Read our series of Marketplace Spotlight interviews with the people who are making the Yocova platform come alive. Here we speak to Ekaterina Zhegalina and Ville Santaniemi of QOCO Systems about the solutions they provide to benefit the aviation industry and how Yocova is helping them to reach more customers.
QOCO Systems is an aviation-specific IT solutions company based in Helsinki, Finland. Originally founded in 2009, it has expanded significantly since 2015 and has enjoyed continuous growth over the past few years, despite the challenges faced across the aviation industry. We talk to Ekaterina Zhegalina, Marketing Manager and Ville Santaniemi, Senior Partner, about the solutions the company provides, how they’re helping the aviation industry to use data progressively, and how Yocova provides them with an invaluable platform to connect with peers and create new leads.
What products and services do you provide?
Ville: “We provide IT solutions specifically to the aviation industry. We have two products – MROTools.io and EngineData.io – and we also provide associated consultancy services to support our customers. MROTools.io is a software solution designed to better manage the booking, tracking and returning of tools which are used to maintain aircraft. EngineData.io is a SaaS solution for intelligent data exchange between the collaborating parties in the aviation industry.”
How do these solutions benefit the industry?
Ville: “In aviation, the management of tools has been lacking over the years and is frequently a culmination of paper-based processes or multiple siloed systems. MROTools.io speeds up processes and makes them more secure and efficient. Having real-time tracking, availability and status information of tools at hand allows maintenance personnel to source tools more efficiently and report any issues like tool defects instantly on the go. For example, an aircraft engineer might need a tool that is on an adjacent aircraft and our solution enables the engineer to quickly locate the tool via their mobile device, rather than waste time travelling to the tool store. It’s more efficient and affords the engineer more time to focus on the task at hand.”
“In the aviation industry, the sharing of data has been quite challenging, but this solution provides a technical platform along with associated consultancy services to be able to do that. Whether it’s an airline, OEM or MRO, we can help our customers to share data and make it useful for them and the wider industry.”
Do you have an example of where EngineData.io has benefitted a company within aviation?
Ville: “Probably the most well-known example of EngineData.io at work is with Rolls-Royce. As an OEM, Rolls-Royce needs to keep track of assets at different operators and retrieve information about the engines. EngineData enables Rolls-Royce to see where the engines are, how they are operating and what configuration they have. This solution helps them to keep a digital copy of the assets they have manufactured and have a full picture of the assets they have provided. The feedback from Rolls-Royce has been great and the collaboration has gone extremely well. What I am most happy about is that we are delivering a real solution which many airlines are using, and data is shared every day. It’s a proven solution, not just a technical platform, and we provide a complementing consultancy service alongside it.”
And how about MROTools.io?
Ville: “MROTools has been running at Finnair for many years. By implementing this solution we were able to replace many smaller systems and bring them into one that runs on top of Finnair’s maintenance and engineering system to enable effective and efficient tool management.”
Tell us about the consultancy services you provide and what the customer journey looks like?
Ville: “Our consultancy services mostly revolve around the solutions we provide, unless there is a specific need beyond that. In terms of the customer journey, to begin with, we go in and find out about existing processes and capabilities. We then draw out how to develop and implement the solution for that customer and once installed, provide ongoing enhancements and consultancy. The very nature of our solutions is that they quietly run in the background, so there’s no disruption to day-to-day operations.”
Are there any new projects in the pipeline?
Ville: “We’ve worked with EngineData for years and we’re looking for opportunities for more widespread use of the solution. Many aviation companies use manual or heavily paper-based processes and we believe we can provide value in more efficient data exchange between airlines and MROs through our services.”
What do you like about aviation?
Ville: “It’s an industry I fell into but once you’re in it, the opportunities are enormous and there are plenty of enhancements that can be made to the way things are done. There’s real value in speaking the same language as others in the industry and years of experience help you do that, to efficiently communicate and build trust with customers.”
When did you join Yocova and how does it help QOCO Systems?
Ekaterina: “We were invited to join by Rolls-Royce last year through the partnership we had with them. It’s a fantastic platform for us because all of its users are aviation specialists. We’re using it as a key part of our social media strategy as it’s a great place to promote content to, and connect with an audience that is truly interested. With platforms like LinkedIn, it can be hard to connect with a relevant audience, but Yocova enables us to do that. There’s not really anything else available like this.”
“We’re posting into Groups within the platform such the Environmental Sustainability group to share news and information about what we do. We’ve also built a Storefront and we’re regularly posting content on Yocova to draw people to and promote the solutions and services we provide.”
What would you say to someone who was considering signing up to Yocova but has not yet done so?
Ekaterina: “Yocova is the only platform in aviation that helps you to connect with customers and prospects who are 100% relevant to the industry. If you want to spread the word to others in aviation about the solution or service you provide, then Yocova is the place to do it. As a Marketing Manager, I’ve found it incredibly helpful and I cannot recommend it enough.”
If you’d like to find out more, contact Ville, Ekaterina or any of the QOCO Systems team via their Yocova profile pages, or take a look at the Storefront.
Author: Team Yocova
Published: 19th October 2022
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