You've been tasked to purchase, exchange, or lease an aircraft engine for your fleet. 

Now what?

According to McKinsey & Company, procurement should be the natural owner of about 70 to 90 percent of your operations spending. 

So, if you're a small to medium-sized operation, you have a lot of work. 

As you know, the difference between your day-to-day aircraft material needs and your need for an aircraft engine is profound. 

Aircraft engines are a critical capital investment that costs a lot more money than your daily needs.

It's an asset you don't want to purchase cheap or work with unproven partners. 

Assign someone on your team as the engine category procurement manager. 

After working with hundreds of airlines, McKinsey & Company believes purchasing leaders must create strategic roles (such as category managers) to drive sourcing excellence.

Their thought is, it allows high-caliber talent to apply their skills where the return on investment is highest.

Making mistakes on an aircraft engine purchase is exceptionally costly.

It sounds like a great idea, but if you don't have an unlimited supply of skilled aircraft engine procurement professionals with decades of experience, what are you supposed to do?

Source your aircraft engines six to twelve months from now. 

Never wait until the week before you need a high-value investment, like an aircraft engine. Critical engine issues (AOG) don't apply.

Once you've assigned your aircraft engine category manager, they'll begin working with other team members to create an aircraft engine removal timeline.

Once they have a plan of when your aircraft engines will be removed from the aircraft, how much safety stock you have, they'll begin to plan for future aircraft engine repairs and purchases.

They must do this month's ahead of schedule, so the engine is sourced, procured, repaired (if need be) and transported in a manner that doesn't involve rushing, which leads to mistakes. 

Mistakes cost time and money and are often avoidable with proper planning. 

Work with a dedicated aircraft engine partner who simplifies your near-term engine needs. 

When dealing with aircraft engines, it's risky to source your engines from someone new, every time. 

You haven't had the experience to see how they support you in these high-value capital investment situations.

One of the most significant factors in a trusted aircraft engine partner isn't just the engine. 

It's how they support you (i.e., responsiveness, trust, respect, ability to give knowledgeable advice, etc.), deliver a simplified procurement process, and help you resolve issues as they arise.

It's what we believe here at Skylink. For us to deliver immense value to our clients, we can be everything to everyone, which allows us to be strategic partners, not just another "vendor."

Sure, the engine, its technical details, performance, and total cost of ownership are essential, but that's only half of the sourcing responsibility. 

You don't want to wire transfer $900,000 to someone that hasn't proven themselves, or shown that they're a dedicated partner to your operation, do you?

That's risky and not worth the long-term damage to your operation.

When sourcing your next aircraft engine, do it months ahead of schedule, and work with a dedicated aircraft engine partner who is committed to your operation's success. 

It will save you time, money, and a lot of unnecessary stress.