly and accurately in any location. Replacing the tedious paperwork of the previous static PDF file system, Avtrac Pro allows landings and maintenance cycles to be entered and automatically time-stamped. The sorted lists then adjust to the new data and update the schedules.

Maintenance staff using iPads in aircraft hangars can now interact in real time with the HAAMC, and with office staff using FileMaker Pro, to discuss maintenance schedules.

Spurred on by the new possibilities created by the FileMaker 12 platform Paul could see another exciting development on the horizon—a significant step towards the paperless office:

“Most of our business has migrated to digital, but the regulatory compliance side is still on paper—because of the certification process and signatures. With the signature capture ability of FileMaker Go, we can develop a template that can be e-mailed to the Maintenance Organisation who will perform all certifications and capture all maintenance actions on the iPad.”

The latest version of Avtrac Pro is an impressive example of how FileMaker 12 can bring greater functionality and mobility into existing FileMaker solutions that have been in use for many years.

Thank you to Paul Carey from Avtrac WA for sharing his story with us.