Airbus Material, Logistics and Suppliers, Hamburg

INTEGRATED PROVISIONING SERVICES

Part 1 – Material Readiness Roadmap Process
 Integrated Provisioning Services
Part 1 – Material Readiness Roadmap Process
INTEGRATED PROVISIONING SERVICES Material Readiness Roadmap Process

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.  INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 2 

2.  INTRODUCTION AND MATERIAL READINESS PROCESS ....................................................................................................................... 2 
3.  PROVISIONING PROCESS TIMESCALE ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 
4.  THE MATERIAL READINESS SET-UP MEETING ....................................................................................................................................... 3 
4.1.  DOCUMENTATION ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 
4.2.  AGENDA AND FORMAT OF THE MATERIAL READINESS CONFERENCE .............................................................................................. 5 

5.  PREPARING THE MATERIAL READINESS CONFERENCE ...................................................................................................................... 5 

6.  THE MATERIAL READINESS CONFERENCE............................................................................................................................................. 6 
6.1.  LINE REPLACEABLE UNITS ......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 
6.2.  OTHER MATERIAL CATEGORIES ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 
6.3.  CONCLUSION AND REVIEW ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 

7.  POST MATERIAL READINESS CONFERENCE .......................................................................................................................................... 7 

8.  PREVIOUSLY OWNED AIRCRAFT AND MATERIAL READINESS (MR) REVIEW ................................................................................... 7 
9.  MATERIAL AND LOGISTICS ENGINEERING.............................................................................................................................................. 8 
10.  ABBREVIATION LIST ................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 

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1. INTRODUCTION 2. INTRODUCTION AND MATERIAL READINESS PROCESS

This introduction to the Material Readiness Roadmap process The Material Readiness and its process are to ensure revenue
provides a guide to the activities that take place in order to ensure flight dispatch to the Airbus customers.
the successful provisioning of an Airbus customer. The Material
Readiness (MR) is for unscheduled maintenance only and ensures As defined in ATA SPEC 2000, the MR process is concerned with
flight operation of your aircraft. supporting a new aircraft fleet or an end item for an initial period of
operation. Therefore the Integrated Provisioning Services team
It will illustrate the activities of the Integrated Provisioning Services deals as a service provider for the aircraft maintenance by
department from the initial involvement in sales campaigns up to  providing aircraft spares data for planning and purchasing
the support of previously owned and leased aircraft. purposes
In this brochure other documents will be referenced, which are  planning and recommendation of spares required for the Line
available from or via the Integrated Provisioning Services and Base Maintenance support of Airbus aircraft
department.  consulting and training in material management processes

3. PROVISIONING PROCESS TIMESCALE

The traditional timescale of the MR process, as defined in the
Supplier Support Conditions (SSC), has emerged over the years
from the broad outline specified in the relevant chapters of both
ATA SPEC 2000 (Chapter 1) and the World Airlines Suppliers
Guide WASG (Chapter 3), which was replaced by the Common
Support Data Dictionary CSDD.

Tamas Stefka According to ATA SPEC 2000 the transmission of provisioning

Director Integrated Provisioning Services data: “...starts well in advance of the first delivery to permit
ordering and establishment of support inventories in time for initial
operations.”
The industry standards that have developed are illustrated in
Figure 1.

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According to the Airbus SSC, the MR process should begin: “...-24 4. THE MATERIAL READINESS SET-UP MEETING
months before delivery of the first aircraft...for long lead time items.
“ and “...- 18 months before delivery of the first aircraft ...for S File The Material Readiness (MR) Set-up Meeting, unlike the Material
items.” Readiness (MR) Conference, is an obligatory aspect of the MR
process as stated in ATA SPEC 2000 Chapter 1: “...a pre-
provisioning conference will be held between the airframe/engine
manufacturer or BFE supplier to plan the provisioning programme
prior to the release of the first data.”

