Northwest Airlines (www.nwa.com, NASD: NWACQ), founded in 1926 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the world's fourth largest airline, with 35,000 employees worldwide and trailing 12-month revenue of approximately $12 billion. Northwest operates a fleet of more than 400 aircraft, including Boeing 747s and 757s; Airbus A330s, A320s, and A319s; and McDonnell Douglas DC-9s and DC-10s. In conjunction with its global travel partners, Northwest provides service to 750 destinations in 120 countries on 6 continents. Northwest is also one of the world's largest cargo carriers, with a dedicated fleet of 14 Boeing 747 freighters.

Northwest believes it can reap substantial savings in labor costs and other costs related to the management of aircraft manuals and additional savings by accelerating line maintenance activities at the gate (thus reducing flight delays) with the implementation of X-Hive/AMDS, an aircraft maintenance documentation system that supports S1000D. Tim Larson, Manager of Digital Media Strategies for Technical Operations at Northwest Airlines, is directing the project to implement Northwest's new system. The project commenced in the spring of 2005 and is expected to be completed in 2006 - an aggressive schedule but one that Northwest feels confident it can meet.

Northwest had evaluated SGML solutions in the past but found them to be cost-prohibitive and lacking in the ability to reuse maintenance manual content in job cards: These solutions couldn't maintain the linkages between the manufacturer's content and revisions and the airline's customizations. An XML-based solution appeared to offer a viable alternative. Northwest engaged Innodata Isogen, a systems integration and consulting firm that specializes in content management conversion services, to help it evaluate potential solutions.

A long list of potential vendors was pared to three finalists that were more extensively evaluated. X-Hive and its X-Hive/AMDS came out on top - the "clear winner" as measured against Northwest's requirements, according to Larson. X-Hive/AMDS' ability to manage complex content and complex configurations - with performance and scalability - and its ability to integrate with other Northwest Airlines systems (via XML) were key factors in its selection. Boeing's selection of X-Hive technology provided further validation. According to Larson, "The beauty of X-Hive's solution is that it allows us to maintain those links even when we customize the information in the job card."

IDC believes that major airlines can realize savings of $25-30 million over five years by implementing an AMDS - a very compelling return on investment (ROI) by any measure. Approximately half of the savings will come from labor efficiencies, for both hangar and line maintenance. Interestingly, line maintenance efficiencies offer the greatest opportunity for cost savings because nearly all line maintenance activities are nonroutine; therefore, the ability to dynamically generate job cards with tailored work instructions for line technicians and mechanics is particularly valuable. Roughly a quarter of the savings come from reducing flight delays. The more quickly the airline can put relevant and current documentation directly into the hands of the mechanic at the gate, the more quickly the mechanic can fix the problem and release the flight.

Finally, approximately 25% of the savings of an AMDS result from the ability to streamline overall processes for managing and distributing technical documentation. At Northwest, key improvements include the ability to eliminate hardcopy manuals (and the hand processing currently required to image and distribute them); route documents via a workflow process rather than via a manual process; manage the airline's roughly 16,000 component maintenance manuals (and electronically distribute them to Northwest's maintenance vendors); and deliver current, customized, and complete content on demand over the Web. These improvements will also help ensure that Northwest's maintenance sites, service vendors, and outsourcers remain in compliance with its current revisions in accordance with government (FAA) regulations.

Larson has high praise for X-Hive's support staff and products and says that "X-Hive has met every commitment so far." Northwest's systems integrators have also praised the elegance of the X-Hive/AMDS solution and the ease with which it can be integrated with portal technology such as IBM's WebSphere. As for that aggressive timetable, so far so good: The project shows every sign that it will progress on schedule and deliver the benefits that Northwest anticipates.