In 1999 PACE has introduced Pacelab Cabin, the world’s first commercial aircraft and cabin configuration software which has since become the industry standard in supporting the complex and multi-faceted definition process of aircraft and passenger cabins.
Originally conceived as a desktop-only application for aircraft engineers, the company kicked-off a major innovation project for the software in 2018. To help manufacturers, suppliers and aircraft buyers on their digitization journey, PACE has launched a comprehensive digital aircraft configuration environment which efficiently navigates the elaborate definition process in a single, clearly structured workflow. Marketed as Pacelab ACE, the set of inter-operating tools combines server-based business logic, web-based client applications and Pacelab Cabin’s industry-proven configuration capabilities with the latest communication and collaboration technologies.
The ELEKS team helped PACE to design and implement the user interface for Pacelab ACE’s new web-based client application. To fully leverage the cloud-based solution and to meet the demand of customer-facing business stakeholders, sales representatives and consultants, it was crucial to deliver a versatile, intuitive and continuous digital experience on tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices, making it easy for geographically dispersed teams to collaborate and align on decisions.
As a project kick-off, the team conducted a two-day, on-site product design workshop with PACE to prioritise the scope and create user personas with customer journey maps. ELEKS’ business analysts, product designers and architects regularly visited PACE for 1-2-week workshops to refine the project vision, scope and prototypes. For our client’s convenience, ELEKS also set up a nearshore team in Berlin.
Amazon Web Services played a crucial role in supporting the cloud-based Pacelab ACE application:
- Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) ensured resource isolation and controlled access,
- Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provided scalable computing capacity,
- Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) facilitated efficient container orchestration,
- Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) ensured traffic distribution for high availability, and
- Simple Storage Service (S3) offered durable storage for assets and user data.
Notably, EKS's robust container orchestration capabilities significantly improved workflow efficiency and scalability for Pacelab ACE.
Pacelab ACE has been showcased to much acclaim at high-profile trade shows and other industry events in Europe and the US. The response from the international aircraft configuration community has been exceedingly positive, with several customer implementations already underway.
