One of the biggest challenges for aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) providers is delivering high-quality services within the agreed turnaround times (TATs). Turnaround time serves as a crucial performance indicator in the airline industry, with companies consistently striving for shorter and more efficient turnaround periods. “There are direct economic consequences if aircraft can’t take off when needed,” Oliver Wyman Partner Randy Starr writes in an article featured on Aviation Week. “An MRO provider wouldn’t stay in business very long if it consistently failed to meet customer requirements.” That’s why it’s essential to have a clear and accurate view of the MRO process, from planning to execution to delivery. So, what’s the first step toward more predictable turnaround times? Begin by reevaluating your MRO environment. Is there genuine end-to-end transparency and visibility, or do silos exist, hindering the necessary transparency and visibility? Silos lead to poor transparency and visibility Siloed MRO operations frequently plague traditional aircraft MRO management processes. Starr has pointed out that business departments or units often operate in isolation, withholding information from the wider enterprise or generating data that is only relevant to their specific unit. These silos create barriers to effective communication, becoming a breeding ground for confusion and delays. For instance, when procuring parts to complete an MRO process, the purchasing team might not be aware of the current inventory or the exact needs of the maintenance crew. They end up ordering too many parts, too few, or the wrong parts altogether, resulting in waste and delays. Critical information becomes confined within these silos, leading to misunderstandings and misinterpretations of data. With siloed operations, the procurement team might not be aware of a delay from the supplier due to a lack of communication between teams. Consequently, the maintenance team would be waiting for a part that was not going to arrive as scheduled. This not only causes delays but also creates an inefficient use of the maintenance team’s time, contributing to unpredictable turnaround times. In another scenario, inspection findings during maintenance need to be communicated to the planning and inventory teams. However, due to siloed operations, this critical information might not be disseminated quickly or accurately enough. This could result in delayed responses, such as ordering necessary parts or adjusting work schedules, and eventually lead to extended MRO turnaround times. In the face of these challenges, the need for transparency and visibility in MRO operations becomes clear. These two elements—transparency and visibility—are essential in making MRO turnaround times more predictable. Transparency fosters better planning and execution Transparency ensures everyone involved in the process has access to the necessary information for effective planning and execution. It reduces confusion, encourages accountability, and builds trust. Transparency ensures that all stakeholders receive comprehensive and essential information from the outset and in real-time. This empowers the entire organization to plan more accurately, anticipate challenges, and allocate resources more efficiently. It also reduces miscommunication and the possibility of errors, both of which can lead to unexpected delays. Visibility enables real-time monitoring and adjustments Visibility is about the ability to track and trace components, processes, and transactions within the MRO ecosystem. It keeps all stakeholders informed about the progress, allowing for real-time adjustments as needed. Visibility allows everyone involved to track the status of operations as they happen. This real-time intelligence allows for the instant detection of issues or bottlenecks. As a result, everyone can take immediate action to resolve these issues rather than wait until they’ve caused significant delays. The complementary forces of transparency and visibility work together to create an efficient process with less room for error and delay. They lay the foundation for a predictable and reliable turnaround time. But to achieve a high degree of transparency and visibility, it is vital to break down the operational silos that often cause disjointed and chaotic processes. When these silos persist, transparency and visibility suffer, leading to a multitude of errors and delays. These shortcomings present significant barriers to achieving predictability and efficiency in MRO operations. EmpowerMX offers an MRO cloud platform to overcome these barriers. By dismantling the operational silos, EmpowerMX’s cloud platform boosts transparency and visibility, revolutionizing MRO operations and paving the way for a more efficient and predictable workflow. Increase transparency and visibility with EMX Insights Cloud EMX Insights, the first-ever MRO cloud exchange in the aviation industry, directly addresses the pitfalls of traditional, siloed MRO workflows that lead to poor transparency and visibility. EMX Insights provides a platform where MROs can import necessary inputs directly, resulting in complete visibility over all maintenance activities. This eliminates the confusion, misinterpretations, and errors common in traditional methods, thereby enhancing efficiency. EMX Insights is not only about visibility; it also offers unrivaled transparency. It enables all stakeholders to access real-time data on different maintenance workflows such as Card Count, Labor Application, Task On-Time Completion, and Material Counts. By doing so, it fosters data-driven decision-making, reduces miscommunication, and streamlines the MRO process. EmpowerMX Cloud’s automation capabilities minimize the often cumbersome challenges of information sharing. The platform offers accurate, real-time status of an aircraft at any given moment, thanks to its Critical Factors and Project Management inputs. The importance of transparency and visibility can’t be overstated. By leveraging the power of the EMX Insights Cloud, your MRO organization can break down silos, significantly increase transparency and visibility, enable more predictable turnaround times, and foster greater efficiency and reliability. Request a free demo today to get a first-hand experience of how EMX Insights works.