Goodrich Automates Illustrated Parts Catalogs

Aerostructures division brings catalog production in-house; cuts recurring costs, improves customer service

Aerostructures division brings catalog production in-house; cuts recurring costs, improves customer service

Burlington, MA — June 28, 2004 — Goodrich Corp.'s Aerostructures division today said it has implemented Enigma 3C to build new illustrated parts catalogs. The company said the deployment lowers total catalog production costs, ensuring more timely distribution of updated information and simplifying procurement processes for its global aerospace and defense customers around the world.

Using Enigma's solution, Goodrich's Aerostructures division, an independent full-service supplier of structural components for commercial, regional and military aircraft has, for the first time, brought the production of its extensive parts catalogs in-house. As a result, Goodrich will reduce the recurring costs, time delays and complexity inherent in outsourcing such mission-critical projects. The decision to implement Enigma is part of the ongoing effort at Goodrich to retain control of essential intellectual property while eliminating wasteful practices.

Enigma 3C reduces Goodrich's delivery of up-to-date parts information by six months, according to the provider. Enigma pulls parts information directly from Goodrich's internal content repositories to create the intuitive illustrated parts catalogs. Goodrich said this has proven more efficient than compiling and sending raw data to an outside catalog producer and waiting months to get the completed catalogs back for distribution to customers.

As a result, Goodrich's customers now have up-to-date information to use in the field for fast and accurate ordering of replacement components and systems. The catalogs are a source of information for thousands of technicians at 650 customer facilities/locations around the globe.

"Our customers make up the biggest names in aviation and are located around the world," said Dave Lewis, manager of Technical Publications for Aftermarket Technical Services at Goodrich. "With Enigma's solution, we have complete control over our catalog production process, so we can issue updates on our schedule and without the substantial, recurring costs that come with an outsourced provider. With one publication cycle, we recouped the cost of the Enigma system and are now providing better customer service while continuously reducing expenses."

Goodrich is using the platform to support 50 different aircraft programs — such as nacelles, pylons and thrust reversers — with illustrated catalogs that enable customers to identify and procure parts. In the first phase of the solution Enigma is pulling extensible markup language (XML) data from Goodrich's Teamcenter product data management system (PDM), automating a process that includes complex manual re-authoring procedures.

After all information is combined, Enigma's 3C technology generates a complete ATA-compliant illustrated parts catalog in uniform formatting, including graphics, tabular data and catalog front matter.

"By adopting Enigma's 3C technology, Goodrich is taking control of one of its most valuable assets, its technical content," said Jonathan Yaron, CEO of Enigma. "Our technology offers component manufacturers and others with extensive and complex product lines. For Goodrich, such a deployment is critical because, in addition to generating immediate cost savings, it helps them achieve their goal of a fully automated and integrated aftermarket process."

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