The aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul sector is entering a new phase of digitalisation, with the ability to connect engineering data, inspection evidence and maintenance decisions becoming increasingly important to aircraft availability. For Derby-based AddQual, that shift provides the commercial context behind the development of MiDAS, its digital platform designed to bring greater structure, traceability and intelligence to qualification and verification processes. New research from Future Market Insights estimates the global digital MRO market at $8.9 billion in 2026, forecasting growth to $27.6 billion by 2036 at a compound annual growth rate of 12%. MRO software platforms are expected to represent 35% of the market this year, while aircraft maintenance accounts for an estimated 37% of applications.
Those figures point towards a broader transformation taking place across aerospace maintenance. Modern MRO operations generate substantial quantities of information through inspection, metrology, engineering assessment, repair development and component release. Increasingly, the opportunity lies in connecting that evidence into a controlled digital thread that can support faster and more informed engineering decisions.MiDAS has been developed around that requirement.
“Digital MRO becomes particularly powerful when the data surrounding a component can travel with the engineering decision,” said Ben Anderson, Managing Director of AddQual. “MiDAS is about creating that continuity between inspection, qualification, verification and the evidence required to move work forward with confidence.”
The market research highlights record governance as a central driver of digital MRO adoption. Connected platforms allow condition findings to flow into approved work, while consistent terminology and traceable exchanges between systems strengthen the foundation for predictive analytics, digital twins and AI-assisted maintenance. This is particularly relevant within repair and component qualification, where measurement results, inspection records, technical documentation and engineering decisions can form part of a complex evidence chain.
AddQual sees MiDAS as a way of organising that information around the component and its journey through qualification. Rather than treating metrology as a standalone inspection activity, the company’s strategy increasingly connects measurement with digital records, visualisation and engineering intelligence. The result is intended to provide customers with a clearer route from physical component condition through to verified engineering evidence. Anderson added:
“The aerospace industry already produces enormous amounts of high-quality data. The next opportunity is making that data easier to access, understand and apply. When measurement and inspection information becomes structured and traceable, it becomes an engineering asset that can support qualification today and increasingly sophisticated digital services tomorrow.”
That direction aligns closely with the wider development of the digital MRO market. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are forecast to account for 33% of the technology category in 2026. Yet the research also makes an important distinction: the commercial value of AI depends on reliable asset histories, consistent data and explainable recommendations that can be connected to approved maintenance workflows. For AddQual, this places metrology and verification data close to the foundations of aerospace’s emerging digital infrastructure. MiDAS can provide the structured environment through which inspection and qualification information is captured and managed, while AddQual’s wider digital roadmap, including AtlasQual and MiDASMIND, creates the potential to develop further intelligence from that evidence.
The opportunity extends into digital twins, repair schemes, reverse engineering and new product introduction, particularly where MRO organisations need to establish an accurate understanding of component condition before deciding the next engineering action. The UK could prove an important market for that capability. Future Market Insights forecasts UK digital MRO growth of 12% annually through 2036, highlighting demand for audit-ready workflows across airlines, approved organisations and independent maintenance bases.
“Qualification has traditionally been viewed as something that happens around the engineering process,” Anderson said. “Our vision is to make it part of the digital infrastructure supporting that process.“ MiDAS gives us the platform to connect physical measurement with digital evidence. From there, you can build greater traceability, stronger visualisation and ultimately better decision intelligence. That is where we believe AddQual can make a significant contribution to the future of MRO.”
As aerospace MRO becomes increasingly connected, the value of digital technology will be measured by its ability to translate aircraft and component data into approved engineering action. For AddQual, MiDAS represents the bridge between the component being measured today and the increasingly connected, data-led maintenance environment taking shape across aerospace.
Image Source: Insider Media Round table
