OEM Services Eyes Smarter Supply Chain
A frenetic first day on the exhibition floor of MRO Europe 2023 shows that aviation’s recovery is in full swing, according to Didier Granger, CEO of OEMServices.
The joint venture between Liebherr Aerospace, Thales Avionics, Diehl Aerospace and Safran Aerosystems launched 20 years ago as a component supplier for the Airbus A380, but has since branched out into the A350, A330, A320 and A220 as well, now supporting around 600 aircraft.
Its core business is for the A380 and A350, though, and while production of the former aircraft has stopped, Granger still regards the superjumbo as a key market, especially as more legacy carriers bring it back into service.
“The A380 is not dead – it’s flying for the next 15 years and is a key platform for our services because we support the number one and two airlines flying it, Emirates and Singapore Airlines.”
Typical customers for OEMServices are the major flag carriers, which it supports from facilities in Paris, Singapore, Atlanta and Dubai, as well as offices within airline bases, which Granger regards as “a good network to address the entire worldwide requirements”.
Component support is typically supplied on a flight-hour basis, but it also provides ad hoc sales based on trading and repairs, as well as logistics, storage and hotline solutions for its OEM shareholders.
To help mitigate supply chain problems plaguing the industry, and to support its own growth, Granger says that OEMServices has “invested massively in inventory”.
The company is also seeking to transform supply chain management of components by developing an alternative to flight-hour-based using a predictive maintenance solution.
“It’s about extracting data, analyzing data and communicating with the OEM. The challenge is to find the right approach with the whole supply chain to implement this and go from an on-condition removal rational to a predictive removal rational, which will totally change our business.”
