The industrial demand for flexible and innovative manufacturing technologies is continuously increasing. These technologies have to be sustainable and resource-efficient, and have to allow the production of long-life capital goods. Consequently, the additive processes gain in importance as they offer an enormous potential of application, especially for the turbomachinery industry.
In order to use additive manufacturing technologies in industrial applications, it is necessary to consider the complete process chain, including all necessary pre- and postprocessing. Although additive manufacturing is increasingly covered in scientific research, the linking between this technology and conventional industrial processes is rarely described.
Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) is acquiring increasing commercial and socio-economic significance. For products and goods with high investment costs and a long lifespan, especially in the sectors of energy and transportation, a considerable portion of commercial profits are generated by after-sales services. In the field of research and development, not enough attention has been paid so far to tasks and approaches involving MRO. The field thus has a limited scientific background, despite a high potential in the business sector for technological and scientific optimization. The challenges and chances of MRO for sustainable enterprises will be explained with reference to the Fraunhofer Innovation Cluster Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul in Energy and Transport. The developments and project results of the four fields of innovation »Cleaning«, »Repair and Overhaul«, »Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis«, as well as »MRO Planning and Digital Assistance« will be explained.