Antony dedicates "Equipment Accounting On Line System" to IAF

New Delhi, Mar 18 : Defence Minister A K Antony today dedicated the Equipment Accounting On Line System (EQUOLS) to the Nation at a formal ceremony at the Air Force Auditorium here.

Marshals of Air Force Arjan Singh, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Fali Major, the Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor were also present at the occasion.

The IAF holds a diverse fleet of aircraft, radars and various other associated equipment. An automated Information and Technology (IT) based material management system was required to account for its inventory and stores.

The IAF's accounts branch along with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has developed a material management system based on IT called the 'EQUOLS'. Before implementing EQUOLS, all transactions were being done manually with the help of vouchers, manual stock record cards which was a tedious and cumbersome job.

Antony said, "IT has transformed the world into a global village. Physical distances have ceased to exist. Technological advancement has had an impact on every field, aerospace being no exception. Thus we must make optimum use of strengthening our capabilities".

He further added, " I welcome TCS, the strategic partner in this project. Military industry partnership is necessary and must be encouraged. I am sure this alliance will be strengthened in the years to come."

The 'EQUOLS' has been implemented in two phases, namely the pilots site and sense phase site. The initial implementation was at 27 pilot sites, and thereafter, the application was installed at remaining sites.

So far, over 17.5 million entries have been transferred from manual records to the EQUOLS application. This task was achieved over the last six months.

ANI