IJTEMT www.ijtemt.org; EISSN: 2321-5518; Vol.

III, Issue II, June 2014

Competitive Operation Model for the Supply Chain of

Aircraft Composite Parts
Hsien-Ming CHANG
Aerospace MBA
Toulouse Business School
Toulouse, France

Abstract—The demand trend of civil aircraft is stable and Boeing B787 and the Airbus A350 XWB (Extra Wide Body).
increasing in the future years. Due to the material technology From the manufacturing perspective, this is a major step
development and fuel price volatility, the composite materials change since it imposes the need to create and update existing
become more important in aero-structures, also starting to apply in knowledge bases to adapt industry to this new demand. [2]
the aero-engine category. It is a good opportunity to integrate the
supply chain in the aircraft composite parts and get benefits from For commercial planes, composites penetration continues in
well operation. This study propose the Competitive Operation new design as composites are applied to all critical parts. This
Model, which introduce the concepts of value stream, risk trend is driven by the positive economic global impact of
management and lean production into the supply chain processes
composites - weight reduction leading to fuel cost savings. [3]
and management processes for aircraft manufacturers and aero-
structures suppliers. Thus the aircraft manufacturers and their Composite materials used in commercial airplanes typically
suppliers can increase the performance and competence in the are produced by combining layers of carbon or glass fibers with
competitive market. epoxy. In recent years, manufacturers have expanded the use of
Key words: aircraft, supply chain, composite parts, Competitive composites to the fuselage and wings because these materials
Operation Model. are typically lighter and more resistant to corrosion than are the
metallic materials that have traditionally been used in airplanes.
The percentage of total structural weight attributed to
I. INTRODUCTION composites show as Figure 2. [4]
Although the number of new transport aircraft sold in a
given year has “whip-sawed” over the past decade, production
and deliveries have trended steadily upward. As seen in Figure
1, this trend will continue in the coming decade. Aircraft
manufacturers are expected to deliver more than 17,000 aircraft
(including dedicated cargo planes) between 2012 and 2022.
About 60 percent of these aircraft will replace aging aircraft.
[1]

Figure 2 Commercial Airplane Models over time by

Percentage of Composites. [4]
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Bombardier’s International Composite Centers of

Figure 1 Demand of Transport Aircraft [1] Excellence includes 6 main manufacturing plants with
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A recent challenge in aerospace engineering is the trend to Composite manufacturing facilities for civil aircraft structures.
switch from predominantly aluminum to predominantly They structure for composites new product development
composite structures, as evidenced by the development of the approaches. They focus on the quality of the manufacturing

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 IJTEMT www.ijtemt.org; EISSN: 2321-5518; Vol. III, Issue II, June 2014
process; enhance the quality of the interfaces and The procedures of aircraft composite parts include the
communications with all internal resources; follow a material procurement, fabrication process, supply chain
disciplined project management approach; reduce time to management, components assembly and final assembly.
market and minimizing engineering changes following design
freeze. [5] This study construct and propose Competitive Operation
Model, shows as Figure 3. We describe the material
The business opportunity for increased use of composites - procurement in section 3, explain the fabrication process in
aero-engine components. The company sees a long-term trend section 4, design the supply chain management in section 5,
towards lighter engines, featuring lower speed, higher-diameter develop the component assembly in section 6, and discuss the
fans, in order to meet fuel consumption and emissions targets final assembly in section 7.
over the coming years. The advantages of carbon fiber epoxy in
this context is that it is 66% lighter than titanium, its properties
can be tailored to critical load/stiffness directions, and carbon
fiber is inherently resistant to fatigue loading. [6]

The demand trend of civil aircraft is stable and increase in

the future years. Due to the material technology development
and fuel price volatility, the composites material become more
important in aero-structures, also starting to apply in the aero-
engine. It is the good opportunity to construct a robust and
efficient supply chain of composite parts in the aerospace
industry.
II. COMPETITIVE OPERATION MODEL
Figure 3 Competitive Operation Model
Structural airworthiness is the first aspect in airworthiness
certification for composite material structure which has
particular devisable performance, togetherness of material and III. MATERIAL PROCUREMENT
structure, multiplicity of potential failure modes and lack of
regularity, sensitivity to out-of-plane loads and to operating The major raw material for composite parts production are
environment. The items of structural airworthiness regulation prepregs, resin, honeycomb...etc., shows as Figure 4. Those
are established on above key problems and have close relations materials have to store inside the temperature control container
with the improved knowledge of safety for aircraft structure. In (e.g. ice box) during the shipment and storage. Even exposure
the period of service life, structure must be designed to bear in the room temperature, we have to measure/count and control
limit load and meet the rigidity requirement in the appropriate the shelf life until enter the autoclave and start the curing cycle.
environment, this is not only applied to new structure and also
to aging structure. [7]
Due to the following reasons, we have to create the
Competitive Operation Model for the supply chain of aircraft
composite parts.
1) Aerospace industry utilize more composite materials: New
design aircraft such as A380, A350, B787, C-Series apply
more composite materials in aero-structure. The aero-
engine has started to apply composite materials.
2) Shelf life constraint is critical to the quality of details parts
and components: so reserve and acquire the material in
time and keep a suitable/reasonable inventory level for
production turn around are essential for the effective
supply chain. Figure 4 The Raw Material- Prepreg [8]

3) High capital investment in composite: The main facility in If the composite production shops are located far away
from the raw material supplier, such as emerging area. The
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composite shop, including clean room, autoclave, auto-

layup machine, 5-axis trimming machine, the purchase material procurement become a critical issue for stable and
smooth production.
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cost and invest are high.

