冠状病毒如何能够激发MRO的自动化

COVID-19危机暴露出了众多漏洞，其中之一便是全球化供应链和“及时”业务模式的脆弱性。

One of many vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 crisis has been the fragility of globalized supply chains and the ‘just-in-time’ business model.

因为虽然这可以降低库存成本并提高效率，但要有效地运作，不同组织和基础设施之间必须高度精确地交互。

For while this cuts down inventory costs and promotes efficiency, to function effectively disparate organizations and infrastructure must interact with clockwork precision.

然而，如果各国政府更习惯于实施部分封锁和旅行禁令，将来的麻烦可能更多，因此行业将不得不适应。

However, the gears may grind more frequently in the future if governments become more accustomed to imposing partial lockdowns and travel bans – so industry will have to adapt.

解决方案可能包括更短、更本地化的供应链和重新保持更大的库存——航空业也可能出现这种趋势。

Solutions may include shorter, more localized supply lines and a return to larger inventories – trends that may occur in aviation, too.

然后，飞机维修市场将需要在不同领域找到效率，尤其是在危机后，它们可能发现自己得为较小的客户群展开竞争。

The aircraft maintenance market will then need to find efficiencies in different areas, not least because they will probably find themselves competing for a smaller group of customers after the crisis.

其结果之一可能是在自动化应用缓慢的行业中提高自动化程度。

One result of this may be to boost automation in a sector where its adoption has been slow. 

咨询公司罗兰·贝格（Roland Berger）估计，在未来十年内，机器人在航空结构制造中所完成的工作份额将较目前的30％大约翻一番。

Consultancy Roland Berger estimates that within the next decade the share of work performed by robots in aerostructures manufacturing will roughly double from its present level of 30%.

然而，在危机发生之前，罗兰·贝格（Roland Berger）的合伙人霍尔格·利波斯基（Holger Lipowsky）对MRO内部自动化的前景并不乐观，他认为MRO在2030年仍将主要依赖于人工劳动。

Before the crisis, however, Roland Berger partner Holger Lipowsky was less optimistic about the prospects for automation within MRO, which he thought would still be majority reliant on touch labor in 2030.

但是现在，MRO供应商如果想实现一个盈利的未来，可能要挑战这个预测。例如，解决供应链问题的一种方法可能是提升他们在3D打印方面的能力，目前3D打印还只是用于原型制作和小机舱零件。

Now, though, MRO providers may have to challenge that prediction if they are to carve a profitable future. For example, one way to address supply chain issues could be to push their capabilities in 3D printing, which at present is used for little more than prototyping and minor cabin parts.

更快的数字化将获得更大的收益，这既是为了提供更好的供应链透明度，也是因为它往往会降低自动化的规模。

Faster digitization would reap even bigger gains, both to provide better supply chain visibility and because it tends to drive down the scale at which automation makes sense.

这条消息是Alex Derber在Inside MRO 杂志发表的文章。《Inside MRO》杂志研究商用飞机MRO领域的最新趋势和技术。每期月刊都提供了做出关键技术、业务和运营决策所需的信息。此外，订阅者每月还会收到一期《Aviation Week & Space Technology》杂志，该杂志是业内新兴技术分析和见解的主要来源。点击此处查看有关Inside MRO更多消息。