LeighFisher Inc.
International consulting firm providing business and planning advisory services to the transportation industry.

Electronic Baggage Screening: Phase I
Brief:
In 2002, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act requiring all U.S. airports to screen all checked baggage with an explosive detection system or suitable alternative, by the end of 2002 (later extended to 2003). LeighFisher worked with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to analyze the existing baggage screening capacity of every U.S. airport and recommend a screening system type and layout. LeighFisher approached LevelEdge Software to create a software tool to aid this process.

LevelEdge Software solutions:
LevelEdge Software’s solution was to create a Terminal Simulation software model that analyzed passenger and baggage flow through any particular airport. The first step was to design and build a Master Database to collect and store flight schedules and terminal layouts from a number of disparate sources. Linked to this database, the Terminal Simulation software analyzed the baggage flow and allowed LeighFisher’s analysts to test how any given baggage screening system would perform in a particular airport. Based on the results, LeighFisher would then recommend a basic system layout for each airport.

Due to the government-imposed deadline, speed and efficiency of the software was crucial to the project’s success. One piece of input required by the simulator is a flight passenger list, which usually took two days to generate. LevelEdge Software created an automated passenger list generation process that reduced this time to 15 minutes. Overall, the Terminal Simulation model reduced the time needed to simulate an airport terminal from weeks to hours. Checked baggage screening solutions were successfully implemented at all U.S. airports by the appointed 31 December 2003 deadline.

Electronic Baggage Screening: Phase II
Brief:
After the completion of Phase I, TSA now needed to replace the temporary baggage screening systems installed during the rush to meet Congress’ 2003 deadline, with more sophisticated and permanent solutions. This required a high-level analysis to estimate the project size and long-term costs. Phase II also required a prioritization list to decide in what order individual airports would receive funding, along with cost estimates for each new machine deployment. LeighFisher approached LevelEdge Software to create a modeling tool to aid this process.

LevelEdge Software solutions:
LevelEdge Software’s solution was to create the Integrated Deployment Model (IDM) to model the deployment of more cost-effective baggage screening systems. This involved building on Phase I’s Master Database and incorporating new information such as current baggage screening equipment inventory and pre-existing airport information, as well less tangible information such as security threats and financial benefits for each airport. The software featured a variety of outputs, including 20-year cost estimates and capital spending profiles. Its detailed reports enabled decision makers to perform what-if analysis in order to test various deployment strategies.

The introduction of systematic prioritization software helped LeighFisher provide TSA with the data required to decide which airports should have their baggage screening systems upgraded and when, thereby allowing for defensible release of TSA funding.
 

"The software developed by LevelEdge frequently exceeds my expectations and has assisted LeighFisher in more efficiently and accurately serving our clients. We could not have achieved success on several of our large engagements without the help of LevelEdge” Brian M. Nadreau – Director, LeighFisher

Airport Gate Modeling
Brief:
The aviation industry has seen dramatic changes over the past decade as traffic growth (and declines) have affected traditional airline operations. To help their clients – including most of the country’s largest 100 airports – accurately predict how well existing infrastructure would handle variations in air traffic and changes in aircraft type, LeighFisher needed to update their analysis models to better address gate planning and management issues. Their existing model had been developed on a piece-meal basis over a number of years. It required lengthy set-up times, had stability issues and could not handle more complex operations or precisely reflect real world issues. LeighFisher approached LevelEdge Software to revamp this existing Gate Model software.

LevelEdge Software solutions:
LevelEdge Software worked closely with LeighFisher staff to completely re-engineer their existing Gate Modeling software. The new software provided more robust code and enhanced functionality, allowing for more sophisticated assessment of how well an airport’s supply of gates and aircraft parking positions will accommodate a flight schedule under certain operational assumptions: including airport management policies and priorities; airline user preference; airport layout constraints; aircraft-related time constraints. The improved Gate Model handled these complex operations with ease, whilst an improved user-interface gave analysts the flexibility to allow for certain variables, such as delayed flight times.

The new Gate Model required much less setup time and resolved previous stability issues, dramatically improving LeighFisher’s ability to provide valuable insights and advice to their airport clients.
 