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 IJTEMT www.ijtemt.org; EISSN: 2321-5518; Vol. III, Issue II, June 2014
A. Target
Due to the most of raw materials are shelf life control, so
the target of material procurement is provide the right quantity
of material in the right timing to ensure the production quality
is qualified and stable.

B. Focus
The whole process should focus on shelf life control,
including:
1) Inventory and consuming control.
2) Delivery/shipment process control.
3) Prepreg group cutting/lay-up and curing.

C. Solution
The solution of the whole aircraft material procurement Figure 5 Fabrication Process-Cutting [9]
should take the following actions:
1) The aircraft manufacturer should link with material A. Target
suppliers in design/develop stage of the new model to Due to the whole fabrication process should satisfy the
select the suitable materials. requirement of specification and meet the mechanical/
2) The aircraft manufacturer should forecast his long term chemical property. So the stable process can improve the
demand and secure the continuously supply of raw quality and increase the yield rate. Also, improve the process
material from those suppliers. and can control the product in the target cost.
3) Aircraft manufacturer should group the demand of aero- B. Focus
structures suppliers to negotiate and deal with the price
with raw material supplier to control the cost and The whole process should focus on process control,
resources. including:

4) The aero-structures suppliers should alliance with raw 1) Production sequence and control.
material supplier and build the consignment inventory near 2) Production recipe and methodology.
the place of those composite shops to acquire the benefit of 3) Environment control of working area.
shelf life control.
C. Solution
IV. FABRICATION PROCESS The solution of the whole fabrication process should take
the following actions:
The fabrication process include prepreg cutting, lay-up,
curing, trimming and cutting, non-destroy inspection, post 1) Production Engineering should understand the lean
treatment and painting, shows as Figure 5. The process is production skill to improve the process and reduce the cost.
continuous and technological intensive. The Production 2) Production Control should merge all the demand from
Planning has to integrate the production resources to ensure different customers, then manage and level the frustration load
start and complete on time. The Production Engineering has to into stable/smooth load.
improve the process to reduce the cost in competitive level.
3) Aero-structures suppliers should consider the
characteristics of products and introduce some automation
machines or facilities to labor intensive operations, such as
auto-layup, robot, NC machine…etc.
4) The environment control of clean room (e.g.
temperature, humidity…etc.), periodic calibration and
Preventive Maintenance of critical equipment/machines (e.g.
autoclaves, NC routers, NDI scanner…etc.) are important for
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the production.
Page

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 IJTEMT www.ijtemt.org; EISSN: 2321-5518; Vol. III, Issue II, June 2014
V. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT aero-structures supplier site. Figure 7 shows components
assembly in assembly line. After quality check and on-site
The aircraft manufacturer and primary supplier should representative buyoff, then delivery to main aircraft
determine the core competences. They can concentrate the manufacturer.
resources in high value added categories. Figure 6 shows the
value chain of composite process. Some non-core business,
such as overload job or operation, raw materials shipment,
standard parts…etc. can off load or purchase from suppliers.

Figure 6 Value Chain of Process [10]

Figure 7 Components Assembly [11]
A. Target
Due to the procurement and outsourcing items can provide A. Target
the company quality products at target price, so it will benefit Because of there are several models/components with
the aircraft manufacturer and primary supplier concentrate in different rate in the assembly line of aero-structures supplier.
their expertise and value added items. The target of component assembly is allocate the human
resource and keep the flexibility to support the fluctuation in
B. Focus the assembly line.
The whole supplier chain management should focus on
quality requirements and cost control: B. Focus
1) Supplier certification and qualification. The whole process should focus on resource allocation,
including:
2) Performance monitoring and evaluation.
1) Crew load evaluation.
3) Risk management.
2) Line balance.
C. Solution 3) Learning curve monitoring.
The solution of the whole aircraft supply chain 4) Discipline education and cross training.
management should take the following actions:
1) Aircraft manufacturers should certify and survey C. Solution
periodically the quality system of suppliers.
The solution of the components assembly should take the
2) Aircraft manufacturers should forecast their long term following actions:
demand of aircraft market and flow down to the supply chain.
1) Base on the customer demand (time and quantity) to
3) Aircraft manufacturers send representatives on-site the calculate the load and capacity analysis. Allocate the
critical suppliers to witness and find potential risk. suitable workforce to perform the operation.
4) Aircraft manufacturers should help their supplier to 2) Apply the lean production technology to reduce the
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reduce the cost and achieve the win-win situation. waste and construct the flow line. Consider to build
moving line in high product rate projects/components.
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VI. COMPONENTS ASSEMBLY

3) Record the quality defects, working hours of each
The component assembly process include the operation shipset to monitoring the long term performance.
from bushing/bearing install, sub-assembly to component at

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 IJTEMT www.ijtemt.org; EISSN: 2321-5518; Vol. III, Issue II, June 2014
4) Apply the information technology to display the C. Solution
assembly progress and logistic support. From the
foreman, shop leader, top manager can receive the The solution of the final assembly should take the following
same information and keep the visibility of actions:
performance and current progress.
1) