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Aircraft MRO is constant pressure
Aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul operations run on precision, speed, and absolute accountability. Whether supporting line maintenance, checks, or component repair shops, maintenance and repair teams demand rapid access to thousands of parts, consumables, and documents—every shift, every day. Delays and missing items cause downtime, aircraft-on-ground events and excess labor hours.Automated storage systems like Hänel Rotomat® vertical carousels and Lean-Lift® VLMs help aerospace operations organize inventory more efficiently (in far less space) while improving traceability and freeing valuable floor space. By bringing stored items directly to the technician at an ergonomic access point, these systems eliminate search time, reduce foreign object debris risks, tighten tool accountability, and give MRO teams the control they need to keep aircraft flying.
How far do technicians need to walk for parts or components in common maintenance, repair or overhaul operations? At over $38 per hour average labor cost, every moment is expensive.
Key challenges for MRO operations
- Keep aircraft flying: Due to AOG (aircraft-on-ground) pressure and turnaround time expectations, every minute an aircraft sits idle increases costs and disrupts schedules. These systems contribute to addressing these issues by making parts storage and retrieval more efficient.
- You need speed and accuracy—fast, organized access to thousands of SKUs like fasteners, consumables, avionics modules, test equipment, specialized tools and more. Many aerospace MRO operations rely on thousands of these components and must have quick access. Small hardware to oversized or irregular components are needed across various checklists and processes.
- Tool control and traceability: calibrated, serialized, and restricted tools must be tracked, logged, and accounted for in a secure/compliant system. Inventory accuracy is critical in aerospace for both tools and components.
- Compliance and audit readiness with FAA, AS9100, and internal quality requirements for documentation, inventory handling, and process control.
- Limited floor space in hangars and back-shop areas, especially where equipment, staging zones, carts, and parts are competing for room.
- Frequent replenishment and restocking can disrupt workflows and increase the chance of misplaced or misidentified items.
- Space is a constant issue. Equipment, aircraft, staging zones, carts, and parts compete for room in most MRO operations. This compounds productivity issues if space utilization creates needless transit between technicians, tools and parts areas.