Technologies that are changing the MRO industry

2022-01-14 / 2 min
Reading Time: 2 minutes

The aircraft maintenance industry has been adapting quite slow compared to the speed of technological developments. While new technology have been used to better detect damaged parts or optimize repairs processes, aircraft maintenance is still overwhelming dependent on human labor.

New MRO technologies show promise of changing the way the industry operates, a potential shift from human touch to human-led. New hardware and software advances have opened the door to automation, this has the potential to reduce MRO costs for aircraft operators and lessors.

Hot topic: Robotics in MRO

In fact, many organizations are pursuing robotics in one way or another. Robotics, therefore, is one of the fastest growing new MRO technologies to keep an eye out for. While not appropriate for all applications, robots have a number of potential uses for achieving greater efficiencies in the MRO world. This is particularly critical now, as skilled labor is in short supply in the industry and labor costs are climbing.

We’re seeing MRO robotics applied to everything from single parts repairs and carbon fiber machining to intricate inspection tasks through miniaturization, whereby robots can be used for the inspection of components that are otherwise difficult for humans to gain access to.

As a new MRO technology, 3D printing can enable the ability to seamlessly print replacement parts that are strong, durable, lightweight and quick as well as inexpensive to create – not to mention, they dramatically reduce inventory costs for maintenance providers.

A true revolution, 3D printing is being used by most of the larger MRO providers these days, but not to its fullest potential. For now, 3D printing is being used on the less crucial components – such as cabin components – and is yet to be used on the more important structural components.

Blockchain in MRO

Blockchain has captured the attention and curiosity of industries around the world, new era of secure system management, Blockchain has continuously held its position as leading technology. Blockchain can be used to improve record-keeping, digital twinning and faster lease turnover while maintaining a high standard of data privacy.

For MRO industries Blockchain can easily be applied to the tracking and movement of parts. Blockchain’s secure, immutable and decentralized features can help to reduce maintenance costs, increase aircraft availability, and minimize errors in tracking aircraft parts.

Analytics, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Data analytics, leading itself to developments in artificial intelligence as well as machine learning. AI has improved productivity and quality, overtaking all stereotypes that the technology destroys the old model of work. The advancements of technology in the aviation sector has resolved the MRO industry to work at greater speeds and process data that has to be analyzed and interpreted in real-time. AI works into the predictive maintenance program many MRO companies have in place. The technology helps identify any issues proactively.

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Digital Aero Technologies invests 1 million euros into aviation tech businesses Locatory.com and Enginestands.com

2021-12-22 / 3 min
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Digital Aero Technologies, a technology-driven aviation companies’ holding, established by a global aviation services group Avia Solutions Group, has announced that two more companies have joined the digital family – Locatory.com and Enginestands.com.

The recently established holding Digital Aero Technologies plans to cover various tech areas and fields – from news and recruitment to smart tools and online platforms. The holding has been actively looking to gather some of the industry-leading aviation technology companies under one roof. “I trust that uniting forward-thinking active businesses will encourage innovation and inter-company projects,” says Julius Norkunas, Digital Aero Technologies CEO.

Digital Aero Technologies is set to invest in up-and-coming companies on their way to make waves in the aviation technology industry. “We see so much potential and possibilities to grow and develop ideas important for the future of aviation. Our team is closely working with companies we take under our wing and invest to, to ensure that they have the best shot at making the history,” shares Julius Norkunas.

The newest additions to the Digital Aero Technologies holding that will be receiving investment are Locatory.com and Enginestands.com. DAT is investing 1 million euros into the development of the companies.

One of the largest global aircraft parts marketplaces joins DAT

Starting as an aircraft spare parts trading marketplace, Locatory.com, now is one of the leaders in the business, with 12.1 billion aircraft parts in its marketplace’s database for commercial and military aviation.

“We are delighted to join DAT and are excited about the possibilities that the investment brings. To meet the demands of the growing user base, we intend to strengthen our sales team, thus increasing the stock available on the platform,” explains Toma Matutyte, Director of Sales and Marketing at Locatory.com. “We also plan to continue developing our customer portfolio by attracting partners from various segments and locations. Additionally, we have big plans to refresh our marketplace with an upgrade to the platform’s design and functionalities.”