Usually representatives of the customer will visit Airbus Material,

Logistics and Suppliers in Hamburg for the MR Set-up Meeting.
The primary objectives of the MR Set-up Meeting are:
 to confirm criteria concerning the aircraft and the airline’s
maintenance ability
 to ascertain the customer’s proposed operating parameters
 to decide which data and documents the customer desires
 to prepare the agenda and format of the Material Readiness
Conference
 to ascertain the customers specific requirements for the
Material Readiness Conference
Figure 1: Material Readiness Roadmap
 to consider which personnel (e.g. Material Controllers,
However, the timeframe given in the SSC does not comply with Supply Managers, Purchasers) should attend the conference
modern day demands and Airbus has geared itself to a more  to mutually set up the strategy for the provisioning exercise
flexible schedule in order to provide shorter lead times for entry and future maintenance
into service.
The first three objectives are necessary in order to begin the
Airbus currently offers an aircraft production lead-time of seventh process of producing spares recommendation documentation. It is
months for Single Aisle aircraft (A318 / A319/ A320/ A321) without necessary to confirm at least the initial MSN(s) in order to begin
long lead-time items. This has affected the time scale for the allocating customised data.
Material Readiness Set-up Meeting, which has been reduced by It is also essential to establish other basic criteria in respect of the
approximately 15 months. customer’s maintenance capability, for example whether the
customer intends purchasing an Automatic Test Equipment (ATE),

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as this will have an impact on the turnaround time for appropriate 4.1. DOCUMENTATION
repairable items.
The documentation necessary for spares provisioning purposes is
A/C Identification Maintenance &
defined in the ATA SPEC 2000 (Chapter 1). It specifies three data
Operational
Overhaul Information Parameters files:
 S File (Fixed Format)
“The S File relates to aircraft ... parts contained in the
prime manufacturer’s IPC.”
A/C Type ATE Availability Maintenance Level No. of A/C
 T File (Fixed Format)
Annual Flight
“The T File relates to end item details parts itemised in
Engine Type Check Level, A/C/+
Hours the Illustrated Parts Lists of the associated end item
Component Maintenance Manuals.”
A/C Type
MSN Transit Time /
Turnaround Time
 V File (Variable Format)
“The V File contains all provisioning items in a
Delivery Date
Block Time composite file regardless of the relative application of
the part...”
Protection Level
As the S, T and V Files are database formats, some customers
may either not have the appropriate computing capability or
LRU RSPL / LMP RSPL / AIB RSPL / CPB RSPL / STD RSPL / RIPL RSPL
capacity, or may not desire to rely on such a format. Thus Airbus
offers spares provisioning data, extracted from the appropriate S,
Figure 2: Information process for Provisioning Document publication. T or V File, in the form of Recommended Spare Parts Lists
(RSPLs). Provisioning material information is separated into:
Operational parameter, which are determined by the customer are  Line Replaceable Units (LRU)
the essential variables to calculate the spare recommendation.
The principles to the mathematical model are subject of the  Line Maintenance Breakdown Parts of LRUs (LMP)
accompanying handbook, “Integrated Provisioning Services, Part 3  Airbus Proprietary Parts (AIB)
- The Mathematical Model”.  Cockpit Push Buttons (CPB)
A Provisioning Training can be provided in conjunction with the MR  Standard Hardware (STD)
Set-up Meeting. It entails a familiarization with the provisioning  Pool Item Candidate List (PICL)
documents and methodology, Airbus supplier management,
 Material Storage Data List (MSD)
spares data management etc.

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 Airbus Material Maintenance Forecast (AMMF) 4.2. AGENDA AND FORMAT OF THE MATERIAL READINESS
 Advanced Resource Planning Data (adv.RPD) CONFERENCE
At the stage of the MR Set-up of the provisioning process it must
These documents may be provided instead of the S, T and V Files. also be decided whether to invite suppliers or not. If suppliers
Furthermore, the RSPLs are typically the working documents for should be invited, the customer may choose which suppliers they
the Material Readiness Conference. wish to see. If no suppliers are invited, all the provisioning data will
be presented by Airbus.
The RSPLs can be supplied in several sorts, including part number
sort, manufacturer sort, end item sort (for LMPs) and ATA 100 Finally, the date and attendees for the MR conference must be
Chapter sort depending on the customer’s preferences. The agreed. This event usually takes place at Airbus Material, Logistics
RSPLs are supplied in Excel format. The format, content and and Suppliers in Hamburg.
further descriptions of the RSPLs are described in detail in the
accompanying booklet, “Integrated Provisioning Services, Part 2 –
The Provisioning Documentation.” 5. PREPARING THE MATERIAL READINESS
CONFERENCE
In addition to the above-mentioned files, there are supplementary
If a MR Conference is mutually agreed, the MR Set-up Meeting is
data files. Those are:
used to prepare the background for the conference.
U File - Consumable Material List
Following the MR Set-up Meeting, the process of producing,
W File - Special Ground/Tool/Test Equipment revising, and refining the initial provisioning documentation will
X File - Part Fabrication Material begin. An initial set of the RSPLs will be produced and copies of
Y File - Pool Item Candidates the relevant pages will be sent to the invited suppliers for their
comments in order to update the information. The process of
revising data such as part number, effectivity and prices will
continue throughout the Material Readiness process to reflect the
latest updates. In order to minimize the operational threat of such
updates, Airbus has configuration guarantees in the Supplier
Support Conditions (SSC).

