Ahead of the 2024 Predictive Aircraft Maintenance Conference in Dublin on 13-14 November, MRO Management asked Boris Wolstenholme, chief executive of Sentry Aerospares, who will be speaking at the event, his thoughts on the landscape of predictive maintenance.
In what ways do you think predictive maintenance solutions can revolutionise MRO activity?
For MRO activity to be effective and aligned with an airline’s operational requirements, it needs to be scheduled as part of planned operations. Maintenance driven by unscheduled removals or failures causes disruptions, increases costs and potentially leads to passenger dissatisfaction. The drive to reduce unscheduled removals through predictive aircraft maintenance must influence behaviour at every stage of the aircraft’s defect, maintenance, repair and replacement lifecycle. Improvements in each of these areas will increase the number of predicted events and, consequently, those that can be scheduled in line with the operator’s plan. Eventually, we should see predictive aircraft maintenance activities aligned with inventory planning, logistics solutions and aircraft dispatch reliability. However, the most significant leap in MRO capability will be the development of workscopes for components that have not yet failed but have been removed because they are likely to.
At Sentry Aerospares, we focus on data and analytics that impact the supply chain, supporting unscheduled removals with a view to minimising any disruption to the operator by ensuring high-quality, critical spares are constantly available in strategic locations. The opportunity to further develop the data and analytics that drive our organisation will revolutionise our efficiency in supporting critical and AOG spares requirements.
How would you describe the current state of predictive maintenance in the MRO market, and are there any exciting trends shaping its future?
In the aircraft MRO market, predictive aircraft maintenance is prevalent and well developed for new product platforms, APUs and certain engine types. However, much progress is still needed for out-of-production and legacy platforms, particularly at the component level.
Predictive aircraft maintenance requires significant investment in technology, hardware and human resources, and it is still in its early stages when it comes to understanding the causes of component failures. Exciting developments are emerging from new technologies and the opportunity to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to interpret the vast amounts of data available to us.
However, the biggest challenges still to come are improving workscopes, supply chain transparency, ‘back to birth’ history and overcoming the fact that much of the required data is siloed. Through our own analytics, we have already seen massive improvements in inventory turnover and the service levels we deliver to our valued customers.
How is Sentry Aerospares already benefiting from predictive/innovative solutions?
Sentry Aerospares focuses on areas where we can positively impact the supply chain through the quality and global distribution of our inventory. We have always been a company built on analytics. Our core principle of AOG support requires us to analyse and identify the components likely to cause operational disruptions. Modern technology and software have enabled us to develop a data-rich platform, allowing us to refine and develop our inventory while optimising service levels for our customers.
We are focusing on the opportunities new technologies provide to harvest and incorporate external data sets. If we consider the potential to analyse transactional data with AI, the future looks very exciting indeed.
What are the primary hurdles the industry must overcome to propel forward with predictive maintenance?
There are several hurdles, but these are the ones I believe primarily affect our customers: legacy and out-of-production aircraft platforms are not supported by systems capable of predicting component-level failures. These aging fleets are also the aircraft types that create the greatest operational challenges. The information held by OEMs and authorised repair facilities is not in easily digestible formats and often resides in siloed environments between the MRO, operator and service provider. On-condition components are not monitored on a TSN (Time Since New) or TSI (Time Since Inspection) basis, so their reliability is recorded only in the context of MTBUR (Mean Time Between Unscheduled Removals). Additionally, we lack a way to record operational conditions that may impact a component’s reliability.
These are just a few of the significant challenges. However, when addressed, the effectiveness of scheduling maintenance events driven by predictive aircraft maintenance will depend on the supply chain that supports the industry.
Currently, there is a lack of transparency regarding production and supply chain delays, leading to extended repair turnaround times and longer delivery times for new components. At Sentry Aerospares, we continuously strive to address the critical demand generated by these hurdles.
How do you foresee predictive maintenance in the MRO industry evolving over the next decade?
The MRO industry will need to work closely with operators and OEMs to align and share the available data that will enable predictive aircraft maintenance. There will need to be significant advancements in platform capabilities to allow for transparency across these various stakeholder environments. The tools and resources required for predictive aircraft maintenance will also need to become more accessible to all operators, particularly smaller organisations.
Sentry Aerospares has a comprehensive, strategic plan to evolve within this environment and will continue to maintain the most relevant inventory to support AOG and critical demand in this constantly evolving landscape.
This feature was first published in MRO Management – October 2024. To read the magazine in full, click here.
PREDICTIVE AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE (PAM) CONFERENCE 2024
On 13-14 November, MRO Management and its parent company Real Response Media will host the Predictive Aircraft Maintenance (PAM) Conference 2024 at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Dublin, Ireland, bringing together senior level executives from airlines, OEMs, MRO specialists and big data experts to explore the future of predictive maintenance.
Attendees will discover how to get the best out of predictive maintenance while overcoming the greatest challenges. Case studies will highlight best practices and how companies are successfully collaborating with industry partners, while panel discussions will explore the major topics from the perspective of all stakeholders.
Thank you to our Gold Sponsor, Sentry Aerospares, for supporting PAM 2024.
For more information and to find out how to register to attend, visit predictiveaircraftmaintenance.com
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