AuRA4D™ Overview

AuRA4D™ (A4D™) is a WEB-based application currently being developed by Miro Technologies for use as either a standalone product, or a companion to the client-based GOLD™ application. It is focused on offering the same CLS and MRO based functionality as GOLD™, providing a state-of-the-art, web-based environment for handling Material Management, Tagged Property and Work-in-Process.

The Integrated AuRA4D™ Solution

		A4D™ has been designed to operate with a Web Portal as the ‘front-end’, allowing its personalization and content management features to augment those of AuRA4D™. The Portal allows users to customize their application desktop to include feeds from Internet news sources, access to Internet Email, and connectivity to various other Internet resources. Miro Technologies has partnered with ASG Software Solutions for use of their Business Information Portal (BIP) as the ‘front end’ for the A4D™ application. However A4D™ is based on Java standards, allowing it to interoperate with other Web Portals or Web Servers.
Illustration of the current Business Information Portal (BIP)

In addition to the Portal’s standard customization features, it serves as the "entry" point through which users access either the A4D™ Web application, or any of the supplied Portlets, which can be viewed as small windows into specific features of A4D™. The portal can also serve as a focal point for access to other Company resources such as other web applications, data sources or information feeds. This allows the A4D™ Web Portal to serve as a single source for accessing multiple business processes and applications, as well as being the key to a single sign-on web solution.

Also included in the A4D™ integrated Web Portal Solution is the Safari Report Writer and Online Analysis Application Program (OLAP). These two programs allow users to access the GOLD™/A4D™ database via a ‘Meta Data’ layer, to generate reports and analytical outputs directly from the web, and allow the reports to be viewed on-line or downloaded and printed. This gives critical decision support information to anyone who has internet access. This meta layer can also be used to simplify the report writing when using other 3rd Party products like Crystal Reports, etc. All reports included in the third party tool, still sit on top of A4D™’s advanced data visibility layer, providing the same data security to reports and A4D™ alike.

Finally, the ‘back-end’ of A4D™’s component based architecture provides a gateway into to the entire system’s functionality. This can either be accessed directly via multiple Application Program Interfaces (APIs), or indirectly via current Web Services technology. This allows the business processes of A4D™ to be directly invoked from custom web pages, portlets, and integration services, making these function, language and operating system agnostic. This allows A4D™ to provide a Service Oriented Architecture for simple painless integration with Business to Business (B2B) exchanges based on Industry ‘Best Practices’ and allows simple integration with the next generation Web Service Orchestration and Business Activity Monitoring technologies.

A4D™ is available as an integrated solution which includes A4D™ Web-App, Tomcat Web Server, and Safari’s BIP, Web Reports and OLAP, as well as some turn-key portlets. It is also available as a standalone web application for deployment within your own portal and reporting environment.

Integrated Interactive Help System

A4D™ comes with an on-line integrated help system built using the latest Macromedia Help technology. This allows simple tree based navigation of help topics, as well as index navigation and a built-in search engine. Miro Technologies has also included extensive on-line demonstrations of key functions allowing users to learn how to use the system screen by screen with text based commentary. Also included are comprehensive technical overviews as well as several FAQ’s. Miro also publishes the latest help and FAQ’s to their website so customers can always have the correct information at hand.

The AuRA4D™ Vision

The vision for A4D™ is to combine the best features of the two products available from MIRO Technologies - GOLD™ (Aerospace and Defense – A&D) and AuRA™ (Commercial Airlines) – into a Modular, Web-based application, designed to ensure flexibility and reuse, incorporate ‘best of breed’ industry standards, and maximize cost effectiveness. Development in support of this vision is well underway, using both Commercial and Non-Commercial software, including various open-source products and support tools.

The first release of A4D™ has covered the common set of Reports and Inquiries used by GOLD™/AuRA™ customers, and develpment is now focused on the implementation of the core supply, repair and maintenance functions from the GOLD™ feature set.