conference agenda
| Monday, April 19, 2010 | |
| Registration Opened from 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Golf - additional information coming soon! |
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| DAY ONE – Tuesday, April 20, 2010 | |
| 9:00 a.m. | Registration Opens |
| 1:00 p.m. | Exhibition hall opens |
| 1:00 p.m. | Conference Opening Remarks
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| 1:10 p.m. | Opening Address
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| 1:30 p.m. | Keynote speaker |
| 2:00 p.m. | Awards |
| 2:20 p.m. | Annual Industry Analysis and Forecast This session will once again bring together leading aviation experts to analyze the status and trends of the MRO and aviation industries, including challenges and opportunities for the future.
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| 3:30 p.m. | Conference concludes for the day |
| 5:00 p.m. | Registration/ Exhibition Hall closes for the day |
| 7:30 p.m. | Evening Reception at the Wrigley Mansion (seperate registration required) * Buses will be available |
| DAY TWO – Wednesday, April 21, 2010 | |
| 7:30 a.m. | Registration Opens |
| 8:30 a.m. | Open / Welcome |
| 8:45 a.m. | Keynote |
| 9:15 a.m. | Globalization Summit: An MRO World without Borders The ability to partner and do business with airlines and other MROs anywhere on the planet is increasingly becoming essential to a successful MRO operation. Likewise, issues that once were a concern only to MRO businesses in Detroit are now impacting those in Delhi and Dubai. From the use of foreign repair stations to climate change legislation and cap and trade issues, to the totally global after-market, no MRO or airline can escape or deny the globalization of the MRO industry and the ties that bind and affect all those in the MRO business -–no matter where they are located. This session will look at the both the subtle and more obvious impact that an MRO world without borders is having on the industry, and what businesses need to do to stay competitive, informed and in compliance in the global MRO marketplace. What are the keys to success, and what are the pitfalls? |
| 10:00 a.m. | Customer Speak-Out Back by popular request, this session demands the question: what does the customer want? Nothing less than definitive answers will be candidly discussed by a panel of key airline experts--the primary buyers of OEM equipment and MRO services and products. Find out what their expectations of their partners and service providers are today, as well as in the near and long term. What relationships, products and services are essential, and which are less important, and why? This is a must-go general session for everyone attending MRO 2010.
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| 10:30 a.m. | Exhibition Hall opens |
| 11:00 a.m. | Track Sessions: |
| MRO Trends sponsored by Cribmaster/Winware |
Foreign Repair Station Contract Maintenance Issues How will the fallout from the proposed FAA oversight of foreign repair stations – random drug and alcohol testing and two unannounced FAA inspections yearly—affect your MRO operations? What will be the impact of expected retaliation from Europe and other countries—onerous protectionist legislation, fewer aviation-related jobs in the U.S. and less demand for U.S. aviation products worldwide, among others? And what about the foreign repair stations themselves – how do they deal with repeated government and airline safety audits, and what is the impact on their business and efficiency?
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| Purchasing/ Supply Chain sponsored by AirLiance materials |
Supply Chain Issues for a New MRO Paradigm How has the economy affected inventory holdings? To what extent is inventory destocking influencing MRO demand? Are supply chain delays more frequent, and is there a way to avoid them? How much total inventory is in the MRO supply chain and how has it changed in recent years? |
| Engine Advances | Staying Ahead of the Compliance Challenge This session will examine the financial and operational impacts and evaluations of staying compliant to most recent regulatory and manufacturer updates, such as service bulletins, Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA), Airworthiness Directives (AD), manufacturer service recommendations and much more. |
| Aircraft Data Management | Data Standards With new data systems continually being created and added into with legacy operations, data standardization is a vital framework on how data will be formatted and prioritized for aircraft reliability and operational problems. Topics include: configuration management, data conversion, ongoing integration, standardization across multiple systems. |
| ATA Track | Alternative Fuels Members of the Air Transport Association are dedicated to the development and deployment of safe, environmentally friendly, reliable and economically feasible alternatives to conventional petroleum-based jet fuel. Clearly, the effort presents ponderous technical and financing challenges. To foster the deployment of alternatives, the ATA founded, and is the principal member of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), a consortium of government agencies, airlines, manufacturers, airports and current and prospective suppliers. This session will overview the coordination of research and development on alternatives and work on technical specifications, environmental factors, production and distribution.
