Oracle lines up airplane inventory tool
The forthcoming software is intended to reduce the aviation industry's spare-parts inventory costs by billions of dollars.
The Redwood Shores, Calif., company said it will announce the initial release of the product, called Oracle Complex Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), on Tuesday. The software is supposed to help aircraft manufacturers and airline operators manage the maintenance of planes more efficiently with applications for tracking and scheduling aircraft repairs.
The product marks Oracle's entry into a software market niche targeting the commercial and military aviation industry. Also competing in that market are SAP, MRO Software and Spirent Systems.
According to Oracle, commercial airlines keep $2.6 million worth of replacement parts on hand per plane and large operators, like United Airlines and American Airlines, are saddled with up to $1.6 billion in excess inventory. By centralizing inventory data and maintenance schedules typically stored among numerous computer systems, Oracle's program can reduce inventory by up to 30 percent, the company claims.
Oracle Complex MRO is a component of Oracle Supply Chain Management version 11.5.9, due for release in May. Oracle representatives did not disclose the price of the software.