Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP, Booth 825) has introduced a new mobile app in its latest move to transform itself from purely a distributor of technical publications to more of a services-oriented company. Scheduled for introduction in January, the new mobile app extends the reach of the company’s ATP Aviation Hub by providing users with more options to access the cloud platform tools and services. It allows users to run the application on mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets and laptops that run on Windows, iOS or Android. It also allows customers to download and store content to their devices locally, ensuring access to content even when not connected to the Internet.

The initial release of the mobile application will focus on providing access to ATP maintenance libraries and compliance tracking of airworthiness directives and service bulletins.

Acquired last November by CEO Charles Picasso and Chicago-based ParkerGale Capital, ATP has evolved to focus on what Picasso called the general and business aviation ecosystem through the use of certain tools that connect with the content in question. “That means to make the content smarter and, secondly, to be integrated in the customer workflow,” he explained. “For the MROs, it’s to integrate that with maintenance tracking. It means to have them to be able to track, first of all, the technical publication related to the relevant element of the aircraft, to look at the inspection also, to be sure they are in compliance with the regulatory standards...and the parts information. That means today, with the mobile app, we have complete integration between the workflow or the work process and the different elements related to the documentation.”

Picasso added that he and his staff have spent a lot of time with MROs to understand their work processes and their needs beyond simply accessing technical information. With the OEMs, 54 of which ATP counts as clients, Picasso’s team worked to determine where they needed to improve in terms of customer service and parts supply. “That’s why we have approached the market with the mobile app, because the more the customers are satisfied by the information they get, the more they are satisfied with the OEMs,” he said.

Of course, Picasso hopes it will also generate more business for ATP, which, he said, realized double-digit gains in revenues over the past year through both organic growth and with the help of a new partnership it announced in May with Swedish operating manual provider Web Manuals. Now, ATP has turned its sights toward full-scale acquisitions of companies that could help aid its efforts in the areas of maintenance and parts workflow, troubleshooting, diagnosis, fault detection and record keeping.

“Troubleshooting and fault detection are very specific applications,” explained Picasso. “They call for some artificial intelligence or algorithms and also historical data, so this is something a little bit new for ATP. That’s why we believe acquiring something in that space would be very complementary to our customer base and would significantly enhance the value proposition.”