Air Works wins honours for process innovation at Mint TechCircle Awards

• Automating manual processes using RFID-technology, on an IoT-powered, cloud platform delivers significant cost savings and efficiencies in terms of resources & time

New Delhi. 29 June 2021. Air Works , Indian MRO and aviation services major, was among select firms who were honored as winners of the coveted ‘Mint | TechCircle Business Transformation Awards 2021′. Air Works was declared a winner for Process Innovation in the ‘Competitive Edge category’.

In this case, despite the pandemic, Air Works successfully leveraged RFID technology to implement an Intelligent Asset Tracking & Management [IATM] system using a cloud based, IoT (Internet of things) platform at its maintenance facilities. The new, completely automated system can manage issue-return records and reconciliations for over 1500 specialized and 5000 odd general tools including pinpointing their location in the facility at any given time.

Receiving the award, an elated D Anand Bhaskar, MD & CEO of Air Works remarked, “We are truly honored to receive this recognition. Winning the prestigious ‘Mint|TECHCiRCLE Business Transformation Awards 2021′ is an acknowledgement of Air Works’ relentless endeavor to adopt transformative technologies for operational and service excellence. While we have been innovating over the years to realize significant process improvements, cost savings, and reduction in turnaround time, the recognition highlights our organization’s character which today blends decades of expertise in aviation engineering & maintenance, with the agility and proactiveness of a technology-oriented, solutions company.”

Digitalization of the Stores function has enabled Air Works to realize significant savings in time, cost, and resource utilization, helping it become competitive. Integrating the deployment with enterprise-wide IT framework has also improved the speed and quality of inventory audits through reduced errors, enhancing the inventory management process.

Commenting on the award, Ramkumar Mohan, Chief Information Officer of Air Works said, “Adoption of the cloud-based IoT platform has put Air Works in a good stead in the process automation segment. RFID solutions have enabled workflow automation, making our inventory management process seamless. The transformation has already delivered an astounding 50 per cent reduction in time for issuing, recording and auditing process, bringing significant savings. Together with the IoT platform and the more recent 3D printing initiative, Air Works now leads the MRO industry with a host of digital transformation initiatives.”

The Mint | TechCircle Business Transformation Awards 2021 saw hundreds of submissions which were evaluated by a grand jury that comprised eminent personalities such as Debjani Ghosh, NASSCOM; Harsh Goenka, RPG Enterprises; Janmejaya Sinha, Boston Consulting Group; Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Biocon; Zarin Daruwala, Standard Chartered Bank; Dr. Praveer Sinha, Tata Power and Puneet Chandok, Amazon Web Services, who evaluated the submissions on several parameters, including the complexity of the transformation, delivery of the actual business outcome as well as the state of the company and its industry, acknowledging that achieving business transformation in legacy industries/ companies is a far tougher task than that in new generation ones.

Air Works is not only India’s largest provider of Line Maintenance services to global airlines but is certified to maintain more than 50 types of aircraft, making it also the most diversified MRO in the country with a pan-India presence in 27 locations with close to 1500 employees. It also provides commercial aircraft asset management services, avionics, interiors and cabin solutions, 3D-printing and aircraft finishing services apart from MRO related offerings. Its customers include both civil (fixed wing + rotary wing) and military customers apart from global OEMs, commercial airlines, business aviation companies, and leading global lessors.

Reputed for its excellent workmanship and attention to detail, Air Works is highly trusted by the aviation industry for its reliability and has executed and delivered several industry and country-first projects in the field of aviation maintenance including structural works, avionics as well as design. The Company with over 7 decades of legacy in the aviation sector has always stayed ahead of the curve by adopting cutting edge technology solutions that can effectively serve its clients.

The award underscores the 71-year-old company’s continuing commitment to transform its business for achieving competitive advantage in the rapidly growing MRO sector, by embracing and deploying the latest technologies.