Consistently ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest innovations in ground handling, Widerøe Ground Handling is Norway’s largest provider of ground handling services, located at 42 airports. Delivering ground services on behalf of more than 100 airlines, Widerøe Ground Handling offers a comprehensive range of services to handle passengers, flights, cargo, and mail, with the vision that ‘a great journey starts on the ground’! Maintaining such an excellent reputation requires continuous improvement as well as future-proofed systems capable of handling the most exacting operational requirements.
Client challenge
Widerøe Ground Handling’s existing systems relied upon intensely manual processes, capturing data with a pen and paper, at worst, or on a spreadsheet at best. Inaccuracies and inefficiencies were inevitable and commonplace. A spreadsheet would detail the services to be provided to airlines and/or aircrafts to fulfil the SLAs and contracts with these customers. However, services provided were not being captured accurately or time-stamped correctly on the paper printout which meant that SLAs were not being met and Widerøe Ground Handling was at risk of being fined and/or incurring a service credit for not delivering on-time service to their customers and compromising their engagement standards. Additionally, ad hoc services, such as heater and towing, were often not being recorded at all which meant that they were not being charged correctly to the customer, resulting in significant revenue lost. Invoicing customers was also a very manual process, again reliant upon a spreadsheet and subject to human error and inconsistent capture of data with each station filling in spreadsheets ‘their way’.
Widerøe Ground Handling was understandably keen to automate all processes with one, simple system, and not have to rely upon different, complicated, inefficient, manual systems with data inevitably dispersed and difficult to access quickly.
Our solution
Zafire’s aircraft turnaround solution, FirstRamp, equipped Widerøe Ground Handling with a sequential, tile-based system which meets all their needs exactly. Back in 2017, it was deployed across 41 stations in just 10 weeks, providing a mobile system which enabled Widerøe Ground Handling to plan, modify, and capture all services provided to their customers in real time. Thanks to the deployment of FirstRamp and the inherent efficiencies of this innovative system, Widerøe Ground Handling was able to significantly increase the billing of handling charges and SLA compliance.
Benefits
- All contracts held in ‘back office’ system and updated in real time via mobile devices, ensuring every job is time-stamped and can be fully audited.
- Seamlessly integrates with other software systems.
- Automatically generates invoices and updates finance systems.
- Increases SLA compliance thanks to inherent efficiencies of the system.
- Captures all services and thereby all revenue previously lost with the inefficient, manual system.
Outcomes
Back in 2017, tech-savvy Widerøe Ground Handling were early adopters of FirstRamp, working collaboratively with Zafire to develop the perfect system for their operational needs. Nowadays, thanks to FirstRamp, Widerøe Ground Handling is able to deploy a new station within a day. Meanwhile, over two million flights and counting have been processed to date with FirstRamp.
Impact on client
Having been closely involved with the development of FirstRamp and impressed with its performance ever since, Widerøe Ground Handling is keen to stay involved with the ongoing evolution of our solution. As a forward-thinking, highly innovative company, they have some great ideas about FirstRamp’s further potential and how it could help them become as efficient as possible and be the preferred ground handler. Widerøe Ground Handling is keen for FirstRamp to function as its central hub, interfacing with multiple other systems all with the goal of further improving customer service and compliance with SLAs, and continuously streamlining processes, increasing accuracy, and reducing costs, not just with aircraft turnaround but also with cargo and passenger handling.
In the words of André Østli, CIO, Widerøe Ground Handling: ‘FirstRamp helps us ensure that everyone is up to date with the latest flight information and real-time SLA monitoring to deliver excellent customer service. I want to congratulate the team at Zafire Aviation, for the superb job you have done throughout the sales cycle and development period, demonstrating both your key strengths and capabilities to Widerøe. This has enabled us to choose the best Turnaround Management solution and partner in the market place today.
For further information about FirstRamp, or any of our Global Aviation Software Solutions, or to schedule a call with a member of the expert team at Zafire, email Lou Read, or call Lou on +44 (0) 1295 701 810.