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| 12:00 p.m. | Track Sessions |
| MRO Trends sponsored by Cribmaster/Winware |
Aging Fleets = Obsolescence Issues Capacity cuts, cost controls, and an insistence on getting a return for their investment—among other reasons--are causing many airlines to hold on to their aging aircraft longer than they might normally choose to. However, this is creating concerns with obsolescence in terms of maintenance. How long will parts be available and usable? Will tomorrow’s mechanics be sufficiently trained to work on older aircraft, engines, and electronic systems? |
| Purchasing/ Supply Chain sponsored by AirLiance materials |
PMA Primer PMA parts continue to hold down costs but are discouraged by OEMs. Find out the latest on FAA oversight and other regulatory issues affecting PMA parts. Understand how to participate in this market and how to encourage production of specific parts. Learn the steps taken by PMA part manufacturers to qualify a part for PMA.
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| Engine Advances | Risk Analysis/Management for Engines As the MRO industry moves into a global environment, it is critical more than ever to comprehensively analyze where the risks and opportunities are. This compelling session will explore cost and operational risks on short term vs. long term maintenance contracts, cost efficiency analysis on whether to buy or repair, engine overhaul and much more. They’ll consider both quantitative and qualitative risk, and explicitly recognize the dynamic environment of the MRO world. |
| Aircraft Data Management | Autonomous Prognostic Heath Management Monitoring the continued health of an aircraft and identifying problems before affecting worthiness has been a long-term goal of the aviation industry. This session will discuss an aircraft diagnosis and prognosis system that will offer real-time diagnosis and prognosis to ensure maximum time “in the sky” and minimal downtime. Collaboration between operators and manufacturers on sharing data strategies to create better predictive measures on maintenance programs will also be explored. |
| ATA Track | Carrier and MRO Engineering Authorities The persisting trend toward reducing the technical decision-making and operating authority of airlines and MROs in favor of data and documents of airplane and engine manufacturers is no secret. Shrinking instructions for continued airworthiness (ICAs) and empty repair data reports hamstring maintenance, repair and supply options, and impair the value of reliability programs. Meanwhile, repair and rebuild facilities associated with manufacturers operate well outside of guidelines applicable to others. Standard guidance on the engineering authority of operators to classify repairs has defied years of attempts at resolution. The validity of the concept of Parts Manufacturing Authority (PMA), vital to commercial aviation, has been challenged in service instructions. This panel will highlight ways to avoid a precipice where innovation and flexibility are foregone, and airworthiness is not necessarily the top priority.
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| 1:00 p.m. | Lunch in Exhibit Hall |
| 4:00 p.m. | Cocktail Reception on exhibition floor |
| 5:30 p.m. | Registration/Exhibition Hall closes |
| DAY THREE – Thursday, April 22, 2010 | |
| 8:00 a.m. | Registration opens |
| 9:00 a.m. | Open/Welcome |
| 9:15 a.m. | Workforce and Training Super Session Where are the NextGen mechanics and technicians—are they out there? How can the MRO industry entice them to our business, and how do we train them? How do we keep them in the MRO field? Some analysts predict a skilled labor shortage in the MRO industry in the not-too-distant future, especially for those trained on legacy systems. Is the industry doing enough to attract and train young people to the profession? Find out what some MROs are doing to reach out and train new mechanics and technicians, and what the expectations of these young people are.
