IBM MAS for terminal and airside operations at a UK regional airport
A UK regional airport needed one EAM platform for terminal building services and airside ground assets, with mobile execution for engineering teams and clean reporting for both finance and the regulator.
Sector
Transport & airports
Region
United Kingdom
Duration
9 months to go-live, ongoing managed service
Scope
MAS Manage, Mobile, BMS integration, regulatory reporting
Versions
IBM MAS 9 on Red Hat OpenShift
The challenge
The airport ran two parallel asset systems: a legacy Maximo 7.x instance for airside ground assets (stands, jet bridges, lighting, GSE workshops) and a separate FM tool for terminal building services. Engineers carried two devices, work and parts data did not reconcile, and management had no single view of availability or planned maintenance load.
On top of that, the operator was preparing for a CAA audit cycle and needed defensible records of inspection, certification and corrective action against a clearly identified critical-asset list. Doing nothing was not an option; doubling the tooling estate again was not acceptable to the CIO.
Architecture (anonymised)
What MaxIron delivered
- MAS Manage on OpenShift: a single Maximo Application Suite Manage instance hosting both terminal and airside operations, deployed on Red Hat OpenShift in a managed cloud landing zone.
- Critical-asset register: unified asset hierarchy covering passenger boarding bridges, baggage systems, runway lighting, BMS plant and ground service equipment, with criticality, location and regulatory tags.
- Maximo Mobile for airside: native mobile app for airside engineers with offline support, photo evidence, and barcode-driven asset lookup tailored for airside time pressure.
- Permit-to-work integration: work orders linked to permit-to-work and runway closure windows so jobs cannot be dispatched without a valid permit and slot.
- BMS condition feed: building management system events generate prioritised work orders for terminal services with SLA clocks tied to passenger experience metrics.
- Regulator-ready reporting: CAA-aligned compliance pack: inspection records, planned vs done, deferred work register, with audit trail.
Integrations
| System | Direction | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| BMS / SCADA | inbound | condition events trigger prioritised work orders |
| Permit-to-work | bi-directional | enforce permits and runway closure slots |
| Finance ERP | outbound | PO / invoice / cost centre alignment |
| Identity provider (SSO) | inbound | one identity across MAS apps |
| Maximo Mobile | native | airside engineering execution |
Outcomes
- One platform — terminal and airside operations consolidated; engineers carry one device, managers see one schedule.
- CAA-ready — inspection and certification records produced from Maximo with full audit trail; audit cycle passed without findings on EAM.
- Reduced mean time to engage on terminal BMS faults; SLA performance visible per concession area.
- Cleaner planned-maintenance compliance against the critical-asset register (planned vs done is now a real number, not an estimate).
- Withdrawal of duplicate FM tooling and associated licences once cutover was stable.
Long-term support
MaxIron continues as the managed service partner: monthly service reviews, a roadmap covering MAS feature uptake (Health, Scheduler), and proactive upgrade planning aligned to the IBM release cadence. The same architects who designed the platform remain on the account.
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