Per Norén, CEO

Integration, the key to success

I believe in integration and that integration is the key to success. But what is integration? Webster calls it "the act or an instance of combining into an integral whole" or simply put, getting all the parts together to provide a harmonious, interrelated unit.

Integration works on many levels. Providers in the IT industry often limit it to data integration. To me that's not enough. If integration doesn't also cover integrating processes, companies and people, very little gain can be achieved from just sharing the data.

In the airline industry we constantly see the integration process in the creation and sustaining of alliances. Companies in different countries and even on different continents with their various cultures and business attitudes are brought together to form a seamless global airline network for the passenger. Processes, people, systems and data must integrate, otherwise the whole process creates sub-optimization where the whole is less efficient than the sum of the individual parts. When it is done successfully it creates a unique competitive advantage. When not it can be very costly.

To get disparate systems to function as a single cohesive unit has long been a largely unanswered challenge in the transport industry.

With our Crew Tracking product we have created a platform that allows a fully integrated Crew planning and execution process to be achieved. By introducing mobile communication we have made it possible to integrate people wherever they are and shift the whole process to crews themselves. The ability for them to "trip trade" is one good example. We are currently forging ahead with the integration of fleet, crew and passengers in our operation control project with British Airways.

We are proud to be the only vendor in our industry that offers a complete set of integrated products to support an operation. We believe that we have created a very significant competitive advantage for our clients and ourselves.