Page 27 - AAA MAY - JUNE 2018 Online Magazine

Key Differentiators help of new technologies will help expense.
MROs can use this head-start, not MROs stave off competition from Aftermarket Battle
only to differentiate themselves OEMs. HAECO is a perfect exam- Continues

from OEMs, but other MRO com- ple. Unlike most OEMs, and even In the short-term, OEMs will still try
petitors as well. There are three other MROs, which have aircraft- to persuade airlines to move to their
specific areas MROs must focus on-ground teams to go and help ‘one-stop shop’ maintenance model
on to win more aftermarket service stranded aircraft, the company’s but will come under increased com-
contracts: mobile capability means a remote petition as independent MROs
team can work on complex com- ramp up their offerings. In the long-
Diversify Services posite materials used on new and term, we’ll see an increase in the
OEMs want to be the ‘one-stop advanced aircraft regardless of number of OEMs acquiring or form-
shop’ for all maintenance work, location. If an airline has a damaged ing joint ventures with MROs as
well as an increase in the number
of independent MRO groups, aimed
at protecting independent service
providers against the dominance
and offerings from the OEMs.

But M&A activity alone will not be
enough. The building of new capa-
bilities, capacities and partnerships
will be key in keeping up with the
pace of change from indepen-
dent MROs, OEMs and the wider
but MROs are proving much better aircraft stuck in a remote location, commercial aviation market. By
at catering for the changing needs they could take a maintenance team demonstrating greater traditional
of airlines. MROs are much more with the capability to repair that air- maintenance service efficiency and
flexible and can expand and diver- craft out in the field. Technicians expanding to new offerings, MROs
sify their capabilities to take on a can access electronic task cards, will not only be able to compete
lot of the work airlines want to out- receive job assignments, create with OEMs, but outshine them.
source, including fleet management non-routine task cards as well as
and line planning, and adapting to sign off task cards electronically
new aircraft types. New composite through mobile devices. This ties
aircraft mean heavy or line main- mobile expectations and mainte-
tenance work isn’t happening as nance together, with a team that
often, so MROs are starting to offer can work anywhere, anytime.
management and planning capabil- Offer Choice – Full or in Part Service
ities while still focusing on smaller Another differentiator for MROs is
checks and repair jobs. That’s not the price point. Airlines trust OEM
to say that the OEMs won’t provide products, but their pricing has not
this level of service in the future, always been the primary bene-
however they will need to compete fit for airlines. Many airlines don’t
with the MROs’ established rela- want to be locked into expensive
tionships. full-service contracts. Because
OEMs offer overall maintenance
Anywhere, Anytime packages rather than smaller repair
In a highly saturated after- jobs – which might include heavy
market, efficiency is key to maintenance, line maintenance and
maintaining customer relationships. supply chain – airlines are weary
Airline expectations increase year- of what the full lifecycle costs will
over-year in terms of how quickly be. MROs on the other hand have (James Elliott is Director of
aircraft are repaired and how well proven they can return an aircraft the MRO product line for the
costs are controlled. Improving back to service as quickly and Aerospace & Defence Business
maintenance operations with the safely as possible for minimum Unit at IFS)

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