Digital Transformation: Reshaping aerospace supply chain

Various machine tool builders in Taiwan eye the aerospace industry. Some have formed an alliance that is now working with a research institute to tailor machines for more effective processing of aerospace workpieces.

The afternoon section of the second day of TIMTOS 2017 Summit focuses on the Aerospace Supply Chain. The session started with Shie-Chun Du, Senior Vice President, Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) keynote regarding6 “Opportunities and Challenges of Taiwan Aviation Industry.”

Opportunities, challenges of Taiwan aviation

Du said, “We are in a highly competitive, growing market, and suppliers play a key role in our market success. Quality, reliability, performance and affordability are crucial. Boeing expects suppliers to partner with us to reach and sustain market leadership, and leverage life-cycle economics.”

He added, “We all pay a role in reaching and sustaining market leadership. And with this we must leverage collaboration to build the future. How to unlock value to connect, protect, explore and inspire? First, partner for success; second, category strategies; third, supplier development; fourth, integrating systems across the supply chain; fifth, future Boeing production system.”

Du pointed some things to remember: Strong resilient aviation industry growth. Robust long-'term growth prospects in a diverse and dynamic market. Competition is intense- “we need to be ready.” He also added that the keys to winning are areas each team can work on every day to help us win in the marketplace. By doing these things well, we’ll enhance the value of our products and services in the eyes of customers.

With that objective in mind, a group of machine tool makers in Taiwan formed an alliance, called A-Team, to promote productivity 4.0. “A-team” is formed by 294 enterprises with similar ideas and values, ranging from raw materials supplier, machinery and equipment, academic research, production manufacturer, logistics and other diverse integrations, striving to increase Taiwan aerospace industry′s energy. 

U.S aerospace supplier chain

Mike DiFranco, Group Publisher, GIE Media talked about the U.S Aerospace Supplier Chain. He said that the primary objective of the airline supply-chain is to ensure that the right material is delivered to the right place at the right time. The second objective is to manage the parts procurement and supply-chain function as efficiently as possible. Once these objectives are met, the supply-chain can help reduce costs, increase functionality, and create a source of competitive advantage for the airline. The commercial aviation supply-chain has been feeling the effects of the cost cuts implemented by the airline industry, which experienced low traffic over the last two years. In the United States, there are currently 7,336 aircraft in service with 844 on order. Top suppliers of new aircraft programs are likely to continue thriving, at the cost of maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO) suppliers and airlines. Companies can resort to inventory management solutions to yield significant improvements in both inventory cost and customer service levels, without having to make any significant changes to the supply-chain.

DiFranco shared Accenture vision 2016, which finds the commercial aerospace market facing headwinds that are tampering the gains made over the past few years. Continued 2016 softness in orders who do come to the table enjoy more of a buyers’ market. Flat production capacity, coupled with the continued ramp up in production, will put pressure on costs and drive additional investments in efficiency, production, automation, cost visibility and supplier development.

He stressed that evolving supply chain capabilities, such as digitalisation (Industry 4.0/IIoT), visibility, collaboration, and optimisation can be the answers to the challenges companies in aerospace are facing.

The supply chain adopting: new technology, augment reality, alternative processes, additive manufacturing (AM) tooling/rapid prototyping/finished parts, and non-descriptive testing (NDT) can result to possible encouraging outcomes for those industry players who capitalise on these opportunities.

Material & manufacturing

Bill Bihlman, President, Aerolytics LLC discussed “Material & Manufacturing for Commercial Aerospace: Present & Future.”

Boeing and Airbus comprise two-thirds of materials consumed for aerospace globally.  While there are significant barriers to widespread adoption of additive manufacturing (AM), the aerospace industry also presents some incredible opportunities for utilising AM, explained Bill Bihlman.

Three items are impacting design and production. 1) Aero structure: Movement towards larger monolithic structures to reduce part count and weight. 2) Engine: Increased machine tolerances for components for greater operational efficiency. 3) Both: More near-net shape: hard alloys are difficult to machine, and scrapping parts is expensive (TI forgings $100Ks vs. AL blanks $10Ks); additive manufacturing prevalent at research level.

Bihlman touched on the materials that led themselves to additive manufacturing, including titanium and super alloys. He noted that these materials are great candidates for additive manufacturing in the aerospace industry because of their tolerance for high temperature and the need for less machining—ultimately leading to cost savings.

In the area of certification and standards, Bihlman noted that their needs to be a paradigm shift and a realisation that previous areas, such as metal standards, are not directly comparable to additive manufacturing. While there are a number of challenges, it is of vital importance to the growth of the industry that standards are established, so there is a clear path to follow.

Beyond the difficulties with certification, Bihlman also highlighted several more technical barriers. The biggest challenge of all, he argued, is repeatability of the process. Because safety is paramount in the aerospace industry, any additive manufacturing process needs to be repeatable to be a viable option.

Aerolytics focuses on helping clients in three core areas: aerospace materials, processing of materials, and supply chain and global distribution. While his work with Aerolytics focuses on management consulting, Bihlman’s background in mechanical engineering and his history working for aircraft manufacturers have served him well.

Lastly, aerospace is embracing digitisation of business practices. Digitalisation is a broad term used to describe the advent and introduction of new technologies that essentially replace old mechanical practices. Additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, as well as augmented reality systems, robotics, Big Data, autonomous systems, cloud computing, “Internet of Things,” and cyber are some of the examples. Digitisation is becoming a one go-to strategy for companies and customers are trying to figure out how to innovate and ensure profitability.