MRO Turnaround Time Optimization: Minimize Downtime and Maximize Margins

Introduction: The Economics of Downtime in MRO

In the aviation aftermarket, downtime is one of the most expensive liabilities an MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) can face. Each day, an aircraft or component sits in a hangar instead of flying or being reinstalled, the operator loses revenue, and the MRO risks profit erosion, SLA (Service Level Agreement) violations, or even permanent business loss.

Independent MROs operate in an ecosystem where precision, speed, and compliance are the currency of reputation. Unlike large OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) or major airline-affiliated repair divisions, which often have deeper capital reserves or internal vertical integration, these independent players must optimize every minute on the shop floor to remain competitive.

Turnaround Time (TAT) is, therefore, not a soft metric—it is a hard business driver. Reducing TAT enhances asset utilization, tightens invoicing cycles, improves client satisfaction, and unlocks new capacity. Yet, many MROs lack the tools and visibility to control it effectively.

Enter Power Aero Suites (PAS)—a purpose-built aviation ERP software platform that provides independent MROs with real-time operational intelligence, automated workflows, and integrated compliance and accounting tools. This paper examines how Power Aero Suites’ ERP platform enables aviation MROs to address the TAT systemically and sustainably.

Quantifying TAT Delays in Dollar Terms

Let’s break TAT down financially.

Suppose your shop averages 150 work orders per month. A 2-day delay per job translates to 300 extra job days per month, equivalent to nearly 20% shop capacity loss. Those delays compound:

Extra labor hours are spent chasing job updates
Overflow is outsourced to premium vendors
Missed delivery expectations lead to the loss of contracts
Regulatory penalties arise from compliance and documentation issues

If your average margin per job is $1,200 and delays cause you to forfeit or delay 10% of that volume, you’re potentially losing $18,000/month—or $216,000/year in unrealized revenue.

Now compare this with Power Aero Suite’s typical impact:

Independent MROs using the Power Aero Suites ERP software solution report an average TAT reduction of 15–30%, improved invoice timeliness, and better labor cost recovery, often without increasing.

Benchmarking Industry Standards for TAT

Industry leaders set aggressive but achievable benchmarks:

7 days or fewer for standard accessory repairs
10–15 days for multi-stage component overhauls
2–3 days for non-destructive testing or cert recertification
<48 hours for AOG-related line replacement units

However, most independent MROs fall short of these goals due to:

Tooling and documentation delays
Uncoordinated labor handoffs
Vendor turnaround variability
Lack of integrated systems for visibility

Meeting or beating industry benchmarks requires more than technical skill—it requires a digitized, data-driven operation where every task, hour, and handoff is visible and measurable.

Root Causes of Delayed TAT

1. Siloed Work Order Management

MROs often operate with fragmented tools, including Excel, outdated ERP systems, email approvals, and handwritten notes. These silos hold the potential to break process continuity:

A technician can’t start the teardown until the intake closes.
Parts procurement delays go unflagged until the job is already late.
QA inspectors may be unaware that a job is ready for review.

2. Manual Workflows and Bottlenecks

Without automation, even small tasks can snowball into multi-day delays:

Waiting for a manager’s sign-off.
Locating traveler documents.
Re-entering data from one system to another.

Time is wasted chasing information instead of executing the repair in this scenario. In a paper-heavy environment, one missing document can stall operations.

3. Lack of Real-Time Alerts or Exception Handling

Even MROs with digital systems may lack the real-time responsiveness to spot delays before they cascade. By the time leadership reviews weekly spreadsheets, it’s already too late.

Technology as the Enabler

The Power Aero Suites ERP software platform introduces a holistic, aviation-specific alternative to the patchwork of legacy tools. It creates a living digital twin of the MRO floor, turning tribal knowledge into structured data and manual steps into automated flows.