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6. THE MATERIAL READINESS CONFERENCE Their presentations allow them to:

6.1. LINE REPLACEABLE UNITS  Briefly explain and illustrate their company’s background and
The primary focus of the MR Conference will be supplier LRUs. product support including their AOG services, repair
The reason for this is that they represent an overwhelming procedures and spares finance policies
percentage of the investment for IP whilst representing only a  Present their product
fraction of the quantity of part numbers as illustrated in Figure 3.  Answer questions raised by the customer
Other topics discussed during the MR Conference are internal  Allow to enter technical discussions
Airbus topics concerning GSE & Tools, LMPs, AIBs, STDs &
PUBs, financial and invoicing procedures, purchase order The suppliers will also provide information concerning their
administration procedures and a conclusion and review session. company with appropriate contact details to hand over to the
customer. The quality of the presentation and the documents
by recommended value by recommended part number provided are closely monitored by the provisioning department and
any shortfall from the expected levels of performance are fed back
to the supplier’s management.
Others
Others 81.6%
13.2% The LRU RSPL for spares from suppliers with smaller values of
LRU
86.8%
investment will be presented by Airbus. Usually the presentation
will go through the LRUs, supplier by supplier, covering all the
LRU spares recommended. Thus the total amount of time spent on
18.4% LRUs may take seventy percent of the time of a MR Conference.
The other material categories and topics of the conference cover
Figure 3: Comparison of material categories - % share of LRUs in an IP package by the remaining time.
value and quantity
6.2. OTHER MATERIAL CATEGORIES
The time dedicated to LRUs during the conference is therefore These categories are dealt with in a different manner to LRUs. The
related to their relative importance. Typically, a conference will last aim of these sessions is to explain the layout, the logic, and how
one week. Suppliers, who represent the majority of the proposed the RSPLs of these categories interface with the LRU RSPL and
LRU investment, will be invited to the conference on behalf of the between themselves. Therefore these sessions concentrate on
customers. explaining the documents rather than recommending and

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explaining individual items. This allows the customer to analyse provisioning information, as entry into service approaches, with the
the documents and make their purchase decision later on. customer purchasing the equipment they consider to be
necessary.
The responsible departments within Airbus hold the sessions
concerning purchase order administration, financing and invoicing. The target for the airline is to have at least 50% of their
These sessions are held in order to inform the airline about the provisioning stock delivered at least three months in advance of,
current procedures for those tasks. and a complete stock three months after, entry into service. This is
fixed in Exhibit “H” (2.7.1.1 and 2.7.1.4) of a contract where a
6.3. CONCLUSION AND REVIEW supplier must supply:
This session will reiterate the action that needs to be taken
following the Material Readiness conference. This typically “...at least fifty percent (50%) of the ordered quantity.....three (3)
consists of outstanding questions from the conference and the months before delivery...” and “..one hundred percent (100%) of
actions that must be taken to answer them, confirming which the ordered quantity of each item,....three (3) months after delivery
documents to be sent to which customer’s email-address and what of the last aircraft.”
the revision cycle of the documents will be during the remaining
time of the provisioning process. As stated previously the length of this period of provisioning data
cycles and purchasing may be extended over a period of years,
The revision cycle will depend on the RSPL. The W File, PICL, depending on the delivery schedule of the aircraft.
Airbus Proprietary Parts, Standard Hardware, and Cockpit Push
Button RSPLs usually are revised on request. The LRU and LMP The Material Readiness process contractually ends three months
documents, which are subject to a more significant change during after the delivery of the last aircraft of a specific order. However
the provisioning process, are revised as mutually agreed. This is this does not entail the end of the provisioning support – as option,
usually every three months, in line with ATA SPEC 2000: customers can order data and services as chargeable service in
“Revisions to the provisioning data, ... will be submitted to the accordance with the Airbus Customer Services Catalogue.
customer on a revision cycle as negotiated following the original
submission.” and the Common Support Data Dictionnary (CSDD): 8. PREVIOUSLY OWNED AIRCRAFT AND MATERIAL
“...revisions will be issued every 60 to 90 days.” READINESS (MR) REVIEW
7. POST MATERIAL READINESS CONFERENCE The provisioning period for previously owned aircraft and MR
The aim of the MR conference is to enable the customer to make Review may be much shorter than for a customer purchasing new
their purchase decision. Following the conference, the provisioning build aircraft. If an airline acquires additional aircraft second hand
process mainly consists of Airbus revising and refining the and/or through secondary lease agreements, they will require the

