The aircraft maintenance professional's source for technological advancements, maintenance alerts, news, articles, events, and careers
Issue link: http://amt.epubxp.com/i/679617
1.316.733.9240 rfq@globalparts.aero www.globalparts.aero Airframe Accessories Avionics & Instruments Landing Gear Rotables Wheels & Brakes Engine Accessories Windows AVIATION PARTS SOLUTION Your One Source AviationPros.com/company/10451249 planes are making more flights, with flight routes becoming busier and increas- ingly globalized. These new aircraft, com- plete with new technologies, must merge with a fleet containing planes at varying stages of their operational lifespan. Aerospace MRO services/supply chains face significant challenges to meet the demand and will need to drive in trans- formational efficiencies. WHY IS MRO IMPORTANT TO THE BOTTOM LINE? Wall Street Journal research showed that in many cases, 99 percent of the revenue received per flight by many airlines is needed simply to break even on the high base costs incurred in operation. The largest cost to airlines is fuel, followed by salaries, taking 29 and 20 percent of revenue respectively. Hedging is a key play here for fuel but that is effectively a risk and airlines cannot directly influence the barrel price. Salaries are also difficult to reduce because of the global competi- tion for qualified aircraft maintainers. As such, both fuel and people are costs that cannot be influenced easily or minimized to maximize profit. The one area where an airline can help boost profits is that of maintenance (be it indigenous or contracted out), where costs typically make up 11 percent of revenue. By transforming MRO and its associated supply chain into a more holis- tic enterprise approach it is possible to achieve increased value. And, the sums indicate that if operators can reduce main - tenance costs by just 10 percent, they could double their profits. TRANSFORMING TO IMPACT THE BOTTOM LINE For an MRO to be able to deliver on the bottom line the maintenance operation needs to transform and adapt. New tech- nology such as new composite materials, the continual development of passenger services such as touch screen entertain- ment and Wi-Fi, as well as government initiatives such as 'Clean Sky', brings widely different MRO demands than ever before. Link this to an ever increasing regulatory compliance framework and this is only going to get more complex over time as new requirements continue to evolve. Some key challenges IFS sees being fed back from the civil aviation sector include: It's a dynamic market The MRO market dynamics are transform- ing, and an organization needs process and information system (IS) solution agility to deal with them. Smaller MRO businesses are facing increased competi- tion as more airlines bring MRO in-house coupled with the increasing dominance of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) seeking to maintain and support their own products. New technologies, green engines, and composite materials are adding further pressure on aircraft maintenance where process efficiency, high resource utilization, and process innovation are key requirements in order to stay competitive. It's a growing market MRO services must adapt to cope with the resulting increase in demands. This requires continued investment in facili- ties, training, and modern IS. It's hard to optimize scarce, skilled resources With staff resources stretched, it becomes critical to manage those skills more effec- tively with greater flexibility. Operators also need a better understanding of cost structures and activities to facilitate adjustments. It's challenging to drive in regulatory requirements Increasing pressure is also coming in the form of environmental factors such as Clean Sky and the annual reporting rigours associated with eco-footprint. It's a complex supply chain The costs of aircraft parts are increas- ing — the logistics needs to be managed efficiently. At the same time there needs