In praise of maintenance!

Safran’s tagline, Powered by trust, clearly reflects the critical nature of our products. Whether for aviation, space or defense, there’s no leeway for error.

When we say that trust is at the heart of our identity, we’re also emphasizing the long-term customer commitment that underpins all of our businesses.

Safran’s business model, in fact, is built on two pillars, starting with the sale of our products.

But nearly half of our consolidated sales, exceeding 21 billion euros in 2018, are generated by our service businesses, especially aftersales services such as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), plus the sale of spare parts. Take for instance the CFM56, the best-selling aircraft engine in the history of aviation. The current CFM56 fleet is nearly 30,000 strong and represents very important aftersales revenue potential – especially since some 60% of the latest-generation CFM56 engines have yet to undergo their first shop visit. Furthermore, Safran’s acquisition policy focuses on businesses with a significant share of service revenues, as reflected in our recent purchase of Zodiac Aerospace.

Despite our successful track record to date, we are not resting on our laurels.

New technologies are emerging at a fast pace: additive manufacturing of course, but also artificial intelligence to exploit the flight data generated by our products. This changing landscape offers a host of opportunities to new players, even those from non-traditional sectors.

For the moment, these new technologies are still a long way from being able to make most of the parts we need, which depend on an entire supply chain plus a long series of tests leading up to certification. But we should not assume that our margins are eternal. The advent of new competitors in the aftersales market is inevitable, despite their current weak presence.

Legacy players in the aftersales market, such as Safran, must be able to address growing customer demand for lower total cost of ownership, as well as the associated requirement for predictability. We can see this trend reflected in the transition between the CFM56 and its successor, the LEAP. Aftersales revenues for the CFM56, the majority generated by spare parts sales, will peak in 2025. On the LEAP, however, customers are increasingly opting for long-term “power by the hour” service contracts, based on a fixed rate per hour of flight. For Safran, this changeover demands increasingly accurate forecasting—giving us a clearer view of our aftersales revenues and the ability to further reduce maintenance costs.

We also have to address growing customer demand to anticipate problems and quickly resolve them.

That’s the aim of our optimized spare parts network, which allows us to deliver spare parts and carry out repairs in record time. Safran has also developed advanced engine data analysis capabilities, services such as NacelleLife for our nacelles, and EngineLife for helicopter turbine engines, based on customized service packages calling on digital technology to optimize fleet operations.

In the fiercely competitive aftersales support market, major players such as Safran have to stand out by offering customers the best products, services and prices. We can never take things for granted, but must continue to do our utmost to ensure customer satisfaction.

As they say, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”