The global maritime and energy sectors are experiencing a critical shift: their operational assets are aging, and maintaining performance over extended lifespans is becoming increasingly complex.
Operational assets are averaging 26 years in some segments. These assets require sustained, reliable support.
While demand for legacy parts is real, for OEMs, legacy portfolios pose a profitability challenge due to low-volume, sporadic, and unpredictable demand. Maintaining inventory for these parts is costly and often unjustifiable. Meanwhile, as grey market providers gain ground, OEM legacy revenue faces increasing pressure.
OEMs often struggle to deliver fast enough to meet demand from their own installed base. When they can’t supply quickly, end users look elsewhere, putting aftermarket revenue and IP control at risk.
THE REAL COST OF LEGACY SUPPORT
OEMs are often stuck between two options:
Stockpile parts and risk inventory waste, high production and carrying costs (warehousing, labor, insurance, financing, scrap, etc.)
Produce reactively and risk long lead times and customer dissatisfaction.
When a legacy part is unavailable, the wait time can stretch into weeks or even months for the end user, especially when bottlenecks in customs or logistics further delay delivery. These delays disrupt operations and push end users toward faster, riskier options.
“Grey market replacement parts sold at a low price are misleading, could negatively impact product performance and are potentially dangerous.”
–Syncron
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“Gray market materials in critical manufacturing endanger the continued operation and functionality of critical infrastructure.”
– CISA, Critical Manufacturing Sector.
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20% of global spare parts are suspected to be counterfeit or pirated, highlighting the scale of the grey market threat.
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Timing is critical. 53% of customers cancel or abandon a purchase when delivery is too slow, showing how lead times directly impact retention and revenue.
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ON-DEMAND MANUFACTURING: DEFINED
On-demand manufacturing refers to producing parts as needed, using both traditional (e.g. CNC machining, casting) and advanced methods (e.g. additive manufacturing). It relies on digital inventories of production-ready CAD files and secure communication with appropriate suppliers.
“On-demand manufacturing allows you to store designs digitally and produce components when and where they are needed eliminating the need for warehousing.”
– Dassault Systèmes, 3DS Insights
According to McKinsey, the on-demand model is well suited to support industries with long lifecycles and complex service requirements, reducing inventory risk and improving supply chain responsiveness.
“On-demand manufacturing brings new agility to lifecycle management, particularly useful in industries managing high-mix, low-volume demand.”
– McKinsey & Company
And the opportunity is growing. Up to 30% of legacy part portfolios can now be produced on-demand, economically, according to analysis from real industrial inventories. This means thousands of slow-moving legacy portfolio parts could be transitioned from costly warehousing to agile, just-in-time fulfillment.
A PROVEN MODEL THAT’S UNDERUSED IN MARITIME AND ENERGY
Automotive, aerospace, and defense have already adopted on-demand manufacturing at scale.
“Adopting on-demand manufacturing allows you to respond swiftly to changing market demands, reduce production lead times, and optimize resource allocation.”
–AMFG
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So why have the maritime and energy sectors been slower to follow?
Trust in quality: Many assume on-demand means lower standards. But digital production does not mean reduced standards. All compliance testing still applies, and the same quality controls are enforced.
Supply chain inertia: Established systems are built for bulk production, not responsiveness.
Limited supplier networks: Some OEMs lack trusted partners for low-volume or rapid-response production.
However, the tide is turning. Forward-thinking OEMs are already shifting to digital inventories and distributed production models, helping them serve legacy demand faster, reduce waste, reduce costs, and retain revenue.
“OEMs that adopt on-demand models are better positioned to protect their aftermarket and service revenues.”
– McKinsey & Company
THE BIGGER PICTURE: PROFITABILITY THROUGH AGILITY
Pelagus was created for this exact challenge.
Poor availability of legacy parts doesn’t just delay repairs it erodes perceived service quality. That opens the door to grey market alternatives, where lower prices and faster delivery often come at the expense of quality and system reliability. Once end users go outside official channels for one part, it’s easier for others to follow. OEMs risk not only losing aftermarket revenue, but also long-term customer relationships, service contracts, and even entire installed bases through retrofits or competitor conversions.
By digitizing legacy portfolios and enabling on-demand manufacturing and where relevant, localized production, OEMs can:
Respond faster and fulfill customer expectations
Produce closer to the point of need
Reduce warehousing and stockholding costs
Protect revenue from grey market erosion
For end users, this means reliability and keeping aging vessels running without needing to take risks with non-genuine parts or make new equipment investments.
For OEMs, it means a renewed path to profitability from their legacy portfolios.
RETHINKING THE LEGACY PORTFOLIO
The growing presence of grey market providers is putting real pressure on OEMs. Aftermarket revenue from legacy portfolios, once seen as certain, must now be proactively protected.
When lead times stretch too long, end users, under pressure to avoid downtime, look elsewhere. These customers don't necessarily prefer non-genuine parts, but when operations are at risk, speed often wins. This shift exposes OEMs to revenue loss, reduced control, and increased risk to their installed base.
The challenge is that legacy support is often handled on a part-by-part basis, making it difficult to manage demand consistently or profitably. By thinking in terms of the full legacy portfolio, rather than individual parts, OEMs can take greater control. On-demand manufacturing offers a proactive, scalable solution. It reduces stockpiling and warehousing costs, ensures consistent quality, and can bring lead times down to under four weeks making it a compelling alternative to the grey market.
The opportunity lies in shifting the mindset from reactive fulfillment to strategic legacy portfolio management. With the right approach, OEMs can serve customers faster, protect long-term relationships, and unlock greater profitability from their legacy business.