Trusted aircraft engine stand and tool leasing service Enginestands.com

The other before mentioned addition to DAT is Enginestands.com. It is an aircraft engine stand and tool leasing service for airlines, MROs, engine repair shops, leasing companies, freight forwarders, and other customers around the world. The ISO certified company offers leasing of high-quality equipment for the customer’s chosen period of time, allowing them to productively carry out maintenance operations that suit their schedule.

After receiving the investment from Digital Aero Technologies, Enginestands.com intends to pay even more attention to market analysis of required models and locations that would allow for further development of the company. “The investment will greatly assist in the realisation of Enginestands.com plans to develop our geographical reach and available stand portfolio. Additionally, we will look for ways to automise and optimise processes to offer clients more flexibility,” Toma Matutyte shared.

Toma Matutyte, Director of Sales and Marketing at Locatory.com

About Digital Aero Technologies:

To underline the importance of future technologies and innovation for the aviation and aerospace industries, Digital Aero Technologies (DAT) was established by Avia Solutions Group to encompass a diverse spectrum of forward-facing aviation companies involved in multiple technology-driven aviation sectors.

Avia Solutions Group, a leading aerospace services group with what has become almost 100 offices and production facilities worldwide. ASG is significantly backed by the assets of over 7,000 highly skilled aviation professionals, serving more than 2,000 clients throughout Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, and worldwide. 

Avia Solutions Group holds more than 500 licenses for its evolutionary range of activities across multiple business sectors. Its vast portfolio of services to clients include; aircraft leasing and trading, MRO services, business aviation and VIP airline procurement, charter and cargo aviation, pilot and crew training, recruitment services, together with multiple complementary services spanning a wide range of associated operations.

About Enginestands.com:

Engine Stands provide an aircraft engine stand and aircraft tools leasing service for Airlines, MROs, engine repair shops, leasing companies, freight forwarders, and other global customers. All engine stands are checked according to the highest standards and quality requirements. Stands are built according to OEM specifications and are fully approved by the Engine OEM. In addition, Engine Stands offer worldwide shipping services for all leasing orders. The aim is to provide engine stands and tools to the company’s clients as quickly as possible and in this way contribute to the client’s project’s success.

Engine Stands is a family member of Avia Solutions Group, a leading aerospace services group with what has become almost 100 offices and production facilities worldwide. ASG is significantly backed by the assets of over 7,000 highly skilled aviation professionals, serving more than 2,000 clients throughout Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, and worldwide. 

Avia Solutions Group holds more than 500 licenses for its evolutionary range of activities across multiple business sectors. Its vast portfolio of services to clients include; aircraft leasing and trading, MRO services, business aviation and VIP airline procurement, charter and cargo aviation, pilot and crew training, recruitment services, together with multiple complementary services spanning a wide range of associated operations.

For more information, please visit www.aviasg.com

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AOG – the pressing demand to return aircraft to service as quickly as possible

2021-12-15 / 2 min
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Modern commercial aircraft are composed of literally millions of working parts that combine to assemble a fully functioning aircraft – one that can fly and earn revenue for its operators. Should any one, or combination of these millions of components demand replacement or repair, the potential for loss of earnings is great.

AOG (aircraft on the ground) situations occur for multiple reasons; malfunction, possible future malfunction, or post-inspection failure – aircraft are required to undergo regulatory inspection after every 400-600 hours and every 6-8 months. Should the aircraft fail to pass its inspection, it is immediately grounded and enters the no-mans-land of AOG.

Most reasons for grounding can be easily overcome, such as malfunctioning sensors, minor part replacements, or other non-invasive repairs. However, regardless of the reason, loss of revenue due to an AOG situation is the main reason that aircraft need to return to service as quickly as possible.

But what if the AOG aircraft requires a spare part not held in stock by the operator’s MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) business partner? What if that part has to be transported from a distant location, or in a worst-case scenario, a replacement part simply can’t be found? Because of its loss of revenue earning potential, a grounded aircraft can cost as much as $150,000 for a delay of only a couple of hours. And what’s more, that capital loss doesn’t even include the potential damage to the operators’ reputation.

Locatory.com, a family member of the global Avia Solutions Group, is regarded among the world leaders in the aircraft spare parts marketplace – its technologically advanced database contains over 12-billion commercial and military aircraft parts, along with more than 900,000 repair capabilities. Such is the comprehensive nature of its parts portfolio, Locatory.com are key partners to some of the world’s most trusted MRO companies for whom prolonged AOG situations must be avoided at all cost.

