69 Million Records. 62 Legacy Systems. One Go-Live Strategy That Worked.

Enterprise MRO Transformation IFS Aviation Maintenance A global integrated logistics and air cargo carrier

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Global Airline Case Study

All workstreams Tsunami managed

Data Migration & Validation

01Legacy Systems
02↻ETL & Tsunami Data SMEs
03Customer Audits
04↻Data Validation & Approval
05Import into IFS

~300 Tails

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Program Management & IPTs

12Integrated project teams

Ongoing Customer Support

  • 24x7x365 Support
  • Post Go Live Audits & Support

OCONUS Customer Support

  • Site Survey
  • Training
  • Custom Reports
  • Hardware Installation

The Situation

A global integrated logistics and air cargo carrier operates approximately 300 aircraft across six fleet types and 13 sub-configurations. Its maintenance and configuration data ran on 62 legacy source systems distributed across multiple internal organizations. Data was fragmented, duplicative, and in places conflicting. Configuration tracking relied on aging internally developed applications built on outdated code.

Prior modernization attempts hadn't produced a sustainable path to go-live. Meanwhile, regulatory expectations around configuration tracking and auditability kept rising. The business need was clear: consolidate into a single source of truth, establish real-time visibility into airworthiness, and do it without disrupting a global cargo operation that doesn't stop.

The scale made this different from most airline ERP programs. Approximately 69 million records across 500 data tables needed to be migrated and validated. That is where programs diverge between the quoted plan and the real execution.

The Approach

The carrier selected IFS Aviation Maintenance to modernize MRO operations. Tsunami was chosen as a critical delivery partner following a weighted evaluation across IT, reporting, program management, engineering, QA, and training.

Tsunami embedded aviation and MRO subject matter experts directly into the migration and readiness workstreams. Not project managers overseeing from a distance. People who understood the data, the configuration semantics, and the operational consequences of getting it wrong.

The team applied WAVES, Tsunami's data management methodology, to industrialize migration across fleets. Reusable mappings, validation routines, and packaged migration events reduced iteration churn with each successive go-live. The final fleet validated and migrated after only six test loads.

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WAVES — Tsunami's five-stage data management methodology. See how WAVES works

Cutover ran as four phased go-live events grouped by aircraft type. Each was rehearsed to build confidence and improve predictability for the next.

Separately, Tsunami digitized approximately 14,000 task cards, converting them from XML into the IFS electronic task card system. That eliminated roughly 1,000 PDF attachments carried alongside OEM task steps, cutting operational clutter and standardizing maintenance documentation across the fleet.

Training reached several thousand individuals and exceeded 100,000 hours globally.

The Results

Example of applying WAVES + SME Fusion for Customer Data Migrations

Manpower

Fleet 1

Go-Live

Fleet 2

Go-Live

Fleet 3

Fleet 2
~ 30% reduction in manpower requirements and reduced completion timeframe
Fleet 3
Anticipated further reductions in manpower requirements and reduced completion timeframe
  1. 1Configuration Data
  2. 2Incompatibilities and Reference Tables
  3. 3Maintenance Data
  4. 4Actuals and IETM Data
  5. 5Task Incompatibles and Flight Data
  6. 6External Data Store Mapping
  7. 7Enhanced Script Re-use
  8. 8Data Audit and Validation
  9. 9Erroneous Records Kick-Out Logic
  10. 10Snapshot and Packaged Data Migration Events
  11. 11Enhanced Logging and Mapping
  12. 12Evaluating Future Enhancements
  13. 13Implementing Auto Data Store Creation
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In Depth: For Technical Evaluators

For readers building a business case. Each section opens on its own.

