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Highlights
- The demand for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services is expected to surge in the coming years as airline operators expand their fleet to meet the growing demand for aviation.
- MRO organizations keen to adjust their capacity and streamline operations to meet this humongous demand for maintenance requirements will hugely benefit from additive manufacturing.
- Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, in MRO will boost the drive for sustainability in aviation, and also support local, on-demand manufacturing, ensuring minimal impact from logistical or supply chain disruptions.
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Revolutionizing MRO with 3D printing
The maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) business is estimated to witness a huge upsurge in the coming years as airlines operations are expected to witness high growth.
As airline operators expand their fleet, MRO organizations are looking to adjust their capacity to meet the humongous demand for maintenance services. They can benefit a great deal by adopting additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing.
Recent developments in 3D printing processes, the evolution of innovative materials in plastic and metals, and initiatives taken by aircraft and engine manufacturers, MROs, and regulatory authorities, are expected to provide a big fillip to the use of 3D printed parts in an aircraft. Design flexibility through generative AI, on-demand digital manufacturing through digital inventory, the focus on sustainability, and AI-ML-controlled printing are elevating 3D printing to the modern manufacturing landscape.
Aircraft manufacturers intend to use more and more 3D printed parts in the cabin interiors of new-generation aircraft and other components. MRO firms can take a cue from this trend and incorporate polymer 3D printing for cabin modifications. Additive manufacturing can also be used for conventional MRO tooling for aircraft maintenance processes.
Faster turnaround, on-demand production, and greater flexibility in part design, are just some of the advantages that additive manufacturing offers for MRO businesses. Additionally, it also solves some of the common challenges MRO functions give rise to.
The sustainability angle
3D printing gives a considerable push to the environmental sustainability goals of IATA member airlines to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from airline operations by 2050.
Additive manufacturing ensures that parts are substantially lower in weight than those produced through conventional manufacturing processes, leading to less fuel usage and CO2 emissions. Less wastage during manufacturing, increased recycling of materials, as well as reduction in supply chain logistics due to on-demand production will help airlines meet sustainability goals. AI-ML assisted 3D printing optimizes process parameters and material selection, reducing resource wastage.
The use of biodegradable materials over traditional printing polymers can also reduce CO2 footprint. In addition, greater flexibility in design and manufacturing, consolidation of 3D printed parts, and the concept of digital inventory, all support the sustainability agenda.
Digital manufacturing and inventory management
3D printing supports localized and in-house, on-demand manufacturing without any of the logistical issues related to the supply chain.
Digital inventory helps MRO businesses keep the approved parts’ CAD drawings in their repository and make the parts using 3D printing locally, with appropriate processes and materials based on demand, reducing physical inventory. This works especially well for aircraft cabin and interior parts that are prone to cracking, breaking, and passenger-induced damage.
Cabin and interior parts are prone to rapid obsolescence due to suppliers stopping production going out of business and due to batch constraints. This results in long lead time in traditional MRO practices, eventually delaying the release of aircraft from maintenance or forcing aircraft to fly with open cabin defects. This affects the cabin look and feel and sometimes results in seats and toilets (with malfunctioning flush or broken door latch) being blocked, adversely affecting customer experience, and ultimately, airline brand image and revenue. Unavailable parts make maintenance difficult, leaving airlines with no option but to block seats. 3D printing can provide a faster fix for such problems.
Upping the game with AI-ML
With generative AI and AI-ML converging with the 3D printing ecosystem, digital manufacturing can scale new heights.
MRO firms can build models of parts, including complex shapes, by providing process and performance parameters to generative AI led 3D printing models. This can reduce the time spent in building 3D models, significantly. Open AI’s Point-E, which generates text-to-3D model directly from text prompts to 3D point clouds, can help design complex shapes for 3D modelling. The modelling will generate 3D images of the parts to be printed with structural integrity and durability, and considerably lighter.
AI-ML algorithms can detect defects in real time, by continuously tracking part quality while printing. They can detect anomalies such as porosity of metal parts being printed, and raise timely alerts. This minimizes the need for destructive or non-destructive testing, reducing the risk of parts developing defects later and minimizing material wastage. AL-ML also strengthens the qualification process for 3D printing material by discarding the trial-and-error process in the R&D stage of materials.
A process framework
While the future of 3D printing in MRO seems bright, it is essential to set the key performance indicators (KPIs) to realize the full potential.
KPIs will also increase adaptability by reducing complexity.
MROs have to be FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) or EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) Part-145 approved. This is a mandatory certification process, and the approval is needed for a repair station to be qualified to do maintenance activities on an aircraft and its components. MROs may also obtain aerospace standards AS9100 and AS9110 (which specify the requirements for MRO quality management system, or QMS, developed by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) and SAE International, respectively).
MROs require FAA/EASA part 21, subpart J, design organization approval (DOA) to be qualified to design and develop parts. Also, they need FAA/EASA part 21, subpart G, production organization approval (POA) to produce parts.
MROs with these approvals can use the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) design data to print the part if the data is available with them, by retrieving drawings from their digital inventory cloud and using the material and process mentioned in the design specification. If the approved design of the part is not available with MRO, they can print the PMA parts (parts manufacturer approval) by designing and developing the drawings using POA and DOA. AI-ML algorithms can assist in spotting the location of layering defects in parts while printing (Figure 1).
Process flow for 3D printing in MRO
Some challenges and the journey ahead
While 3D printing will offer significant advantages for the MRO industry, there are some challenges that will have to be addressed to ensure greater adoption.
We see the following as key challenges in 3D printing going mainstream in this area:
- Time-consuming and cumbersome procedures for obtaining certification and approvals
- Non-availability of suitable, qualified raw materials
- Investments required for machines and determining parts for which 3D printing process is viable and cost-effective
- Need for training for MRO personnel
- Obtaining IP rights and dealing with IP issues for digital manufacturing and digital inventory
Going forward, while trying to resolve the challenges and adopting 3D printing as a supply chain alternative, MROs may set up benchmarks to identify achievable goals and measure the performance of supply chain management systems supported by 3D printing vis-à-vis legacy supply chain processes.