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| 9:30 a.m. | Exhibition hall opens |
| 10:00 a.m. | Track Sessions: |
| MRO Trends sponsored by Cribmaster/Winware |
Want to Grow? You Need Access to Capital If you are an MRO business that wants to expand—which often results in higher margins—this session will provide information on how to gain access to and obtain the capital you need to grow and succeed. |
| Purchasing/ Supply Chain sponsored by AirLiance materials |
Inventory Ownership and Management for Challenging Times To what extent are airlines shifting inventory ownership to their suppliers? How much inventory should airlines own and manage internally, and how does that affect their financial bottom line, especially in this economy? What are MRO inventory benchmarks for airlines, MROs, OEMs and distributors? Industry experts will also discuss key inventory issues such as pooling, leasing, and other integrated solutions.
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| Engine Advances | Engine Emissions With the global movement towards greener skies, aircraft engine emissions are being closely monitored, especially in the international airspace. What will that mean for engine operations? It is essential for engine MRO programs to be updated on new requirements, upgrades, compliance and cost efficiency of all possible modifications. |
| Aircraft Data Management | Advanced Technology Enablers for Data Management Technology can be significantly leveraged to assist in managing and collecting pertinent aircraft data pre-, in- and post-flight to prepare ground crews for immediate maintenance. This leads to less downtime for planes, more flying time and ultimately higher revenues for airlines. Embedded devices in Aircrafts are making component-level health monitoring system a possibility (RFIDs, microsensors, microservers), but how will these new resources fit in with your existing system design? How will they enable data to be collected and sent to ground systems in real-time? |
| ATA Track | New Shared Responsibility for Airworthiness Complex changes swirl through this industry: increased recordkeeping expectations, overlapping auditing procedures, power-by-the-hour agreements, and mergers and acquisitions all complicate the lives of carriers and MROs. Worse, they can reduce visibility to issues outside their point in the chain, lead to arduous discussions with business partners, and some cases work against larger safety and efficiency goals. As the "pivot points" in the MRO process, what steps can/should operators take to streamline and improve their processes and expectations? Panelist will define and explore these matters, and seek your input on where the biggest improvements can be made.
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| 11:00 a.m. | Track Sessions: |
| MRO Trends sponsored by Cribmaster/Winware |
Fatigue and other Human Factors in Aircraft Maintenance Fatigue issues in the maintenance field must be addressed for safety risks to be reduced. It has to be a synchronized venture between airlines, unions and regulating agencies. Come hear the latest on fatigue data as well as the operational impact, regulatory data studies and updates.
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| Purchasing/ Supply Chain sponsored by AirLiance materials |
Ensuring Operational Excellence across the Supply Chain Quickly responding to changes in production demands, this session will feature successful methodologies on leveraging Continuous Process Improvement (CPI), such as Lean or Six Sigma, to have response development and control throughout the supply chain. |
| Engine Advances | Innovation in Engine Repair Technologies This exciting panel will delve into the newest ways that technology is impacting engine repair and maintenance. Included will be the role of laser technologies and new component repair capabilities. |
| Aircraft Data Management | Data Analytics The challenge is not in getting data, but in knowing what to do with it. To make maintenance operations more efficient and faster, data needs to be filtered, analyzed and delivered properly, saving unnecessary down time or labor. |
| ATA Track | Airworthiness Directive Improvements Compliance with airworthiness directives has been one of the most publicized issues in aviation maintenance over the last two years. The FAA commissioned a team of aviation subject matter experts to develop recommendations for industry and their reports were released in September 2009. An ARC committee has been formed to implement the recommendations of the team and the results have the potential to have a significant effect on airlines and MROs in the future. This panel will address the three key operatives identified in the report – airplane manufacturers, the FAA, and airlines and their MRO partners. The panel will discuss the report recommendations and action plans in place and developing to implement them.
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| 12:00 p.m. | FAA Open Discussion This is your chance to hear from and interact with the FAA’s top regulatory officials concerning current and upcoming regulatory issues that impact your business. Regulatory compliance, new regulations being considered, and more will be discussed at this annual session that has become an important MRO tradition. |
| 12:30 p.m. | 2010 MRO Americas Conference Concludes |
| 12:30 p.m. | Lunch in Exhibit Hall |
| 3:00 p.m. | Registration/Exhibition Hall closes |
