mro options for the world's most ubiquitous engine - ABDOnline

Feature | Service Agreements
4,000+
The amount of mechanics and
engineers that Lufthansa Technik
AST commits to customer-focused
solution support world-wide.
occasionally has been found to wear and cause
the smell of oil in the aircraft cabin. Oil smell
detection with an innovative Aerotracer,
another AST product, helps identify this specific
problem and avoid unnecessary engine
removals. Similar solutions include the on-wing
fan disc, LPC module, and bearing Unit 2
module replacements. These all can save the
customer shop visits.
Lufthansa Technik's commitment to
customer-focused solutions is supported by
over 4,000 mechanics and engineers located
around the world - and those numbers do not
include additional technical personnel who
support components parts and repairs. "We
have a 24/7 Engine Operations Center located
in Frankfurt that coordinates everything
necessary to serve the customer, from logistics
to hotel rooms for personnel responding to a
call," Böttger states. "Of course, we also have
personnel on-site at some customer sites, and
our satellite facilities have the freedom to just
respond to a local call."
REVOLUTIONARY FAA AND EASA
APPROVALS FOR LIFE-LIMITED PARTS
Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners (GSP)
offers the largest commercial MRO service
network in the industry, with six engine
overhaul centers and eighteen repair facilities
located worldwide. A CFM56 facility in Norway
is operational now, and there will soon be three
Pratt &Whitney GSP engine centers with
CFM56 capabilities once facilities in China and
Turkey are complete. In addition, there are
twelve Pratt & Whitney Global Repair Unit
(GRU) sites that support repair work on CFM
products.
In February 2006, Pratt & Whitney in
Customer Benefits:
MTU will be one of the first companies worldwide offering a competitive
portfolio of repairs.
Additional coatings applied during the repair process will improve
component life / on-wing time.
Hartford, Connecticut, established Global
Material Solutions (GMS) in order to develop its
own parts for use in CFM56-3 overhaul and
repair. "We are an OEM with more than 80
years of aviation history," says Paul Shook,
Program Director, Global Material Solutions.
"The offering of GMS products is the result of
feedback from customers looking for options
coupled with outstanding quality and
competitive pricing."
In a groundbreaking change to typical
MRO offerings, GMS has become the first and
only company to receive U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and European Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA) certifications for
alternative life-limited engine parts, which
historically only have been available from the
original Type Certificate holder and its
licensees. Life-limited parts include an engine's
major rotating parts, such as shafts, disks, and
seals. Examples of life-limited parts offered by
GMS are the fan shaft; booster spool; HPT front
seal, disk, and front shaft; and LPT shaft.
Shook explains some of the reasons for the
program's success. "Now, more than ever, our
customers want and need customized solutions
that deliver the best value possible. And, GMS
offers extraordinary value with our FAA- and
EASA-certified GMS life-limited parts for
CFM56-3 engines, combined with focused
customer care and a growing worldwide service
network.
"In total," Shook declares, "nineteen GMS
life-limited parts are now certified under FAA
and EASA Supplemental Type Certificates
(STCs), and there will be a total of eleven GMS
gas path parts certified and available later this
year. These gas path and life-limited parts
represent more than 80 percent of the material
16 EngineAir Fall 2009 www.abdonline.com
Image courtesy of MTU