Case study: Tecnam France, a revolution in aircraft maintenance with Tracing Flight solutions

Background

Tecnam France, based at Bellegarde-Vouvray airfield (Ain, France), specialises in the exclusive sale of Tecnam light aircraft and microlights as well as in aircraft maintenance.

In 2016, Justin J., a pilot in his spare time, as he likes to point out, and an experienced maintenance manager, took over Tecnam's maintenance workshop to manage a permanent and diverse fleet of 15 aircraft, plus visiting aircraft and microlights.

With a staff of 2 mechanics, two administrative employees and an apprentice, the workshop obtained its Part-CAO approval in August 2022, marking a new stage in its development.

Challenges

Before integrating the Tracing Flight solutions, the workshop faced major challenges:

• Manual stock management in Excel, a source of many errors and lost time. Justin describes the previous solution as "outdated", leading to significant gaps between theoretical and actual stock.
• Time-consuming processes, particularly in managing Kardex records and reports, which increased the administrative burden while customer demand was growing.
• Difficulty tracking and optimising administrative tasks, especially the traceability of parts and certificates of conformity.

The Tracing Flight solution

After comparing various software options, Tecnam France chose in January 2018 TracingLine, TracingGest and TracingNav to modernise its processes – a complete and modular solution for workshop management.

These tools were integrated progressively to cover stock management, Kardex records and aircraft maintenance. "The system was not closed, it could evolve. We appreciated this flexibility, and the regular updates allowed the solution to be adapted to our needs."

Benefits and concrete results

The introduction of Tracing Flight transformed the management of the workshop and brought significant results:

• Improved stock management:

Stock management was a revolution for Tecnam. "Before, it took a week to reconcile stock. Today, two days are enough and the stock is accurate," Justin points out. This optimisation allowed the team to focus on higher-value tasks.

• Stronger traceability and reporting:

"We can find the history of a part in a few seconds." Thanks to this complete traceability, audits are simpler and faster. The software makes it possible to track work sheets and repair orders efficiently, making team coordination easier.

• Time savings in maintenance and administration:

The team managed to divide by three the time spent on administrative tasks per aircraft, freeing up more time for maintenance. "Paper printing has also dropped by 50% to 75%, and we aim to reduce it by 90% thanks to digital job cards."

• Flexibility and operational agility:

Even if a few adjustments were needed at the start, Justin insists on the flexibility of the Tracing Flight solutions. "It was great, because the system really adapts."

Conclusion

Thanks to the Tracing Flight solutions, Tecnam France has not only modernised the management of its workshop, but has also optimised its processes and improved traceability – described by Justin as "exceptional" – allowing the team to focus on its core business. The flexibility and scalability of the solution were decisive in adapting to Tecnam's specific needs.

The last word

"Software solutions I appreciate and recommend. They allowed us to divide our administrative time by three and improve our interventions. Our customers feel it, and they come back happy!"