Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Parker Aerospace Group (Parker) have achieved the first roll out of a revolutionary back to birth track and trace of aircraft parts, leveraging the groundbreaking SkyThread for Parts data sharing platform.

This achievement follows last year’s announcements that both companies would collaborate with SkyThread to ensure enhanced visibility and a complete event history throughout the lifecycle of aircraft parts on and off the aircraft. The first go-live has now been reached on the 787 platform, with hundreds of thousands of parts being actively tracked and traced using the SkyThread data sharing platform.

The aircraft parts track and trace solution from SkyThread enables AFI KLM E&M to have access to the history of each new and repaired Parker aircraft part, from its inception (new) to its installation on and removals from the supported 787 fleet. This will significantly reduce the number of inbound quarantined parts, streamlining the maintenance processes and ensuring uninterrupted operations.

Similarly, for Parker, this solution ensures that serialized part data are easily accessible and traceable, both on and off aircraft. This enables reductions in repair turnaround and other response times. It enhances supply chain performance through better demand planning for spares and repair volumes.

Both companies have begun loading data for more than 2 million aircraft part events to the platform - part birth, installation and removal, component repair, and logistics.

"This is a significant milestone for the aviation industry. Never have an Operator and a Tier-1 OEM been able to share this depth of data. By leveraging Blockchain technology, we can establish a comprehensive aircraft parts track and trace solution that ensures complete transparency and traceability of our parts" said Jeff Smith, Head of Digital Product Programs at Parker Aerospace Group. "The system will also provide our valued customers the assurance of part authenticity through access to full part history."

"We are proud to be at the forefront of innovation in the aviation industry. Our partnership with Parker Aerospace Group and the implementation of this groundbreaking track and trace solution enabled by Blockchain technology will revolutionize the way we ensure the authenticity and reliability of our parts," stated Benoît Rollier, Vice-President Engineering at KLM Engineering & Maintenance.