Three Ways Airlines & MROs Can Improve Aircraft Parts On-time Delivery

By Tia Dayal, Chief Customer Officer at SkySelect

One only needs to take a glance at the news headlines to understand the delicate state we are in. Inflation is through the roof as we approach an anticipated recession, and supply chains remain fractured as Boeing and Airbus try to fulfill orders from airlines looking to expand and refresh their fleets. 

And this is precisely why now is the perfect time for airlines and MROs to improve their parts on-time delivery. Backed by automation and technology algorithms, here are the three ways how.

1. Have a Plan: Automate simple purchases to focus on the complex orders

Given the current ecosystem running into problems and delays are inevitable. That’s why it’s so important to plan ahead. A surefire way to improve on-time delivery is through proactive delay management.

For instance, for parts that you need regularly and for smaller, simpler parts, you can schedule procurement by leveraging automated technology, which can easily and repeatedly source the parts you need on a recurring basis and ensure they arrive precisely when you need them. 

The best part is the longer you do this, the more sophisticated the algorithm becomes as it is fed more information for more parts. So while the human brain faces cognitive overload, machines only become more prolific.

Therefore, part of your plan can be delegating the 90% of part requests that are smaller and simpler to your procurement system so that your team can focus on the other 10% that would benefit from human ingenuity. 

These are typically those complex orders that need special attention to prevent any delays or exorbitant costs from arising. In other words, leave the high-volume tasks to the machines and the less occurring but more critical tasks to your experts. 

2. Find Answers in the Data

Once your procurement software is up and running, you can gain another advantage and improve on-time delivery because of all the data you’ll be gathering. Within any problem, answers can be found in analytics. 

For starters, analytics can be a great source for identifying the problem and why it is occurring. For instance, uncover why a shipment has been delayed and if it regularly occurs with certain suppliers or freight forwarders. 

From there, you can recognize patterns in your data by grouping issues into categories such as no product availability, no delivery appointment, processing delays, etc.

Once you clearly recognize and identify the problems, you can prioritize the biggest issues and work with key stakeholders to develop and implement new processes and procedures to improve your on-time delivery. From here, you can adjust the variables within your control and start implementing solutions. 

And, of course, the data doesn’t stop here. You can continue to track your orders to gauge whether or not the chances you’ve implemented are successful or if further adjustments need to be made. 

You will be able to see how parts are performing, what parts move slower, and how different suppliers compare to one another. 

3. Create & Build Trusted Supplier Partnerships

This leads to our third point. You can leverage your analytics to help you foster strong supplier relationships since everyone in the supply chain is held accountable through the visibility that comes with data. 

You can not only see who your best-performing suppliers are and double down on their services, but you can also recognize problems and why they are occurring in an effort to improve relationships with other suppliers. This way, everyone can improve from each other's feedback! The whole supply chain wins!

As we said, no matter how smooth your operations are, problems will occur at some point. This is precisely when you want to lean into your best suppliers to help get you out of a jam because you know you can rely on them. Since you have the data, you’ll know exactly who to turn to. 

Something not to be forgotten about the topic of suppliers is that by leveraging the algorithms of machines, you can also identify new suppliers you might otherwise overlook if you’re too bogged down by manual processes. And you never know how relations with these new suppliers will evolve over time once an initial connection is made. 

Now is the perfect time to improve your on-time delivery. As Roy Bennet once said, “Every challenge, every adversity, contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth.” This is how the aviation industry should be approaching the current economic and supply chain challenges.