Thomas de Boer, head of Operations at Shell Aviation states, “With the global aviation industry facing its most significant challenge in history as it starts to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re not content with being simply ‘another supplier.’ Minimizing delays in aircraft turnaround times and errors in data transmission are two aspects that contribute towards profitability. By improving communications between pilots and apron operators, this latest innovation will help to deliver smoother and safer operations for our airline customers, using digital technologies to maximize efficiency and accuracy across the refueling process.”
Shell SkyPad is a cloud-based mobile application developed to automate the ticketing process for airplane refueling. The app, built on SAP Cloud Platform, is used at the airport apron — an area around the aircraft operations — for digitizing operations and transferring data in real time to the SAP invoicing back-end system. This helps to make the refueling process faster and provides better data quality and fewer invoice errors. Shell SkyPad digitally connects flight operators, vehicles, and airliners in the ticketing process.
Aviation’s role in connecting people and enabling business has been demonstrable throughout the pandemic. For Shell Aviation to compete in the airline industry environment, digitization is critical. From the very beginning of this project, Shell’s ambition has been to deliver fully digitized airside operations. The objective was to get real-time data directly from the apron into Shell’s global SAP system to ensure that aircraft are refueled efficiently on short turnaround times and minimum delays. The Shell SkyPad application digitally connects flight operators with the back office and prepopulates all information for each flight that requires refueling. This enables operators to easily trigger refueling, having all the necessary information at hand on the tablet. All that needs to be done is entering basic information and obtaining necessary signatures.
The functional solution enables digitization of end-to-end airport operations. The core features include digital ticket capture on a tablet, stock and tank farm management, reconciliation and reporting to local bodies, as well as integration to airlines, e-commerce platforms, and static and dynamic flight schedules. The solution provides a seamless user experience and quick adoption with minimal training and deployment efforts. It includes automatic meter integration, minimal data inputs, digital signing on glass, electronic proof of delivery in PDF formats, and real-time data transfer to the invoicing system.
Shell SkyPad can improve data accuracy and invoice quality with close to 70% of data input being automatic or pre-populated due to natively integrated systems, which helps significantly reduce the chance of errors, resulting in better invoice quality and fewer disputes. A real-time view of working capital and operational efficiency leads to better visibility of contract consumption, enabling Shell to operate more smoothly. Greater operational efficiency reduces the transaction time per day per airport significantly and secures a reliable exchange of data with external systems. In the end, this leads to faster, more efficient refueling times, contributing to faster airplane turnaround at the airport.