Real-Time Visibility

Every job status is live and centralized:

Color-coded job boards clearly display at-risk jobs
Labor time is tracked via scan-in/scan-out or mobile inputs
Part procurement is linked directly to job cards and vendor PO timelines
Milestone dashboards display bottlenecks and SLA breaches in real time

Automated Task Management

Each job progresses through predefined milestones, including receiving, teardown, inspection, parts ordering, assembly, quality assurance (QA), and invoicing. Alerts trigger if steps take too long or fall out of sequence.

Power Aero Suites sends an automatic reminder if teardown exceeds two hours or if a job has been idle for more than 12 hours.

This level of proactive exception handling is rarely possible in generic ERP systems and is one of Power Aero Suites’ key differentiators.

Case Study: Power Aero Suites in Action

Case: AviaCore MRO (Anonymized)

Profile: 70-person regional MRO specializing in hydraulic component repair.

Problem: TAT inconsistencies, poor labor capture, and delayed vendor coordination.

Before Power Aero Suites:

Avg TAT: 14.5 days
22% of jobs were over the deadline
Only 60% of labor hours are accurately logged
Invoices are generated 4–6 days after job completion

After Power Aero Suites Implementation:

Avg TAT: 10.2 days
92% of jobs completed on time
95% labor capture via barcode tracking
Invoices must be ready on the same day as the job closes

Annual Impact:

+18% job volume without additional hiring
$300K/year in revenue uplift
Streamlined audits with 100% traceable documentation

Power Aero Suite’s Proprietary Advantage

Built for Aviation

Whereas most ERP providers attempt to retrofit generic software for aviation, Power Aero Suites software is built from the ground up for:

FAA/EASA compliance
Labor task traceability
Alternate tracking and teardown logs
Vendor turn-time management

Modular and Unified

Power Aero Suites isn’t just one system—it’s a complete software suite that covers:

Work Orders
Inventory & Procurement
Labor Management
Compliance & Quality
Vendor Scoring
Integrated Accounting

Low IT Overhead

Independent MROs often lack in-house IT support. Power Aero Suites solves this with the following:

Cloud-native architecture
Minimal setup requirements
No local hardware
Continuous updates without disruption

Strategic Recommendations for MROs

1. Embrace KPI-Driven Operations

Start by defining critical KPIs that influence your TAT:

Job idle time
Parts wait time
Vendor Response SLAs
Labor capture accuracy

Power Aero Suites makes these KPIs visible daily—not quarterly—so adjustments are fast and fact-based.

2. Integrate Parts and Vendor Management

Don’t treat procurement and repair tracking as separate functions. Power Aero Suites links parts to specific jobs, tracks lead times, and ranks vendors based on real-world TAT and quality.

3. Invest in Technician Enablement

Empower techs with digital traveler templates, mobile logins, and precise job task breakdowns. When techs know what’s next and how long it should take, job velocity improves organically.

4. Build Compliance Into the Workflow

Instead of bolting on audits after repairs are complete, Power Aero Suites makes compliance proactive. Documentation, photos, sign-offs, and alternates are logged as the job progresses, creating an automatic audit trail.

An Aviation ERP That Optimizes Turnaround Time

For independent MROs, optimizing TAT isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic necessity. With every delayed repair, you lose opportunity, margin, and trust. With every improvement, you unlock capacity, revenue, and competitive advantage.

Power Aero Suites is more than ERP software. It’s a framework for operational excellence explicitly built for the aviation aftermarket. By digitizing and unifying every stage of the repair process—from labor tracking and inventory management to compliance and billing—the Power Aero Suites ERP solution helps you operate more efficiently, effectively, and profitably.

Feature	Power Aero Suites	Generic ERP
Aviation-specific workflows	Yes	No
Real-time labor tracking	Barcode/Manual/Mobile	Limited
FAA/EASA compliance management	Native	Manual integrations
Vendor TAT tracking	Built-in	Not supported
Work order to invoice speed	Same day	Multi-day
IT requirements	Cloud-native	High maintenance
Setup/Training time	Weeks	Months