On the 28th of November, the Evering Institute hosted a significant event for the aerospace industry: the 16th PHAROS Day, organised by the competitiveness clusters Aerospace Valley and ALPHA-RLH. Bringing together over 80 participants, this day focused on exploring the challenges and innovations surrounding Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) and Maintenance in Operational Condition (MCO) of aerospace fleets. Through conferences, networking, and B2B meetings, industry stakeholders shared innovative ideas to address productivity, supply chain, skill development, and regulatory challenges.
Under the central theme “MRO in the Aerospace Sector: Challenges and Innovations,” the dense program of the day highlighted various topics, ranging from market needs to technological solutions.
Key highlights:
Thematic Introduction and Opening Speeches
Representatives from Aerospace Valley, ALPHA-RLH, and the University of Bordeaux presented the day’s objectives. Thierry Casale from Sabena Technics introduced the issues of optimising interventions, reducing Turnaround Times (TAT), and continuous learning in the field.
Market Needs: Perspectives from Key Players
Leaders such as Daher, Thales, Dassault Aviation, and the “Direction de la Maintenance Aéronautique” (DMAé) shared their insights on topics such as private client expectations, the evolution of avionics architectures, and predicting engine behaviour in service. These presentations helped identify the main technical and organisational challenges in the sector.
One of the main problems today is the significant increase in the number of aircraft in operation. To ensure their proper functioning, preventive maintenance operations are required, and sometimes even corrections when a failure occurs. Due to this increase, there is a shortage of people able to carry out this type of operation. In addition, the skills of these technicians also need to be updated. Therefore, training is one of the priorities in the aeronautical field.
Technological Innovations: Promising Solutions
The day was marked by fascinating innovation proposals one of them being Kayrox, Tecnalia no-code augmented reality solution for remote maintenance and training. During this presentation, Tecnalia teams also presented MOTIVATE XR, and the benefits that this solution could bring to the aerospace sector.
Among the solutions presented, augmented reality took pride of place, and Kayrox and MOTIVATE XR were therefore very well received.
Networking and B2B Meetings
Beyond the conferences, moments of exchange allowed participants to strengthen their professional ties. B2B meetings and the networking lunch provided an ideal setting to foster collaborations. Corentin Prat-Marca, from Aerospace Valley, took part in several meetings to exchange with the industrial companies present. These interesting discussions provided an opportunity to discuss the project in more detail, including the aeronautical pilot that will be implemented within the framework of MOTIVATE XR, the issues that will be addressed, and the expected results. Discussions also focused on the need for the maintenance training field to modernise to meet the growing demand for maintenance technicians.
Closing and Exclusive Visit to the Evering Institute
To wrap up this content-rich day, participants had the opportunity to visit the Evering Institute facilities and continue informal discussions.
The 16th PHAROS Day brilliantly illustrated the importance of collaborative innovation to meet the challenges of the aerospace sector. Between inspiring presentations and fruitful exchanges, the event served as a unique platform to explore future solutions, MOTIVATE XR being a superb example of what can be done to meet the growing need for manpower, and the necessary training that results from it-resonated with the companies present, their needs and the solutions they are considering to maintain their competitiveness.
