Boeing and Safran Partner on Spare Parts Availability
Boeing and Safran are collaborating to improve the availability of spare parts, reflecting an industry-wide push to digitize supply chains. Such initiatives often create new requirements for embedded systems, including enhanced onboard diagnostics and secure health monitoring capabilities. The partnership aims to address supply chain disruptions and improve maintenance operations.
- This partnership builds on a history of collaboration, including a 2018 joint venture to design, build, and service Auxiliary Power Units (APUs). That earlier 50-50 venture combined Safran's experience in producing complex propulsion assemblies with Boeing's extensive knowledge of its aircraft and customer needs. - The initiative is a direct response to widespread supply chain disruptions, with some analyses indicating that parts and maintenance issues contribute to 30% of Aircraft-on-Ground (AOG) and irregular operations events, costing airlines around $1 million per tail annually. Boeing itself has faced significant production delays due to parts shortages and has been working to digitize its supply chain, which involves managing over 1 billion parts per year from 5,400 suppliers. - A core technological element is likely the use of digital twins for predictive maintenance. Boeing has been implementing digital twin technology to improve the quality of parts by as much as 40% and to analyze data for anticipating maintenance needs, ensuring the right components are available when required. Safran also utilizes predictive digital twins to model and optimize its complex manufacturing and MRO processes. - The collaboration will likely leverage Boeing's Airplane Health Management (AHM), a system that uses onboard sensor data and analytics to provide customized, real-time alerts for predicted faults and necessary maintenance before issues occur. This allows for proactive planning of parts, personnel, and equipment deployment. - For Safran, this aligns with its digital transformation efforts, which involve using on-board sensors to monitor the health of its products, such as engines and landing gear. The data is analyzed using proprietary algorithms to provide customers with predictive maintenance recommendations and more accurate forecasts for spare part requirements. - A significant technical hurdle the partnership will address is the integration of various legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and MRO systems. The goal is to create interoperable, secure data sharing, potentially using blockchain and AI, to replace paper-based documentation and provide a single source of truth for parts tracking. - Any safety-critical software and embedded systems for functions like onboard diagnostics and health monitoring developed through this partnership will likely be subject to the rigorous DO-178C certification standard to ensure reliability and airworthiness. - The collaboration may also accelerate the use of additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, for certain spare parts. Boeing has been investing in this technology to allow for on-demand production of components, which can reduce lead times and the need for extensive physical inventories.