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    Aircraft Induction: High-Level Process

      • MTX DBs
      • Source Files (QTY varies)
      • Latest IPC
      Step1

      Obtain source files

      • ACFT Induction Tool
      Step2

      Produce MTX-to-sistership Output Template

      Outputs

      Output Template (Sister Ship Compare)

      Fallout File (Non-matched Source Data)

      • Output Audit
      Step3

      Audit Output Template & Fallout Files

      • ACFT Induction Tool
      Step4

      Produce Loader Package

      Outputs

      Loader Files

      MTX Error Report

      • Process Induction (DEV, UAT, PROD)
      Step5

      Induct Aircraft & Manage in PROD

      Outputs

      PROD Mgmt. (Post-Induction)

    Aircraft Induction: Detailed Process

    • Process step
    • Artifact / input
    • Decision gate
    1. 1

      Preparation Activities

      1. PROD ICAM
      2. PROD DMP
      3. Upload to FTP
      • Latest IPC
      • Source Files (QTY varies)
      • JIRA / TFS / Email
      • ARL, bridging, ENG data, etc.
    2. 2

      File Consolidation & Comparison

      1. Download FTP
      2. ICAM DB Copy
      3. ACFT Induction Tool
      • Output Template (Sistership Compare)
      • Fallout File (Non-matched Source data)
      • Component found & not found
      • Available PROD config + most likely ACFT data
      • May or may not be relevant data
    3. 3

      Audit, Approve, Update

      1. Output Audit
      2. Output Approvals
      3. Config Updates
      4. Output Complete
      5. Upload to FTP
      6. PROD DMP
      • Fallout Audit
      • Y = Load · N = Don’t load (N creates XXX)
      • Not found in fallout? Config needs?
      • Client acceptance of Output Templates
      • Additional relevant data?
      • Irrelevant data ignored for load (up to XXX)
    4. 4

      Induction Files

      1. ACFT Induction Tool
      2. Loader Files
      3. ICAM Error Report
      • Validation of ACFT data & loaders
      • Zip file containing ICAM loader tables & SQL
    5. 5

      Induct & Manage

      1. Error Review
      2. Process Induction (DEV, UAT, PROD)
      3. PROD Updates (Post-Induction)
      • Standard PG / FN XXX assignment (automatic)

    Multi – Award Collaboration Governance and Integrated Delivery Model

    Executive Steering Committee
    Contracting and Oversight
    Customer Executive Sponsor(s)
    Tsunami Executive Sponsor(s)
    Other Awardee(s) Executive Sponsor(s)

    Integrated Project Management Team (IPMT)

    • → Customer Project Manager
    • → Tsunami Project Manager
    • → Other Awardee PM(s)
    • → Integration Lead
    Change Control BoardConfiguration and Release Control
    Delivery Leads
    Customer Leads / Pos / SMEs …
    Program Management / Integration Lead
    • Integrated Master Schedule and dependencies
    • RASCI ownership and handoffs
    • Cross-vendor risk/issue management
    • Interface coordination and deliverable sequencing
    Integrated Quality and Test Reviews
    • Weekly integration meeting (dependencies, RAID, action tracking)
    • Biweekly release planning and change control
    • Monthly ESC for escalations and KPIs
    Delivery Leads
    Customer Leads / Pos / SMEs …
    Other Awardee Delivery Leads
    Solution ArchitectCross-vendor IPT
    Data MigrationCross-vendor IPT
    App Dev/CRIMCross-vendor IPT
    OCM, Training and Hypercare support
    Infrastructure & Dev Environments
    System Integration and Interfaces
    Operations and Sustainment MHOD
    Business Stakeholders and SMEs
    Engineering
    Maintenance
    Supply Chain
    Finance
    Projects
    Manufacturing
    HR
    Quality
    …
    Operating Cadence
    • Weekly integration meeting (dependencies, RAID, action tracking)
    • Biweekly release planning and change control
    • Monthly ESC for escalations and KPIs
    Solid line: Authority
    Dotted line: Coordination
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“Tsunami immediately identified issues with the path we were on, explained their concerns, and recommended course corrections. Their leadership allowed us to focus on change management, training, regulatory efforts, and operational readiness.”

The Relationship

Tsunami continues to operate as an embedded extension of the carrier's maintenance technology team, delivering round-the-clock application support, ongoing enablement, and measurable operational impact years after go-live.

Planning an Enterprise-Scale MRO Transformation?