Pratt’s Eagle Services Asia Engine MRO Leverages Automation

Pratt & Whitney’s Eagle Services Asia facility in Singapore is the hub for the RTX company’s engine MRO services throughout the region, performing maintenance on the PW1100-JM Geared Turbofan (GTF) and the PW4000. It also serves as the innovation and technology incubator for the rest of the P&W engine services network, notably robotic systems that stack low- and high-pressure compressor sections, cutting process times by about 50% and man-hours by 70% or more.

The 370,000-sq-ft Singapore complex comprises two main buildings—Eagle 1 and Eagle 2, which handle engine inspection/assembly and disassembly, respectively. Eagle Services Asia was established in 1978. The Eagle 1 building came online in 2018, and the 48,000-sq-ft Eagle 2 opened two years ago. Two engine test cells are also on the property.

Thanks to the second building and increased use of automation for inspections and assembly, the Singapore location has increased its service volume by 40% annually since the start of 2024, according to Eagle Services Asia general manager Gilbert Sim. Overhauls of the GTF engine that powers the Airbus A320neo account for about 70% of the facility's volume, while the remainder is for the PW4000, he told AIN. The latter engine is on the Boeing 747, 767, and 777, as well as the Airbus A300, A310, and A330.

About a third of the work at the Asia facility is now automated, improving consistency and accuracy, not to mention making Eagle Services Asia the highest-volume heavy engine services provider among the 17 Pratt & Whitney GTF MROs, Sim said. Much of the automation came from employee suggestions, he added.

Although the disassembly process is low-tech, the company now employs an automated robot at Eagle 2 that takes photos of inboarded engines before they are torn down. “This ensures we’re taking the exact same set of photos for each engine,” Sim noted.

These images are digitally enhanced and help determine if any engine components are missing—some operators remove them in whole or in part before sending in engines for overhaul. In addition, the photos are used to generate an automated report, reducing man-hours by 90% for this task.

Meanwhile, its Eagle 1 facility leverages far more robotic technology for both inspections and assembly, and that will only grow in the coming years, according to Sim. Inspection times are more than halved by collaborative robots fitted with a vision system and customized fixtures.

For example, a robotic system that inspects integrated bladed-rotor disks on high-pressure compressors improves reliability and repeatability while reducing inspection time from three hours to about one hour. A human inspector is still required to review the images, though the company is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to further automate the process, Sim said.

Automation stacking systems for the low- and high-pressure compressors and core sections are where the technology really shines. Robotic arms handle heavy and oven-heated compressor and core stages with ease and precision, improving stack consistency, reliability, and safety. They also greatly reduce process times and man-hours.

Alfred, the automated robot that stacks high-pressure compressor sections, halves the processing time and reduces man-hours by 85%. It also increases worker safety, handling stages heated in an oven to 245 deg C without breaking a sweat. (The metal expansion aids in assembly.)

A low-pressure compressor assembly robot, dubbed Atlas, is now in testing and expected to come online by April. Future areas of automation include turbine section stacking, according to Sim. Eagle Services Asia is also exploring how AI could speed up inspection work at the facility.