Honeywell Aerospace started a blockchain to help its GoDirect Trade online portal for aircraft parts in 2018. Airlines must keep records of the maintenance of all aircraft parts, no matter where their work is performed in the world.

The first emphasis of Honeywell’s blockchain is stored PDF documents and references to the digital aircraft record. Although at the outset, the company designed to extract the data from the PDF and save the individual elements allowing it to be fully searchable. There are blockchain initiatives from SITA, the U.S. Navy, and GE Aviation.

Press Release: Honeywell Aerospace leveraging blockchain for inventory sales https://t.co/itWjKjuZJ0 #aviation #avgeek #godirect pic.twitter.com/1lqqQeP4j0

— Runway Girl Network 🏳️‍🌈 (@RunwayGirl) December 17, 2018

 

Honeywell Announcement

For decades, aerospace companies and consumers have sunk into cumbersome documentation processes and storage mechanisms. Honeywell is resolving those problems by thoroughly combining aircraft record generation into its digital blockchain ledger. This offers Honeywell’s consumers an easy way to examine and recover scattered data with a simple user interface, building a speed and efficiency level never before accessible in the aerospace industry. 

Quick and easy access to this data is crucial for airlines because most employ dozens of repair facilities, and the paperwork from each is not integrated. Additionally, airlines and operators generally deal with lost, printed paperwork associated with a part. This paperwork, or “trace documents,” is critical to preserving the value of a part’s worth.

Honeywell’s blockchain is a secure, decentralized database crowd-sourced by all approved users. Each user that Honeywell provides has a copy of the database and identifies its contents in real-time. Instead of saving only PDF documents or a reference to the digital aircraft record, Honeywell instantly stores the actual form data “on-chain.” This data is utilized to re-construct aircraft records, including documents that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has certified that aircraft parts are safe to fly. Consumers can access these records, and if paperwork is missing, customers can input the part number. The serial number and the user interface will recover the data from the blockchain and “rebuild” the lost document.

Also, read – Protecting Blockchain Innovation Through Open Source Patent Non-Aggression 

Blockchain technology builds trust between all parties on the chain through digital transparency in its purest form. The company’s goal is not to be the only aerospace company creating unified aircraft records on the chain but rather to associate and be an implementation ally so others can leverage the same technology.

Adding data to the blockchain ledger does not substitute regulatory authorities’ prevailing document requirements but rather enhances them more efficiently. Honeywell now unpacks all that parts, repairs data, and makes it immutable, searchable, and accessible to everyone in its permissions-based ecosystem.