SkyThread for Parts
This solution includes the use cases associated with the documentation of provenance and air worthiness of all significant aircraft parts as they move on and off wing and through the supply chain.
At each step of a parts life journey, SkyThread captures the provenance of the part along with key maintenance activities (events) that support the friction-free movement of parts between companies and aircraft. The life of the aircraft part begins when the part is first delivered on a new aircraft to its first customer. SkyThread works to capture that part as it’s coming out of the Tier 1 / OEM factories on its way to either the aircraft assembly plant, an MRO facility for installation, or to an airline for its line maintenance.
Applications
New Part Build
According to SITA, the MRO industry processes some 25 billion parts each year, while Tier 1’s add three billion new parts to the supply chain. Each of these parts is only “seen” by the original producer, the aircraft assembly plant, the airline that receives the plane, and eventually the MRO that pulls the part for repair. Once that cycle is complete, the part moves into the “parts exchange” ecosystem and becomes mostly invisible to the market at large. SkyThread keeps that part visible throughout its entire life. SkyThread catches existing aircraft parts into the blockchain during repair activities and during the aircraft transactions noted above. Parts that do not have appropriate operational and repair history can be put through a “back to birth” process to record lifetime history for the benefit of future users of the part.
Rotable Pool Management
This application enables the management of inputs, processes, and outputs of a parts rotable pool. The solution establishes, maintains, and documents the provenance of these faster moving aircraft parts. There are hundreds of rotable pools of aircraft parts around the world and they comprise a significant volume of spares inventory. Pools can contain one to hundreds of different part numbers. Any part that can be exchanged at the line or in the repair station can be tracked. At part removal and installation, SkyThread captures part number, serial number, tail number, and technician details. SkyThread also captures “the place” of the transaction or maintenance event. For parts coming back to the aircraft, SkyThread documents the full history of that part – “back to birth”. Within the airline, SkyThread will integrate with MIS and ERP systems to automate event data tracking.
Product Warranty — Parts
This application will collect the required contractual information to support a collaborative engagement between the airframer, Tier 1 parts providers, and operator when a potential customer service issues and both false positive and false negative data results. The application will help all parties achieve their respective accountability for part and plane performance.
Aircraft Part Provenance
This application provides a reliable picture of the full part number by aircraft configuration in the SkyThread blockchain. This will better inform aviation analytics “engines,” such as prognostics, aircraft health management, or predictive maintenance systems, on what parts are on each aircraft. This use case maintains the part inventories of each aircraft in a fleet and will catalyze the building of the digital twin for the aircraft.
SkyThread for Parts will benefit from future analytics around fleet compositions and configurations. This information will better inform the operational analytics that have been built over the past decade to predict aircraft part performance and avoid unnecessary part removals from aircraft
For more information on the Aircraft Parts solution bundle and its applications, please contact: info@skythread.aero.