MRO Engineering Support

Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul organizations conduct engineering activities for specific operations of repair, service or inspection of aircraft systems to ensure the safety and continued airworthiness of an air transport vehicle.

Case Study:

Overhaul & Heavy Repair Operations

DMD Solutions was contacted by a leading European MRO organisation to give technical support in the optimisation of the overhaul & heavy repair capabilities for the TPE331 Honeywell engine, installed in the Dornier 228.

Collaboration lasted from 2016 to 2019

Company

The customer MRO organisation is a division of a large group primarily focused on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, life-cycle management, operation and availability of military systems – especially for the armed forces and for a reduced number of commercial customers. The workshop is an Authorised Honeywell Service Centre providing overhaul and heavy repair capabilities for TPE331 as well as other engine models of similar dimension.

Background

The Maintenance Repair and Overhaul organisation acquired a commercial contract with highly specific technical and operational requirements from an overseas company for a batch of 10 TPE331 engine overhauls on top of their regular maintenance operations. The MRO customer owned and managed a fleet of Dornier aircraft with non-OEM parts. It was of paramount importance, as required by the certification agency, that original and non-OEM parts had completely separate paths in maintenance operations with added an extra challenge to the internal organisation.

Benefits

DMD Solutions was a strong contributor to the Stabilization of the MRO Team Processes thanks to a deep understanding of overhaul and heavy repair workflows and methodologies, generating lean development ideas and providing technical resources for their implementation.

TAT Reduction

Turn Around Time was dramatically reduced: a reduction of approx. 60% TAT was achieved within 18 months of collaboration

Decision Making

The tools and processes introduced were used by upper management to achieve cost and configuration control leading to important commercial decisions for the project

Flexibility

The flexibility provided by the external consulting team, brought in many technological capabilities and allowed in-house engineering to concentrate on tackling day-to-day business more efficiently

Challenge

Commercial

A commercial contract required a high level of competitiveness. Cost control was not previously stablished for the maintenance operations as domestic customers accepted regular quotations for overhaul operations. The engines were to be delivered at expected TAT of 12 weeks.

Engineering

Maintenance & Overhaul Manuals, IPC, and OEM Documentation was not reissued by Honeywell since 2008. TPE331 has a complex configuration, including 8 different versions of the engine and two possible OEM suppliers: Honeywell and HAL. Maintenance Instructions were to be adapted to specific shop procedures.

Logistics

A collaboration with a new partner for several line maintenance activities was outsourced to a new service supplier out of the country. Work scope definition and delivery time control were challenging tasks during the first months, until processes were consolidated between the involved parties.

Solution

Service Bulletin Check Application

Definition of SBs requirements and relation between SB and PNs implied in service operation (outdated PNs, replaced/reworked PNs)
Automated check of SBs to find out if: To Be Complied With / Not Applicable / Found Compliant With based on data collected from Log Book and Disassembly/Tear down
Definition & tracking of customer specific requirements regarding SB compliance during overhaul operations

Automate the work of the engineering department, reducing TAT by facilitating critical processes
Provide better control and tracking of procedures applied to each part for certifying purposes