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Operational efficiency soars at Solairus Aviation
The aviation services company integrates and improves finance, project management, and HR processes with help of Oracle Cloud applications.
“Oracle enabled us to integrate our systems, customize invoices for our customers, and ultimately streamline our services for improved customer care. With Oracle, we can take our product to the next level at an affordable cost without sacrificing quality.”
Business challenges
Solairus Aviation, founded in 2009 and based in Petaluma, California, is a private aviation services company, working out of more than 65 base locations, managing 200 private aircraft, and employing 1,200 flight crew and support personnel.
The company’s disparate financial systems needed to be streamlined to improve billing and reduce the time required to process client invoices.
Solairus also wanted the ability to configure customized invoices for its aircraft owners, giving them visibility into their transactions, and the ability to run reports on pertinent flight information, such as the cost of a client’s trip.
In addition, the company wanted a modern HR system to better manage and recruit staff worldwide.
Why Solairus Aviation chose Oracle
As a midsize company, Solairus didn’t want to invest in computer servers and infrastructure to support such systems. So cloud applications were the natural choice.
Initially, the company chose Oracle Cloud Financials and Oracle Cloud Project Management, both part of the Oracle Cloud ERP suite of applications, to help it manage its core financials as well as flight itineraries, airplane maintenance, and other project management activities. It liked that the project management application features an integrated contract-billing program. “After we realized that Oracle Cloud ERP had a robust project module at a price point we could afford, we stopped looking at other competitors,” says CFO Mark Dennen.
And with more planes came more pilots and staff. In moving to Oracle Cloud HCM, Solairus saw the advantages of a top-flight human capital management system that’s integrated with its project management system.
Results
Among the benefits Solairus is realizing from the integrated Oracle Cloud applications:
- Improved customer service, by enabling the company to give customers meaningful updates on their aircraft on a trip-by-trip basis.
- Integrated financial systems, enabling the company to retrieve financial information instantly, make more-informed business decisions, and improve operational efficiency.
- Integrated HR and project management systems, to improve visibility into project status—from hiring new pilots to tracking a client’s latest trip and associated costs.
- Automated invoicing processes, with an embedded approvals process.
- Cloud scalability—the company’s applications can grow as it grows.
- Intuitive application interfaces. With Oracle Cloud HCM, for example, managers can easily run reports on employee skills and performance, and employees can easily request time off and review benefits information. The HR application also streamlined Solairus’s recruiting and onboarding processes, including automating background checks and offer letter distribution.