Connectivity and Big Data related to aeronautical MRO |
| Contribution by DECISION Etudes & Conseil / ID AERO - Gérard Briard - Expert of the Aeronautics industry |
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02 MAR 2017 | 742 words
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The technology now allows us to glimpse the maturity of connectivity and Big Data for massive use in aeronautical maintenance. In principle nothing very new to this.
The ACARS (communication system between the aircraft and its company) have been used for more than 40 years to transmit information concerning the condition of the aircraft and to prepare, if necessary, maintenance interventions at the next stopover. However, these historical means based on HF or VHF communications are limited in terms of bandwidth and accessibility (it is necessary to be "in sight" of a receiving ground station).
The development of radiocommunication capabilities from satellites and ground networks, as well as their accessibility on board (at a marginal cost due to the crossing of the cockpit door to be made available to passengers) now allows us to foresee capacities in terms of bandwidth and continuity of service hitherto unknown. All is not yet perfect: the development of connectivity is only beginning in Europe and there are still technical problems to be regulated (decrease the latency time especially when changing cells or satellites). There will also probably be a policy of allocating bandwidth - which remains limited - between passengers, but also between cabin needs and cockpit needs. But the capacity is there, it is inconsistent with what previously existed for maintenance needs.
The Big Data is not totally new either, but it is experiencing an unprecedented development because of the onboard systems design (sensors, health monitoring, storage capacity of embedded computers). The development of the means of communication, storage and treatment on the ground did the rest. Again, everything is not yet perfect and the question arises as to how best to use this mass of data transmitted by planes, but the use of this potential is increasing.
Means of communication and Big Data are however only means, it is necessary for this to live a need and finally a market.
The need is primarily for airlines. Aircraft flight tracking enables better management of fleets, anticipates operations and reduces fixed assets that are always detrimental to operations.
For operators of the MRO, the follow-up by these means of fleets twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week is - beyond the technical and operational interest in the organization of their interventions - a plus in their offer to airlines. The optimization of spare parts stocks can benefit from these tools (dimensioning, positioning, routing of spare parts before the arrival of the aircraft).
For OEMs this becomes an indispensable tool not only because they are more and more careful to capture the market of maintenance and margins on spare parts, but also because it provides loops back to their design offices and To their commercial services both on the behavior of the equipment they have designed and on the use made of it by the airlines.
Engine manufacturers are the emblematic example of using Big Data for several reasons:
- Maintenance of engines is the most expensive item of aircraft maintenance;
- The engines are barded with sensors and generate a large mass of data. Some of these datas are used in real time for the driving of the engine (pressure and temperature), but also inform about the health of it (play). Others are more specific to the MRO (vibration recording);
- The state of the engine depends on its efficiency, plays in particular cause loss of compression; so some maintenance operations can be targeted to restore performance;
Moreover, the development of flat-rate contracts (often referred to as "power by the hour") engages the engine manufacturer on the reliability of its engines, but it also depends on the use made of it. This type of contract often stipulates the conditions of use of the engine: the company may have to commit to derate rates (maximum operating power in relation to the maximum engine power) or margin rates on the engine. Temperature in HP turbine inlet or on ratios number of cycles (number of take-offs) over number of hours. All this is conditioned by the conditions of use of the company: so a fully-loaded plane, on a short runway, at high altitude, high temperature with short flights will consume more quickly the engine potential.
We see that in this type of contract, in-service follow-up is the indispensable tool not only for maintaining the engine but also for the profit of the engine manufacturer. Communications and Big Data become unavoidable.
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