On 29th September, a technical visit to General Electric Engine Services Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (GEESM) was organised by ET Control &Automation TPN and IET Malaysia Network.
Below, Mr. Lau YC tells us more:
Aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) is an essential requirement to ensure that aircraft are maintained in pre-determined conditions of airworthiness to safely transport passengers and cargo. In the air transport industry, the aircraft MRO market is influenced by global fleet size, aircraft utilisation and air traffic volumes for both passengers and cargo. The aircraft MRO industry in Malaysia is gearing to boost capacity and enhance its services to attract more global players to the country.
During the introduction speech, Suresh Kumar Shunmugam (Managing Director of GEESM) shared the history of GEESM. The talk described the presence of GE Aviation in Malaysia when Malaysia Airlines (MAS) began using GE engines for A300 and DC10 aircrafts over 25 years ago. Incorporated in 1997, GEESM partnered with MAS to establish the Centre of Excellence for CFM56 engines. Today, the company’s engine MRO facility serves over 30 airlines including its biggest clients MAS and AirAsia, and other airlines throughout Asia, United States and Europe.
Touching on the MRO industry and its future in Malaysia, Suresh stated that rapid growth of airline passengers in the region has been translated into increased opportunities for the MRO sector. As the clients are operating in an increasingly competitive landscape that demands airline fleets to serve at peak performance, GEESM plans to enhance their MRO services through increased investment in infrastructure and high tech equipment. Recently, they have started incorporating 3D printing technologies in their engines and have incorporated the manufacturing process in the newly designed GE9x, the largest jet engine in the world. As one of the top three countries in Asia Pacific for MRO services, Malaysia continues to remain a competitive market due its strategic location and accessibility as well as costs and quality of human capital and talent.
After the informative talk, the participants were given the opportunity of a ground tour to GEESM’s engine MRO centre. The centre provides comprehensive maintenance and test capability and dedicated component repair facilities to support the company’s commercial aircraft engines.
GEESM has to date serviced up to 1,000 engines and over recent years, the company has serviced on average up to 100 engines per annum and aims to increase this value by 100% by 2016. The participants had their first-time experience to learn about the MRO procedure from front to backend operations and understand the environmental, health and safety regulations.
Among the participants, Aeronautics and Astronautics engineering students from University of Southampton was the most beneficial group, as this on-site tour has brought them out of the textbook and into live experience which inspires them to serve for the local MRO industry in future.