Aircraft operators need to know that when spare parts are needed, they will be available. Bernie Baldwin reports on how manufacturers and MRO providers achieve that goal.
It’s been said more than once that there is no such thing as a single aeroplane. What you see is a set of parts that have come together to fly at a particular time. By the next time the core of that unit flies, it might have many parts which are different, some of which might have been flying on a different unit a few weeks previously and have since been refurbished and put back into operation.
The key point is that all the necessary parts are in the same place when the schedule requires them to take flight. For that, those who keep the aircraft airworthy need to ensure stock is maintained at a certain level, but of course not overstocked as that would tie up capital. In a great many cases, the task is aided by parts support programmes involving the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or major third-party MRO providers.
Michael Sandstede, head of business development–aircraft component services at Lufthansa Technik (LHT), outlines some of the benefits to be gained from using such programmes. “Being a large international MRO provider, we at Lufthansa Technik have the advantage that we can rely on an extensive database of operations and MRO data from our existing parts support customers,” he explains.
“Based on permanent comparisons with the data of customer fleets operating in comparable environments, we can support other customers with precisely tailored recommendations for optimising their minimum equipment lists (MELs). Unlike OEMs, whose support – and thus data coverage – is usually limited to their respective parts spectrum, as an OEM-independent MRO we support customers with recommendations on a much broader and independent basis and always based on actual operational experience on a global scale,” Sandstede adds.
Horacio Repetto, general manager of GE Aviation’s materials business, identifies the benefits that can be accrued from a contract with an OEM. “GE Aviation has an open model for our MRO services with TrueChoice offerings for new, used and repaired material. This gives customers flexibility based on their fleet size, needs and budget,” he begins.
“The key benefits include: access to material with tailored solutions for operators of all scales, a global footprint to meet operators’ material needs, and offerings to best optimise costs, including new material inventory and used serviceable material (USM) alternatives,” he continues. “GE Aviation offers USM as a standalone service or in combination with new parts to suit an engine’s ownership horizon.
“Additionally, our customers can quickly access our technical experts and engineering teams who are ready to assist. Along with these material choices, GE Aviation offers the TRUEngine LLP programme for life-limited parts, a designation confirming used engine parts have been operated in accordance with OEM configuration standards, thereby optimising the engine’s residual value,” Repetto elaborates. Certainly, many operators have signed up for this programme with that last benefit in mind.
Giving the airframer’s point of view is Gustavo Ribeiro, head of services business management, Embraer Services & Support, who believes that OEMs have the competitive advantage of knowing their customer base very well and, even better, their own products. “Embraer’s servicing philosophy has always been to support and assist all our customers, regardless of the size of their fleet, age of aircraft, new or pre-owned aircraft, or where they operate in the world.
“In terms of material support, we have designed pooling and repairable/rotables special exchange arrangements, providing access to both new and used parts inventories and a complete portfolio of programmes focused on facilitating timely long-distance supply (such as multi-echelon logistics programmes),” he reports. “Also, services offered by an aircraft OEM – such as Ahead-Pro (more of which later) and component repair – have an important role in the lifecycle cost, promoting data integration and resulting in cost predictability, risk transfer and maintenance and operational cost reduction.”
As noted, it is important for operators not to tie up too much money in spares stocks, which is why pooling is popular. However, situations can arise when keeping extra spares can be worthwhile, such as occurred with a European regional which once bought a large amount of stock from a carrier in liquidation at a knockdown price and was able to store it until needed in the hangar. Embraer, however, strongly advocates pooling.
“We consider that our Pool Program, which currently supports more than 50 airlines worldwide, is the optimal solution for airlines – regardless of fleet size – seeking to have access to a reliable inventory of the most critical and costly repairable parts without having to purchase that inventory or assume its related administrative costs due to the storing and maintaining of those parts,” declares Ribeiro.
“As the Pool Program offers complete access to the inventory at a convenient flight hour rate, this is attractive to carriers, because the immediate access to parts is achieved at reduced and predictable cash flows,” he continues. “This allows the airline to focus on its core business and delegate most of its repairable parts requirements and processes to Embraer, who will manage both the provision of serviceable part exchanges and the unserviceable part repairs.”
The view of LHT’s Sandstede is that a pooling programme offers a number of benefits if an aircraft operator requires a guaranteed availability of parts anytime, anywhere on the planet. “By shifting the parts supply risk to a provider such as Lufthansa Technik, aircraft operators not only enjoy cost security, they can significantly reduce their costs in taking advantage of our larger purchasing power as an international MRO and global parts support provider,” he notes.
