Page 6 - AAA JULY - SEPTEMBER 2019 Online Magazine

machines, shows big gains,” says Stacey Dixon,
who directs advanced research for the Director
of National Intelligence, says. “Machines are
good at certain things, people at other things.
So, you need teaming,” she adds.

Booming Market
The digital MRO market is clearly not waiting
for the industry to arrive at a consensus on
how to team technology and the human mind
for optimum results. The digital MRO market is
forecast to grow from US$1 billion in 2019 to
US$ 4.7 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 14.6 per
cent, according to reports. The growth is mainly
fueled by the increasing demand for unmanned
vehicles and ongoing military modernization launched in 2018, targets a manufacturing value-added of S$4 bil-
programmes. lion and 1,000 new jobs in the industry by 2020. The added focus
on the sector comes at a time when Asia-Pacific is on its way to
The growth is expected to be most pro- becoming the world’s largest aviation market, accounting for nearly
nounced in the artificial intelligence segment 40 percent of the global fleet in 20 years.
of the market as carriers and MROs continue One of the focus areas of the ITM is driving innovation in emerg-
to depend more on predictive maintenance, ing technologies. ST Engineering’s Aerospace arm is investing
part failure analysis, and troubleshooting. The heavily in new technology with its Smart MRO initiative. Among
North American region is projected to account the new technologies that the company is using in its hangars are
for the largest share of the digital MRO market the DroScan UAV, which inspects aircraft and helps in predictive
in 2019 and will continue to lead other regions maintenance, robotics, and augmented reality glasses.
well into the next decade. Keen to take advantage of the possibilities, Singapore Aerospace
Digitization could help airlines save more Manufacturing (SAM) has invested in advanced automation equip-
than US$5 billion a year by decreasing fuel, ment, as well as software and engineering capabilities to upgrade
maintenance and delay costs, says Richard existing lines to manufacture next-generation aircraft components.
Brown, ICF Principal. The industry can save Aerospace powerhouse Airbus has teamed up with the Civil Aviation
about US$3 billion a year through health moni- Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Singapore Post (SingPost) for
toring and predictive maintenance. Digitalization the Skyways parcel delivery drone, one in the series of Urban Air
could result in fuel savings costs of US$1.7 bil- Mobility projects by Airbus Helicopters. In March this year, Airbus
lion while reducing delays through improved announced that it had begun shore-to-ship trials in Singapore with
turnaround process and in-flight routing optimi- the Skyways UAV.
zation could result in savings of US$800 million
for the industry, he adds. China Gets Ready
China, which is set to become the world’s largest civil aviation
Grabbing the Initiative market by mid-2020, is banking on digitalization to ensure that it
Keen on maintaining its status as Asia Pacific’s is ready to meet the demands of a rapidly growing market. The
leading MRO hub, Singapore has jumped on Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is promoting digital
to the digital bandwagon. The Government’s systems and technologies such as artificial intelligence and bio-
Aerospace Industry Transformation Map (ITM), logical feature recognition technologies, facial recognition, as well

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