"The Gate Model that LevelEdge Software re-engineered for us is a vast improvement over our prior version, allowing us to work with greater efficiency and with more focus on analyses that are of value to our airport clients. LevelEdge Software’s dedication in working closely with us to develop a quality software product was key.” Mark W. Nagle – Associate Technical Director, LeighFisher

SearchConnection
IT recruitment firm.

Brief:
Search Connection was using an off-the-shelf contact management product to organize their 200,000 clients, applicants and job orders. The software limited the number of users that could access the database at any one point. With a team of 50 recruiters in two offices, all requiring frequent access, the system was unable to cope and regularly crashed, leading to recurring and costly periods of downtime. Search Connection asked LevelEdge Software to design a new system.

LevelEdge Software solutions:
LevelEdge Software’s solution was to create PlaceM, a reliable, robust system based on MS SQL Server. PlaceM increased user capacity so all users could access the system when required, thereby significantly reducing recruiter downtime. The system also provides a sophisticated activity tracking system, which automatically logs every customer transaction. The logged activities can then be used as an input to a performance metric system, allowing management to generate individual recruiter reports and automatically calculate individual performance-related bonuses.

In addition, LevelEdge Software designed and built WebMiner, a web-mining tool that integrates with Internet Explorer and automatically inputs and updates information from online resumes to the PlaceM database. This feature dramatically reduced applicant-processing times and guarded against data entry errors. LevelEdge Software also conceptualized and created a web-based interface enabling applicants to search the jobs database and submit template-driven emails to Search Connection recruiters.

Though Search Connection is no longer in business, director, David Hall, carried the PlaceM and WebMiner products across to his new recruitment firm, Aleipho. LevelEdge Software continues to provide a maintenance service for Aleipho.
 

"LevelEdge provided me with engineers that could work with me in understanding what I was trying to accomplish. Many firms can provide coders, but LevelEdge provided me with people that could figure out what needed to be coded and then did at an expert level. When we were finished the resulting software product had a huge impact on my staff productivity because it fit what they needed very well." David Hall

The Readiness Company
Educational software start-up company.

Brief:
The Readiness Company specialized in technology-based innovations for education. Their key product was LearnTrac, an interactive electronic communications system for use in classrooms. The system could help shy or otherwise reluctant students to communicate with teachers, and allow teachers to conduct instant quizzes with real-time scoring, in order to efficiently appraise the success of lessons. The Readiness Company approached LevelEdge Software to lead a team of developers to create the technology and software products for LearnTrac.

LevelEdge Software solutions:
LevelEdge Software managed a team of three senior developers, each working remotely on different aspects of the LearnTrac system, such as the student’s handheld device, user interfaces, and network communications. In addition, LevelEdge Software designed and built the teacher console software, which allows a teacher to view student’s log-in status, communicate with students by text message, and administer tests and view answers in real-time. The system also facilities student data analysis and reporting.

The Readiness Company’s teaching and assessment system was installed and used at The University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where it successfully facilitated real-time communication between up to 200 participants. LevelEdge Software director, Scot Lunsford, was appointed Vice President of The Readiness Company’s Product Engineering division and asked to support sales teams at high-profile product demonstrations with key clients and investors.

"I have worked with leading software engineers and developers all over the world on multiple commercial releases. LevelEdge Software stands head and shoulders above them all. They are easy to work with and provide that rare combination of skills with results.” Chase Weir – Chairman / Founder, The Readiness Company

U.S. Department of Labor
United States government Cabinet department responsible for the welfare of job seekers, wage earners and retirees.

Brief:
The Department of Labor (DOL) introduced a new accounting software system. However in the migration process it was discovered that the new system wasn’t balancing with the old system. The contractor who had introduced the new system was unable to locate the problem and hired LevelEdge Software to find a solution.

LevelEdge Software solutions:
LevelEdge Software designed a tool to auto-compare the old and new accounting databases, verify the data consistency and generate error reports. This information enabled DOL accountants to repair the data. LevelEdge Software also created a tool to automatically repair data where possible. This enabled faster, more efficient data repair and also highlighted frequent problem areas to help the contractor improve the new accounting software.