According to Salah Marechal, Chief Product Officer, Locatory.com Marketplace, “AOG situations are among the most pressing concerns for modern commercial aviation companies. Returning an aircraft to service is a priority and every tool available is brought into service to ensure that spare parts are searched, sourced, and delivered in the most expedient manner possible. For forward preparedness, the Locatory.com platform also gives the user the tools to analyse and uncover market opportunities, search historical parts demand, offer inventory competition reports, and deliver market trend reports to stay ahead of the curve. In effect, the Locatory.com Marketplace is the go-to crisis-management tool in the majority of AOG situations.”

Before any AOG disaster strikes and inflicts damage to airline schedules, RoI, and reputation, commercial aircraft operators need to develop an AOG strategy that will go a long way towards offsetting any potential calamity. The main focus behind this strategic planning lies in the notion of not ‘if’ but ‘when’ and AOG situation will occur, and how prepared the operator will be to face that situation.

In the world of AOG, time is money, lots of money, and being prepared for every eventually, using every tool possible is key.

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Transparency in spare parts pricing

2021-12-03 / 2 min
Reading Time: 2 minutes

In an environment as crowded as the aviation spare parts marketplace, finding transparency in pricing may seem like an almost impossible task. With the sector flooded with millions of unique part numbers, competing brokers, MROs, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), how can industry players be sure that prices are accurate, conducive to profit, and have not been artificially inflated?

Recent innovations in technology, such as increased internet speeds, the propagation of IoT, and the demand for Big Data crunching power, have helped increase transparency in pricing and created a less risky environment for customers and suppliers in which to trade.

Locatory.com, a family member of Avia Solutions Group, and the leading aviation marketplace in Europe and the eastern hemisphere has taken that transparency to the next level with a comprehensive online tool for sourcing spare parts and repair capabilities. The Locatory.com platform gives greater pricing transparency than many of its competitors via its adaptability and extensive search capabilities.

According to Toma Matutyte, Director of Sales and Marketing at Locatory.com Marketplace, “To be more competitive and proactive in the market, players need to be able to compare, analyse, and take reasonable insights from reliable statistics and analytics, and that’s exactly what Locatory.com gives our customers the power to do.”

The Locatory platform allows the user to fine-tune their searches using parameters such as price statistics, part numbers, latest trending parts, demand by condition, and hard to find parts, all of which can be further sorted ‘by year’. There is also the added functionality offering Company Statistics, offering overviews of your company’s past and present condition, including historical data concerning spare parts KPIs. Additionally, the Company Actions section of the Locatory.com platform is available for management and admins to minutely examine, analyse, and act on all aspects of process management.

Toma Matutyte adds, “There can be no doubt that the aviation aftermarket has seriously influenced the entire industry. With the introduction of next-generation aircraft and the retirement of older models, the spare parts marketplace, including the transparency of pricing, has altered dramatically, making spare parts an important profit resource for OEMs.

“By offering better pricing transparency, Locatory.com has opened greater opportunities for easier sourcing, quicker turn-around times, and enhanced profitability in the aircraft parts and repair capabilities sector. The unique capabilities of the Locatory.com platform enable aviation traders to establish pricing and find more opportunities across the entire aviation marketplace.”

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Is cryptocurrency a viable payment platform for aviation spare parts?

2021-11-19 / 2 min
Reading Time: 2 minutes

It’s been slow coming, but finally, blockchain technologies are beginning to disrupt the aviation spare parts and maintenance industries. The aviation and aerospace industries are well known for their traditional methods of doing things and their reluctance to change – with good reason in many cases, safety being one of them – however, the benefits of digitalisation are now being realised by aviation companies seeking to improve their operational efficiency, especially in the spare parts marketplace.

Cryptocurrencies, as one branch of blockchain technologies, is being widely touted as the future method of payment for aircraft spare parts and repairs. But is that just a pipe dream, a possibility, or an idea that will eventually become a reality?

Already, blockchain technologies are offering insights into one area that is haemorrhaging money for the aviation industry – the manual collection of big data. Two sectors of aviation already heavily reliant on the collection of big data are MRO and spare parts. At present much of the information critical to keeping aircraft in the air is collected manually, both expensive and time-consuming processes.

