Delta Air Lines has postponed one leg of a major supply chain
software roll-out involving applications from SAP and Xelus. But
said the project will be completed in December and followed by the
installation of two add-on applications.
The Atlanta-based airline's maintenance and repair unit initially
planned to go live with three of SAP's software modules in April as
part of an effort to reduce inventory costs and improve its
handling of spare parts.
Instead, Delta delayed the SAP deployment and went ahead with the
installation of a specialised spare-parts management application
from Xelus.
However, that required Delta to integrate the Xelus tool with the
mainframe-based homegrown materials management system that is
eventually, supposed to be replaced by SAP's software, said Walter
Taylor, managing director of maintenance, repair and overhaul
technology at Delta.
The Xelus application, which runs on an HP-UX server and an Oracle
database, manages Delta's most expensive aircraft components, such
as engines. Taylor said the business case for that part of the
project was compelling, although he did not disclose any details
about what Delta is spending or the return on investment it
expects.
In addition, Delta stated, "the value of getting users acclimated
to the system was well worth the expense" of developing an
interface between the Xelus software and the materials management
system.
Delta "called a time-out" on the SAP applications in order to hold
the line on IT spending, Taylor said. But the airline is not
backing away from the supply chain project and now plans by year's
end to flip the switch on SAP's warehouse and materials management
applications and its environmental health and safety module, he
added. Those applications and Xelus' software will also be
connected to Delta's SAP-based finance systems at that time.
Karen Peterson, an analyst at Gartner, said the Xelus software
promised the fastest ROI to Delta, an alluring prospect given the
downturn in the airline industry following the terrorist attacks in
the US.
Delta is also in the midst of two other parts of the project,
Taylor said. One involves replacing its homegrown configuration
management system, which keeps records of the most important parts
used in planes, with a packaged application that will store data
about every part and send alerts to repair workers when components
need to be replaced.
Delta is developing a prototype configuration management system
with Mxi Technologies but has yet to settle on a vendor for the
technology, Taylor said, adding that it is looking to roll out an
application as early as next year.
Delta is also working on a system that presents technical
documentation about parts in an electronic format that's accessible
over the Web, Taylor said. At present, Delta distributes CD-ROMs to
repair workers. That initiative should be finished within two
years.