“Our pooling approach combines 24/7 global access to Lufthansa Technik’s parts pools with a tailored main-base kit directly at the customer’s hub or focus airport. This way, our customers achieve significantly higher parts availability compared with holding stock on their own premises. In addition, they are also able to reduce significantly their own reserve stock and the supply time to the aircraft, while also minimising their own administration efforts and cost,” Sandstede emphasises.
Giving his take on pooling versus holding stock, Repetto believes that customer needs vary depending on their specific operating plans and fleet. “As a result, GE Aviation offers customers options to build their inventory of aircraft engine parts or to pool parts,” he comments.
“GE Aviation’s offerings include programmes for rotable pools, set management and consignment. Set management – common for long-term fixed-price contracts with aircraft operators – sees customers receiving a full kit of engine replacement parts, with GE managing the material kitting, repairs and logistics. We also offer consignment products for engine and LRU (line replaceable unit) components that can be tailored for customers.”
Behind all this are the systems which control this part of the business – ERP applications, purchasing, stock checking and replenishment – aiding the ability to forward plan. This digitalisation of the processes can have a strong influence on the operator’s ‘bottom line’.
GE Aviation has been investing in digitalisation for quite some time, including the acquisition in 2012 of Austin Digital, which provided analysis of flight operations data and the purchase in 2017 of AirVault, a supplier of cloud-based digital records management. These and more have been integrated into the OEM’s operation.
“GE Aviation offers customers Comprehensive Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics,” Repetto states. “This engine health monitoring service includes self-serve access to GE’s customer web portals, where customers can find technical updates, and analysis of key engine performance trends such as oil usage, gas temperatures, vibration, rotor speed, fuel flow and more. Customer Notification Reports (CNRs) issued to GE Aviation customers identify potential engine issues with recommended maintenance actions. Additionally, operators receive 24/7 global support for aircraft on ground (AOG).
“Customers for GE Aviation’s comprehensive Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics receive dedicated consultation for analysis of key engine performance trends to optimise their fleet operations and receive custom insights and maintenance recommendations. This service can increase engine time-on-wing and reduce unscheduled engine removals for maintenance,” Repetto highlights.
Embraer’s Ribeiro hones in on another area where digitalisation is delivering benefits in support. “Digital tools help customers to make preventive maintenance actions to increase fleet availability, scheduled reliability and reduce operational costs and technical interruptions. Embraer has developed the Ahead-Pro solution that delivers such benefits,” he says.
The OEM explains that Ahead (Aircraft HEalth Analysis Diagnosis) is “an integrated tool which consolidates aircraft data from onboard systems and web-based databases providing prompt support, effective troubleshooting, aircraft usage information and advanced notifications”.
“In addition,” adds Ribeiro, “Embraer has been working continuously to reduce maintenance cost with dedicated projects, focusing on components reliability and robustness, maintenance requirements with intervals increased or even deleted and a parts and repairs price solution.”
Lufthansa Technik is also a company which swiftly adopted digitalisation of its business wherever possible. And in Sandstede’s opinion, it has already become an integral part of parts pooling programmes.
“Digitalisation has significantly affected the bottom line,” he proclaims. “For example, our material planning algorithms, based on big data and machine learning, allow us to optimise and reduce material stock levels. Via a standard interface, our production system is nowadays fully integrated into many airlines’ maintenance and engineering systems, such as AMOS [from Swiss AviationSoftware]. This enables us to achieve a faster and more robust parts supply at highest degrees of compliance, while fully maintaining CAMO and EASA Part 145 segregation. Benefits we realise through this approach are shared with our customers, as is the cost for the initial setup.
“Among these benefits is the ability to provide a full digital history of each component and a full interchangeability check with an aircraft’s Illustrated Parts Catalogue (IPC). With our AVIATAR platform, we are combining customer data and shop maintenance data to predict proactively component failures in order to prevent unscheduled maintenance events. If an airline allows us to integrate its line maintenance and flight data into our fulfilment loop, we can even realise response times in the magnitude of ‘delivery before order’,” Sandstede declares.
While in the set of parts that comes together to fly at a particular time, some get changed more frequently than others, it is clearly reassuring to operators that, aided by digital processes, OEMs and MROs are now even better at having parts where they need to be at the time they need to be there.
Author: Bernie Baldwin
Published: 9th September 2021
Photo Credit: Embraer. Gregor Schlaeger/Lufthansa Technik AG
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