However, blockchain can record the movement of spare parts every time a part is installed or removed from an aircraft, along with other information such as time in service, last inspection date, location, and even the records associated with the technicians who may have worked on repairs. It is even envisaged by some that these evolving technologies could lead to virtual 3D, AI, or AR blueprints of every aircraft, where every part, and all of its associated information, can be stored and retrieved as needed.

Companies like Locatory.com – a family member of Avia Solutions Group, and the number one aviation marketplace in Europe and the eastern hemisphere for aircraft spare parts and repair capabilities – is already contemplating the future for cryptocurrency payments as an integral element of the spare parts marketplace.

Toma Matutyte, Director of Sales and Marketing at Locatory.com believes that cryptocurrencies can transform the digital spare parts marketplace, but also realises that many players are still cautious about its onboarding. “There can be little doubt that blockchain technology will influence how aviation, and especially the spare parts marketplace will gather information. With that in mind,” says Matutyte, “it seems logical that cryptocurrencies are predominantly suitable to work in tandem with these new technologies as a means of instant payment for parts or services anywhere in the world. Any technology that improves the flow of parts, increases buyer confidence, and reduces wasteful practices has to be taken seriously.”

Cryptocurrencies have many advantages; transactions are quick and easy, their place in the blockchain cuts out the need for banks or other financial institutions, every transaction is recorded in a public list (the blockchain itself), and probably most importantly, cryptocurrencies are gaining in popularity and are now widely used as an instant payment method for all kinds of goods and services.

It’s also true that cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages; the irretrievable loss of digital wallets and their contents, the fluctuating value of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, the marketplace remains unregulated, and they are vulnerable to cyber-crime and scams.

All new practices, not just in the aviation industry, come with certain amounts of trepidation. However, the growth of cryptocurrencies already seems to be an unstoppable train and destined to become an integral part of the future aircraft spare parts and maintenance sectors.

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The secret afterlife of retired aircraft

2021-11-11 / 2 min
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Around 94% of an aircraft can be reused or recycled at the end of its life. This could see fully functional cockpit equipment becoming a spare part for another aircraft or aluminum fuselage finding a new life as a keyring. Circular economy for aerospace and aviation sectors: redesign, repair, reuse, recycle, paving the runway to a more cost-effective, low-carbon economy. However, what happens to the parts that can’t find a new home?

Upcycling the parts — using old materials to make something new and different — has gained momentum in recent years. It has become a much more efficient marketplace as more companies have become socially and environmentally responsible. Access to retired aircraft materials used to be difficult, but in recent years, they have become more available.

Typically, at the end of airplanes lifecycle, the airline or owner may keep some of parts for reuse internally, some aircrafts may be converted into cargo planes and the remaining inventory is often sold.

Second life

Components (everything from cockpit instrumentation and the outer shell of the plane known as skin, to seats and food-service equipment) in good condition can be used to equip other planes or are recycled or upcycled into things like beverage cans, clothing, and home and office furnishings.

The average aircraft has about 800 to 1,000 parts that can be reused when it comes out of service. The largest assets, like the engine and landing gear, are often removed, repaired, tested, recertified and used in another aircraft in a carrier’s fleet. Aluminum, copper wiring and other precious metals go to recycling centers and back to the raw supply chain.

Repurposing parts

Many items are produced commercially, but unique uses abound: an old galley cart turned into a home bar, wings from an old Boeing 747 that form the roof of a private house, and first-class seats used as lounge chairs, cuff links in the shape of a wing rib made from the fuselage of a Pan Am Boeing 707.

Civil aircraft can bring as much economic benefit to its owners when it is retired as it does during the days it is busy flying people and cargo around the world. Over 90 % of an aircraft’s parts can be recycled, dismantling a plane can provide up to 6,000 parts.

Recycling aviation parts

An average commercial aircraft has an estimated 800 to 1,000 parts that can be recycled. The most valuable of these are the engine, landing gear, avionics and electronics. Once these components and parts are removed, overhauled, tested and recertified, they can be repurposed back into aviation. The remaining materials, including aluminum, copper, and various alloys can go to recycling facilities and returned to the raw material supply chain.

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