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About The Aerospace Safety Software Company

A Word from the CEO

Efficient safety management should not be determined by an operator’s ability to pay. We no longer maintain this mindset.

Affordable, Basic Compliance is our new mantra.

We've repeatedly demonstrated SMS competence over the past dozen years, but SMS Pro has become too expensive for those most needing help managing SMS requirements. TASSC provides affordable products and services to this under-served market segment.

Why?

From our unique vantage point in Alaska, we see our entire aerospace transportation system remains needlessly exposed to risk.

A global systemic challenge stems from those either unwilling or unable (in too many cases) to spend time and resources to participate in reducing operational risk.

Life is not always easy and life will never be "fair." I remember trying to get my first few jobs without:

  • a reputation; or
  • polished "self-promotion skills."

Inadequate financial means marked my early years while starting my first successful business. Startup businesses have always been a risky proposition during their first five years, especially for the poorest in any society.

SMS Regulatory Documentation Hurdles

I’ve experienced a long journey from rags to riches. I now want to help wherever I can. But I also want to continue my other dream of influencing aerospace safety in both space tourism and manned militarized space missions.

Life is even more challenging for our startups today.

Our society demands that our transportation system becomes safer with the required implementation of formal aviation SMS.

Early entrants into the aviation industry were not saddled with daunting SMS implementation requirements that demanded considerable

  • time to learn;
  • energy to implement as they change resistant safety cultures; and
  • expense to implement and maintain.

Many of the early entrants into the aviation industry were;

  • "cowboys" seeking profits ahead of safety; or
  • unaware of modern risk management strategies to reduce risk to as low as reasonably practical.

As every aviation safety professional knows, there were many needless accidents that killed innocent people or damaged property and the environment.

To fulfill societal demands for a safer transportation system, civil aviation regulators implemented onerous safety regulations that are:

  • logically well thought out; and
  • truly effective in improving organizational effectiveness that goes way beyond the scope of safety.

Administering these requirements unfortunately result in documentation management challenges that can either

  • cripple a very small operator; or
  • deter new, financially-limited startups.

In these cases, managing all aviation SMS documentation requirements becomes a barrier to entry, or even sadder, a barrier to staying in business.

This situation troubles me. That is why I started “The Aerospace Safety Software Company.”

With Success Comes New Challenges

As we developed SMS Pro, the enterprise-grade database matured to become the best aerospace SMS software on the market.

We know this truth because many independent, diligent SMS consultants and operators researched competing solutions. They have been repeating the same message for the past eight to ten years. "SMS Pro is the best database platform for serious and experienced aviation SMS practitioners." It has all the right features designed with exceptionally secure and useful "sub-system" integration.

Our SMS database competitors also continue to silently echo this truth.

For over a decade now, competitors repeatedly compliment us as they quietly add our pioneering features into their products.

We are the aviation SMS software pioneers. We continue to lead the way for affordable, integrated aerospace safety software that has demonstrated suitability for task since 2008.

SMS Pro is a success story.

This success has also introduced a problem that affects me personally.

Airplane flying from runway

SMS Pro Created a Problem

Unfortunately for much of the world, we created a problem as SMS Pro matured over the past dozen years. 

Our aviation SMS application became too feature-rich to address the business needs of smaller operators who simply wished for a low-cost, online database to comply with their regional SMS regulations.

Adopting SMS Pro became a double-edged sword for startups:

  • Adopting SMS Pro put startups on the fast-track to SMS compliance because regulators love SMS Pro's completeness and transparency; but
  • SMS Pro had too many sophisticated features for immature SMS implementations.

Also to contribute to our problem, a large percentage of our customers are proactive, leading-edge safety professionals who also tirelessly strive for organizational continuous improvement. They request and expect SMS Pro to mature as their SMS implementations blossom and reap organizational benefits.

From my new perspective, I can clearly see that SMS Pro is clearly not the best aviation SMS solution for operators who ONLY

  • want to "check the box;" or to
  • need to jump-start a startup to begin earning revenues that can support additional safety initiatives.
Helicopter flies over snow covered tundra

We Are Going to Fix It!

In our nascent years, SMS Pro management had to neglect the smaller, less wealthy customers because our very survival depended on it.

We are now here to address safety in an equitable manner.

I want to:

  • Make aviation SMS data management less burdensome and more affordable for the smaller operators;
  • Reduce barriers to entry for new aviation businesses to quickly address SMS requirements without adopting complex systems;
  • Offer an SMS database that achieves compliance without the distracting clutter of many "nice-to-have" features;
  • Ensure troubled aviation businesses are not jeopardized by expensive SMS data management; and
  • Make an appreciable difference to system safety by removing unfair barriers to affordable SMS management.

In addition, we want to continue to develop SMS Pro to include exceptionally cool, integrated features that will awe and inspire safety professionals around the world.

Commitment to SMS Pro Continuous Improvement

SMS Pro is the best and will remain the best. We are heavily invested in research and development of new technologies.

SMS Pro provides The Aerospace Safety Software Company (TASSC) with both the vehicle and financial resources to "make a difference."

For those who can afford the best, and are sincere in practicing continuous improvement of their organizations, we will continue to provide the best aviation SMS system on the market. 

Commitment to Provide Affordable Aerospace Safety Software

For those who cannot afford the best, but must still comply to fulfill their business mission, we will provide affordable, intuitive, user friendly SMS data management tools to facilitate regulatory SMS compliance. Using these proven SMS tools, your SMS will maintain compliance with any globally or regionally recognized civil aviation authority.

In order to manage your expectations, this "affordable SMS product" will not be targeted with future enhancements unless regulatory requirements demand so. This is our no-frills, compliance product.

We may also refer to this affordable SMS database as our "startup" package that an airline startup can use to earn certification. 

Finally, for those safety managers without adequate SMS budgets, we will offer this system as our "pauper" package. Operators can now use SMS Pro's intuitive workflows without having deep pockets.

With this vision, I am committed to promoting aerospace safety into the future. This commitment will be continuously demonstrated as we devote our energies into a pattern of:

  • Continuous improvement;

  • Respect and dignity for our clients; and 

  • Unfailing integrity and honesty in our relationships.

Furthermore, I want to help make space travel safer through the use of proven safety risk management principles. We want to promote and educate others on risk-management elements incorporated into our world-class software system guaranteeing compliance when the tools are used appropriately.

Let’s stop the needless accidents and deaths. When I see national airlines lose aircraft, I’m saddened, because I know that many safety managers at these airlines are frustrated with corruption and severely limited budgets. Together, we can make our world a better, safer place.

Christopher M. Howell
CEO
August 29, 2020