In the October issue of MRO Management magazine, Mario Pierobon speaks to AJW Chief Executive Officer, Clyde Buntrock, and other industry experts, about supply chain logistics.
  

Industry experts agree that the aviation industry is seeing immense growth, leaving businesses with a more optimistic glimpse into 2024 as flight hours return to pre-Covid levels. The effect of this recovery comes with the need for an increase in production rates across the globe. The challenge currently being faced, is supply meeting demand, and this is putting pressure on the supply chain and logistics services.  

AJW’s CEO, Clyde Buntrock confirms that these challenges are impacting MRO services, He highlights extended lead times for components caused by the bullwhip effect on the supply and availability of skilled labour, as primary challenges. He offers insight into the current skilled labour shortage and says, “The industry is actively addressing these issues and raising awareness of career opportunities to attract emerging talent into the sector.” 

Current market circumstances are driving greater regionality in MRO sourcing, says Buntrock, and OEM centres are sharing services across the globe to mitigate capacity constraint. “It is a matter of working with customers and logistic partners to understand the supply chain vulnerabilities that exist and how to overcome them,” he continues.  

The component demand increase has created challenges for OEMs and suppliers as raw material and labour costs soar, and Aircraft manufacturers are equally struggling to keep up with demand amid the challenges within the industry.  

Buntrock suggests that supply chain challenges are driving inflation in market prices. As these challenges unwind, he says, the prices should return to a more normal equilibrium level with lower volatility, which will facilitate a smoother path for airlines and other aviation industry organisations to meet customer demands as the industry continues to recover.  

When asked how the Group is mitigating these challenges, Buntrock explains that the company has expanded its global contracted services to meet growing demand, “We are actively evaluating the competitiveness of our logistics providers and remain committed to working with strong global allies to consistently provide logistics support.”  

“We implement a pooling strategy by strategically positioning inventory across the world, which enables easy access and distribution to our regional customers.” The industry must move together and collaborate to overcome equally felt challenges and continue in this period of growth.