Company Profile
Coptersafety is an Aviation Training Organization (ATO) founded in 2014 and certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part-142. Coptersafety provides unparalleled helicopter simulator training in a unique Nordic setting. Their modern facility, designed to offer best-in-class training services outside Helsinki’s International Airport, is home to top-class training devices for H125, H145, AW139, and AW169 helicopters. A specialty of Coptersafety is the reconstruction of scenarios and landscapes on a customer-specific basis, ranging from a highway accident in Boston to an oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
Image © Coptersafety
Challenge
Coptersafety’s success and growth in the marketplace made it difficult for the team to manage their various training products, plan and schedule training sessions, and keep track of accounting. To address this issue, they needed a comprehensive Training Management System that would meet their business needs.
Coptersafety serves customers from many different continents and countries, which means that their training records and regulatory requirements are diverse. While the basic rules are similar, the challenges lie in the details, especially when it comes to check flights and the stringent qualifications required for examiners.
To alleviate the manual compiling, checking, and validating of training requirements and instructor qualifications, a Training Management Solution was needed. Instructors also faced the challenge of manually reviewing, evaluating, and modifying training records to meet the requirements of the respective authority.
The system they were looking for needed to cover specific regulatory requirements and also support other business processes like invoicing and data transfer to Power BI, a tool used to analyze training progress. This comprehensive solution would also help reduce error-prone processes across all business aspects, including planning, scheduling, accounting, and invoicing, enabling them to keep pace with their tremendous growth.
Solution
After visiting neighboring airline Finnair and gathering feedback from end-users regarding their experience with MINT TMS in a real-world setting, Coptersafety concluded that MINT TMS provided the necessary flexibility and configuration and selected it in December 2019. This solution offers configurable options and powerful tools that significantly reduce the manual workload involved in training planning and qualification management. For instance, our users can utilize electronic grade sheets to collect valuable training data with MINT. Additionally, MINT offers a scheduling suite with an auto-scheduling tool that is easily configurable, making scheduling a breeze. MINT TMS is a training management solution that digitizes the collection of data, scheduling of training events, management of qualifications, and more.
The first on-site implementation workshop occurred in early 2020, with support from the MINT Customer Service Excellence (CSE) team in Kiel, Germany. However, due to COVID and the resulting restrictions, implementation workshops were conducted remotely. During the challenging and uncertain COVID period, Coptersafety chose to focus on extensively implementing MINT TMS to gain a competitive advantage after the crisis. Business processes were analyzed, modeled in MINT, tested, and gradually introduced, with a focus on maintaining flexibility and allowing end-users to grow with the new system.
Results
Presently, MINT TMS provides complete support for all required curriculum components and their relational connectivity, including relevant details. Curriculum information for all training events can be defined in different versions and revisions by planners. Rules can be customized for each curriculum to specify the required resources based on qualification profile and determine which training information to retain in the detailed training history.
Electronic grade sheets for various courses are available in real-time and enable proper control of the data collection process. Trainee performance is tracked in real-time through notifications to the Head of Training and CFI, allowing for quick adjustment of training gaps.
Through an interface developed between MINT and MS PowerBI, Coptersafety’s leadership receives real-time updates on simulator utilization figures and planned figures for the next quarters. The interface ensures that the connection between the two remains consistent.
Image © Coptersafety
Coptersafety’s instructors are utilizing the MINT WebPortal and MINT TMS Mobile application, available on both iOS and Android platforms. With this technology, they can view all upcoming training courses in real-time, including relevant course-related information. This process has significantly reduced the manual workload of the training department. Furthermore, their qualifications are recorded and monitored in MINT, and they receive e-mail notifications for their validation expiry dates.
The billing process now runs automatically without requiring manual intervention, thanks to the connection between the billing system and MINT TMS. Coptersafety has experienced significant work and cost savings, which directly impact their bottom line.
Krista Soini, Coptersafety’s ATO Administrator, remarked, “We are always looking for ways to work smarter, not harder. The standard features included in MINT TMS, along with custom adaptations of reports, forms, and workflows, have been instrumental in reducing manual processes and errors. For instance, during a recent audit by one of our regulators, they expressed delight in the customized electronic forms within MINT TMS that we used to track training and checking events. We are now eagerly anticipating final approval by the regulator to fully digitize the process, eliminating the need for paper copies.”
“In addition, the customization of MINT TMS workflows and reports enabled us to reduce the time reconciling the month-end training schedule from days to a few hours, which eased the workload on accounting and significantly reduced invoicing delays.”
Krista Soini | Coptersafety’s ATO Administrator
To sum up, Krista expressed, “MINT’s flexibility and configurability have greatly enhanced our operational effectiveness and efficiency, allowing us to provide better service to our customers. This has helped us create more value for our customers and gain a competitive edge in the market.”
