British Airways Takes Off In New Document Scanning Relationship With BancTec
BancTec, Inc., a global provider of advanced, high-volume, document and payment processing solutions and services, announced recently that British Airways (BA) has selected it for a major engineering record management effort, expected to last initially for three years. In total, BancTec's business process outsourcing (BPO) division will scan approximately 65 million engineering records for BA, providing the airline with significant added business value and cost savings.
"This is crucial to the ongoing success of our business, as it allows us to manage our data much more efficiently," said Adrian Hassell, Aircraft Documentation Manager, British Airways. "Because of the scale and scope of its existing BPO operations in the UK, BancTec was the ideal choice for this venture. We look forward to forming a successful partnership with them."
"British Airways is one of the most prestigious airlines in the world, and we are honored to be their selection for this critical project," said Steve Downey, General Manager, BancTec Ltd. "We look forward to working with BA over the next few years and delivering the value and cost savings for which our enterprise-class BPO capabilities are recognized."
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations require all airlines to preserve their engineering records for at least 24 months after the aircraft or component is permanently withdrawn from service. At British Airways (with a fleet of 250 aircraft in service and on order) the majority of this documentation is in hard copy, which creates a significant bank of records to manage over the life cycle of each aircraft.
The new solution enables engineers to perform ‘free text' searches, improving both the research facility and the ability to recover records when transferring aircraft or components to future operators. The introduction of this service will also enable BA to move to a fully electronic record database, meeting the requirements of BS 10008.
In addition to solving these issues, BancTec's solution for BA will also help the company reduce hard copy paper storage costs and consolidate supplier contracts. To gain maximum efficiency, the BancTec offering will be built around existing systems and infrastructure within its Heathrow BPO operation—thus conforming to EASA and Eu.Ops regulations within the airline industry.
Specifically, BancTec's enterprise-class scanning solutions will be utilized to image the high-value documents within customer-specified timeframes, with other technology being employed to enable free text searching of scanned documents. This search capability is essential for locating documents related to spare parts.
BancTec will also deploy a secure, three-tier storage archive, which will help reduce business risk from lost data and ensure better compliance with industry regulations.
About British Airways Engineering
British Airways Engineering has a global reputation for engineering excellence and its technical and logistics expertise supports airline operations on every continent, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Engineering's core capabilities are centred on Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft, plus the Airbus A320 family aircraft.
BA Engineering provides full support for British Airways fleet and a number of other airlines, with around 4,750 staff at more than 100 locations around the world.
Fully equipped hangar facilities at the main maintenance bases at Heathrow, Gatwick and Glasgow airports are supported by workshops, technical and design services, and a comprehensive logistics network. The company has also invested in three world class operations based in South Wales that are dedicated to delivering heavy maintenance, avionics and interiors.
The extensive maintenance network extends overseas with 'line maintenance' stations established at airports around the globe. Again, these support British Airways and its subsidiaries together with a number of customer airlines.
About BancTec:
BancTec helps clients around the world simplify the process of managing their information. Founded in 1972, the company provides a wide range of solutions for automating complex, high-volume and data-intensive business processes for clients in the financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, government, services and utilities industries. BancTec's offerings include business solutions, business process outsourcing, and infrastructure services. With headquarters in Dallas, BancTec serves clients in 50 countries. For more information, visit www.banctec.co.uk.
SOURCE: BancTec, Inc.