Here's Everything You Need to Know!
Aviation MRO is a critical part of an aircraft maintenance company's functionality. So how exactly does the term MRO apply in the aviation industry? What do you really need to know about aviation maintenance business operations? Here, we will review some of the MRO activities that will impact an aviation repair business's operations. We'll also cover how MRO impacts day-to-day operational procedures. Read on to discover everything you need to know about the latest aviation MRO impact!
What Does MRO in Aviation Mean?
MRO is an acronym used in aviation and business terminology. It stands for maintenance, repair, and overhaul. This term describes a set of activities and operations associated with the upkeep of an aircraft maintenance business. This can include plant or facility repairs that are structural, systematic, or equipment-related. Really, the term covers anything that has a significant impact on any facility's day-to-day spending and aircraft maintenance-related activities.
In the commercial aircraft business, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) are essential to ensuring that aircraft are maintained properly. MRO ensures that all aircraft will be in the conditions necessary for airworthiness. This is essential when transporting passengers and cargo safely.
The commercial aircraft MRO market is greatly influenced by an array of external factors. These factors tend to concern the wider air transport industry as a whole. This may include global fleet sizes and aircraft utilization, economic trends, and more. MRO also directly correlates with increasing and decreasing air traffic volumes. These volumes apply to passengers and cargo alike.
Understanding MRO in Spending and Facility Operations
Various operations take place within any given aviation maintenance facility each day. Within production lines, materials and parts are taken from suppliers and machined into finished products. From there, these products can be sold, implemented in facility repairs, or used for aircraft maintenance.
Moreover, various shipments are handled as incoming and outgoing materials are managed. Production workers consume personal protection equipment, office supplies, lubricants, rags, and other materials. In the offices and IT departments, computer servers are run and reports are generated. Even janitorial and cleaning supplies must be considered in MRO operations.
In order for these operations to be supported, engineers, plant managers, and procurement specialists must effectively secure services and products. This is what ensures that a facility can operate smoothly.
The purchasing of different materials, services, and products will usually be divided into direct and indirect spending. Direct spending concerns productive activities directly related to the business side of things. This includes the purchasing of materials, services, and parts. Indirect spending encompasses all other materials, services, and parts that are consumed during the day-to-day operations within a facility or plant.
As such, MRO is a component of indirect spending. It relates to the upkeep of a facility and the systems needed to ensure that its daily operations remain stable. For aircraft, it impacts maintenance, repairs, safety, and airworthiness.
Different Types of MRO
MRO can be divided into several categories. In the aviation maintenance industry, these categories are commonly associated with infrastructure repair, aircraft maintenance, production equipment repair, materials, tooling, consumables, and so on.
Performance Indicators and MRO
To help ensure an efficient and effective MRO strategy, establishing a set of performance indicators can be helpful. These performance indicators are also known as KPIs. This will assist an aviation company as they track and monitor savings, costs, and spending trends in general. Companies that are armed with KPI reports will have an easier time building real-time MRO and inventory strategies. This is key when allocating resources during the current period of economic decline.
Factoring in Economic Impacts
Recently, the commercial aircraft MRO market has seen significant fluctuations. Economic challenges are clearly reflected in the falling revenue trends of numerous leading MRO companies. The forecast for the coming decade, however, is generally positive.
Significant industry recovery is expected to begin soon. Particularly, a considerable demand for services is expected in the Asian-Pacific and Middle Eastern regions. This will likely act as a potent market driver for the commercial aircraft MRO sector. Many companies are expecting this trend to apply to both short-term and mid-term future operations.
Putting it All Together
All in all, commercial aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul is a critical part of maintaining any aviation-related business. Although the commercial aircraft MRO industry has fluctuated in recent years, general MRO principles still apply in the same ways that they always have. Even with recent economic instability, the outlook for these services remains positive, especially for upcoming aircraft maintenance MRO operations overseas.