PARIS—Boeing and Safran say they are pulling out all the stops to make spare parts readily available for operators by investing in supply chain support, new production techniques and qualifying new sources.
While the companies are primarily focused on helping with the ongoing production ramp-up to build new aircraft at higher rates, there is also the need to feed maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities meaning additional spending and pressure for the manufacturers.
“Some suppliers were financially strapped, we had to invest in them,” said William Ampofo, Boeing Global Services' senior vice president of parts, distribution and supply chain, during a panel discussion on June 13 at the Paris Air Forum. That included capital expenditure, dealing with sub-tier suppliers about bill payments, working capital and inventory.
In addition to financial help, Boeing has sent 250 experts to support suppliers technically, Ampofo said. “So we see much more collaboration between the OEM and its suppliers—as it should be in a true partnership,” he said on the eve of the Paris Air Show.
Demand for new production aircraft engines, spare engines and MRO have created a need for very high numbers of some parts, said Safran Aircraft Engines CEO Stéphane Cueille at the same event. As supply chain resilience has been a priority in Safran's strategy for the Leap turbofan, the company has triple sourced parts in some instances. Moreover, it has been growing raw material inventories and addressing parts production capacity by building new factories.
To circumvent the long lead times of forging and casting processes, Safran is developing additive manufacturing technologies. “We are taking every opportunity to make MRO shops more efficient,” Cueille said.
The geopolitical climate is adding complications. “We had a couple of incidents when sanctions emerged,” Ampofo said. “We had to pivot quickly, such as for titanium procurement and complex machining.” While starting to look for new suppliers can be a quick decision, qualifying alternate sources is a long process, he added.
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