Heliworks (Booth No. 3417) of Pensacola, Fla., specialists in repairs and rebuilds of Bell helicopters, announced completion of two rotorcraft rebuilds for the U.S. Army at this year’s Heli-Expo show, the company’s debut Heli-Expo appearance.

The rebuilds for the Army involved two TH-67 (Bell 206B3) helicopters and were aided by enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from Component Control (Booth No. 3417), based in San Diego, Calif. Heliworks implemented the Quantum Control aviation ERP solution from Component Control midway through completion of the second TH-67, which streamlined purchasing and other rebuilding operations on the aircraft.

“We purposely waited for the Quantum Control installation to buy the bulk of the 400 line items needed for the second TH-67,” said Stephen Simpson, Heliworks president. “What would have previously taken up to a week to procure took literally just a few keystrokes in Quantum. The quoting system was so much easier than our previous system, and with Quantum, everything is linked together, so shipping and receiving was streamlined as well.”

The aviation-specific ERP platform combines MRO, aircraft services, hangar management, inventory management, accounting, E-commerce, sales and invoicing and other business functions into one integrated software suite.

Simpson said the efficiencies gained from Quantum have led to an increase in Heliworks’ rebuild capacity to one helicopter per month in 2011, in addition to its upgrade work converting several Bell 206L1s to 206L4s and other airframe repairs. The L1 upgrades require 2,000 man-hours, according to Simpson, and rebuilds require 4,400 man-hours.

“Before Quantum, we were losing track of man-hours because there was no check-and-balance system,” Simpson said. Now mechanics barcode the beginning and end of each step, and as a result, “We know exactly how long it takes to complete each work order, allowing us to more accurately quote customer projects.”