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information for provisioning immediately as the lead-time for entry may be similar to that of the MR process. This will depend on the
into service will be shortened and constrains like the Configuration customer’s feeling to run through the whole process again.
Definition Freeze date do not apply.

Under those circumstances, the functions of a normal provisioning 9. MATERIAL AND LOGISTICS ENGINEERING
exercise usually cannot be carried out. Therefore for previously
owned aircraft the usual provisioning process consists of extracting The main task of the Material and Logistics Engineering team is
and customising the RSPLs and handing over the documentation the technical analyses of spares in order to reduce the warehouse
to the customer. The configuration data is equivalent to the stock as an important instrument of cost saving. To achieve this
configuration shown in the Illustrated Parts Catalogue valid at that aim we are applying the following approach:
point of time.
 Increasing interchangeability
Previously Owned A/C  Harmonization and standardization of parts taking into
Provisioning Period account technical needs
Pre-contractual Post-contractual  Design contribution in new and running A/C programs
Period Period
regarding to spares
 Essentiality and in-service MTBUR data process
Revision of Provisioning Data management

Spare parts ordering and deliveries

~
Provisioning Non-Contractual Provisioning Phase
Period

Figure 4: Previously Owned A/C lead-time for provisioning.

A MR Review is offered on customer request for an established

fleet and inventories when airline route structure and/or fleet
configuration are altered, main base and station inventories are
assessed for surplus or new requirements. Also MR Reviews are
conducted for new build aircraft if delivery streams are spread over
a period of several years. In that case, the MR Review exercise

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10. ABBREVIATION LIST SIF Sales Investment Forecast

A/C Aircraft STD Standard Hardware Materia
AIB Airbus Proprietary Parts SSC Supplier Support Conditions
AMMF Airbus Material Maintenance Forecast WASG World Airlines Suppliers Guide
AOG Aircraft on Ground
ATA Air Transport Association
ATE Automatic Test Equipment
BFE Buyer Furnished Equipment
CML Consumable Material List
CPB Cockpit Push Buttons
CSDD Common Support Data Dictionary
GSE Ground Support Equipment
IPC Illustrated Parts Catalogue
LMP Line Maintenance Breakdown Part of LRU
LRU Line Replaceable Unit
MR Material Readiness
MSD Material Storage Data
MSN Manufacturer’s Serial Number
MTBUR Mean Time Between Unscheduled Removals
PICL Pool Item Candidate List
Adv.RPD Advanced Resource Planning Data
RSPL Recommended Spare Parts List

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© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and

proprietary document.

This document and all information contained herein is the sole

property of AIRBUS S.A.S. No intellectual property rights are
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content. This document shall not be reproduced or disclosed to a
third party without the express written consent of AIRBUS S.A.S.

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other than that for which it is supplied. The statements made herein
do not constitute an offer. They are based on the mentioned
assumptions and are expressed in good faith. Where the supporting
grounds for these statements are not shown, AIRBUS S.A.S. will be
pleased to explain the basis thereof.

AIRBUS, its logo, A300, A310, A318, A319, A320, A321, A330,
A340, A350, A380, A400M are registered trademarks

Airbus Material, Logistics and Suppliers

Integrated Provisioning Services
Weg beim Jäger 150
22335 Hamburg, Germany
email: material-readiness.provisioning@airbus.com
Phone: + 49 (40) 50 76 – 0

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