MRO Turn Time

An aircraft pulls into the hangar for one of its scheduled checks. The task cards for the known work are created by the airline MRO systems. Parts bulletins and other notifications are retrieved. Parts are ordered and technicians are scheduled. A completion date is planned and communicated to the airline. Once these outbound / inbound dates are set, the airline schedule reflects the capacity it has available for that, and other aircraft.  

Early completion of the MRO event will not usually benefit the airline, but late completion interferes with the flight schedules.  So over time, SkyThread can work to reduce the “planned” time for the schedule checks by documenting the conditions that cause unnecessary work and to reduce the buffer times in the schedule that are built in to account for this effort. Less time in the hangar results in less costs overall and better aircraft schedule availability. This application mirrors the check cycle to “learn” and look for improvements by plane, by part and serial number, by technician, and by maintenance location.

MRO Unplanned Tasks

Generally, 80% of maintenance task cards account for about 20% of daily MRO work effort and schedules. The remaining 20% of MRO tasks are “unplanned” and require an “all hands-on deck” situation. This is where maintenance teams search for hard-to-find parts, schedule hard to complete repairs, and look for alternatives when preferred paths are no longer available. Heroes are born here.

The industry also sees unplanned maintenance while a flight is “in schedule”. Some estimates put the incremental (non-maintenance) cost of unplanned maintenance at over $30 billion / year. In both cases (unplanned tasks in scheduled maintenance and unplanned maintenance,) real time visibility to required parts, interchangeable parts, available and qualified technicians, and the specialized tools required to complete the repairs is critical. SkyThread is working to close the key gaps that prevent necessary information from being visible and successfully exchanged to dramatically reduce unplanned maintenance response time.

Component Repair and Administration

The component repair cycles begin when a serviceable part is sent out to repair or rebuild. Even in a mature and modern ERP environment, a major Tier 1 supplier struggled with the ability of the system to take a complex aircraft assembly like an engine and complete the work with assured schedules and maximum visibility. One major Tier 1 parts provider used design thinking skills and tools to visualize new processes and systems to induct an aircraft engine into a repair station, disassemble and task out for repairs or replace, receive parts back from repair or replace, reassemble, test, document and ship. They were able to take hundreds of separate transactions and compile them into a workflow that was easier to use by the technicians. And they increased part visibility at every step of the component repair process. This use case emulates these success in the blockchain to enable cross company collaboration and visibility.

Line and Overnight Checks

Service checks, including line and overnight checks, are the most typical maintenance events performed on commercial aircraft. Checks require minimal tools and are usually done at the airport gate under the “open sky” and happen most frequently. Aircraft technicians will inspect things like wheels, brakes, and fluid levels. Performing a check ensures an aircraft is airworthy and safe to continue service. Aircraft will need line maintenance every 24 to 60 hours of accumulated flight time, so it will happen at some time during each week. This application looks for and solves the information gaps that exist during these aircraft checks.