Case Study: Aerospace

The increasing cost-pressure in the aerospace industry is closing in on the providers of Maintenance, Repair und Overhaul (MRO) Services. At the same time, the high number of providers in this sector creates an excess which will lead to a consolidation of the market in the not too distant future. Only those maintenance service providers that are able to respond rapidly enough and adapt their strategy to the global framework conditions will be able to profit. In cooperation with one of the world’s leading MRO providers, Barkawi Management Consultants have developed a long-term, competitive service portfolio which goes beyond pure maintenance (ABCD checks) and repairs to individual airplane components (Line Replaceable Units).

The intensification of the cooperation of service providers, operators and manufacturers in the aerospace industry is in the forefront. As the coordinators of a global network, the MRO provider can integrate specialized maintenance providers in countries with lower wages and thus implement a more balanced cost-structure. The cooperation with large aerospace companies enables existing replacement part stocks to be combined to form resource pools which can be organized more efficiently. In order to carry out maintenance of third-party airplane components that the MRO provider is unable to repair itself, Barkawi Management Consultants advise forging cooperation with the manufacturers of these products. Optimized logistics process and an intelligent information network support this complex coordination. In this way, the MRO provider is able to achieve a turnaround of a maximum of six days in a global maintenance network in which goods and information flow between service providers, aerospace companies and manufacturers are fully integrated. The achieved optimization can be passed on to the customer in a controlled fashion by the MRO provider and thus strengthen the competitive situation long-term.