Read our series of Frequent Flyer interviews with the people who are making the Yocova platform come alive. Here we speak to Nick Ward, Vice President of Digital Systems at Rolls-Royce, about digital transformation, sustainability in aviation, and how Yocova Membership can connect and support the industry at large.
Nick began his career with Rolls-Royce 33 years ago, starting out in the nuclear submarine division, before eventually moving across to aviation 15 years ago to work on flight operations, driving efficiencies and fuel savings. With a passion for the aviation industry, Nick now heads up Rolls-Royce’s digital strategy and is responsible for the strategic direction of the digital systems and products that support Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace Customer and Services functions.
We talk to Nick about his passion for aviation, challenges and progress in digital transformation, Rolls-Royce’s sustainability initiatives, and how Yocova can support and connect the aviation sector.
What do you like about the aviation industry?
“I think aviation is an incredible industry. The people who work in the sector are so passionate about what they do and that really shines through. I also enjoy seeing the physicality of the positive outcomes we create – whether it’s passengers in terminals or a gigantic aircraft taking off, it’s a very tangible industry and easy to see where the value lies. I also value the global nature of the industry and how it takes you to places you would probably not go to otherwise.”
Tell me about Yocova and how you use it for digital transformation.
“Yocova is effectively a tech start-up in the aviation industry, which is sponsored by Rolls-Royce but is an entirely independent organisation. It’s amazingly powerful and is all about connections. It connects airlines, OEMs, customers and the wider aviation supply chain through a single platform. It’s a collaborative space that has been built to enable users to safely buy, sell, deploy and access data and services from the marketplace, access digital content from OEM and supply chain partners, and collaborate with peers within the industry. Rolls-Royce as a member and customer of Yocova is set to use the platform as a primary medium through which to deliver our digital content and services, while supporting customer engagement through collaboration.”
What kind of progress are you making in digital transformation as an OEM?
“A big shift in transformation has come about since 2002, when Rolls-Royce introduced Total Care, which was a new service concept that transferred the cost risk of the maintenance of engines from the operator into Rolls-Royce. The costs can fluctuate significantly, so for Rolls-Royce that meant we needed to upscale digitally in order to better understand the lifespan and health of the engines, and the risks we were taking on.
Since then there have been subsequent generations of digital transformation and we now have a capability called IntelligentEngine, leveraging big data and AI. This helps us to better understand how every component and individual engine in a fleet is doing. We then have a Service Management Platform, which takes demand and turns it into a plan, and various other digital tools. The last pillar of our strategy is collaboration and that’s where Yocova comes in, to replace our existing Rolls-Royce customer portals.”
Is digital transformation a big priority for Rolls-Royce?
“Absolutely! It’s right at the centre of strategy at both a board and civil aerospace level. We are looking to generate ever-richer sources of data, but we respect that data is very often owned and controlled, and potentially sensitive to our customers. This means we need mechanisms through which we can share data in a way that the customer feels safe, in a properly controlled environment. We’ve developed a series of partnerships around the industry with experts in data, so we can be assured data is handled properly.”
How about sustainability?
“Sustainability is one of our top targets globally as we work towards the goal of net zero by 2050. There are many challenges involved, not just in getting to a zero position but helping the industry as a whole with sustainability. Every generation of the jet engine is 20–25% more efficient than the last, but beyond that there’s electrification – electric-powered flying – and we are pioneers in this area. Sustainable fuel is another big initiative and all of our modern engines are now certified to use sustainable aviation fuel. We’ve also learned that by being smart with data we can help to reduce emissions. For example, IntelligentEngine can predict performance and maintenance, and in turn reduce the need for shop visits, ultimately leading to a decrease in emissions.”
What’s the scope of the Rolls-Royce customer base using Yocova?
“We have between 10,000 and 15,000 people within airlines and an additional 10,000 operators of the business jet family, which we power. There are also several thousand Rolls-Royce personnel, who’ll be interacting with customers and peers through Yocova. So, there will be tens of thousands of users accessing Rolls-Royce services and digital content through the platform.”
How do new digital methods support learning, training and technical content?
“At Rolls-Royce we have a Digital Academy, which has been very successful, not only in bringing engineers up to speed with digital technologies within Rolls-Royce, but providing training to external organisations in partnership with universities. In the last wave of digital transformation, we noted that there was a shortage of people who were experts in digital capabilities, data scientists and data engineers. Everybody is fighting to attract the same key talent, including tech giants, who are typically willing to pay more than other industries. So, the way we approached this was to upskill our existing personnel and support other organisations to do the same. Increasingly, many of the training courses we provide will be delivered through Yocova, so the ability to book, attend and deliver training will become easier and far more digitised.”
How about customer reach and engagement?
“Events are really important for us and we host them for our user groups. For each of our major engine programmes, we hold several events in a year, to provide our customers with the opportunity to tell us how they are experiencing our equipment, and for us to tell them the direction of travel for particular engine types. These used to be in-person events, but the pandemic took away our ability to do that, so instead, we turned to holding events online. These proved to be perfectly viable, and while face-to-face events may be re-introduced in future, having the ability to host events and material online, and have side discussion groups is really helpful, particularly when travel is still not easy. Yocova will play a key role in supporting these events going forward, from initial planning and registration through to post-event document management and collaboration.”
What’s your biggest digital transformation challenge?
“Firstly, I think we are all in control of our own destiny in terms of internal digital transformation. But I think there has always been a challenge around how we can get comfortable sharing data for the benefit of the industry at large. The second is around refreshing and modernising IT infrastructures. Developing and integrating with Yocova forced us to upgrade a number of our own back office systems, so adopting a modern capability is also one of the challenges we have faced.”
What would you say to an OEM considering signing up to Yocova Membership?
“For us as an OEM, Yocova is definitely the right direction of travel. The basis for Yocova is truly customer-centric services, better inter-company collaboration and value exchange. The airline industry faces many challenges which require new styles of inter-company working – everything from fleet efficiency through to improved safety and getting a purposeful sustainability agenda. These require a new exchange of ideas, data and solutions. Our customers are presented with more connected equipment and better technology each year but as an industry we struggle to maximise the value or it remains in stovepipes, and few benefit.
Yocova is helping Rolls-Royce with a very significant paradigm shift in the way it works. We believe all OEMs could benefit from this and that’s why we decided to make it an independent business that many can benefit from. If you’re an OEM who wants to get closer to your customers and put customer experience at the heart of what you’re doing, I would question why you wouldn’t want to sign up for Yocova Membership.. It’s not just a Rolls-Royce to customer portal, it brings customers and providers from across the aviation value chain into a single platform. I think as an OEM in the digital age, there needs to be a shift in mindset that the industry needs to be far more connected than it has been, and Yocova helps to make that happen.”
Watch the interview with Nick Ward in full on Yocova on Air.
Register to join the screening.
And for more information, to connect or collaborate, you can contact Nick on Yocova via his personal profile.
Also, check out Yocova Membership options to meet your needs:
We welcome Rolls-Royce to the Marketplace
Here you can find a wide range of capabilities, such as Customer Training, Engine Health Monitoring, parts ordering and engine leasing services. You can also create a Rolls-Royce account to enable the purchase of services, or request technical publications with a choice of four packages available, or technical solutions, such as Technical Variances and repair schemes. Login to the Rolls-Royce storefront
Author: Team Yocova
Published 27th September 2022
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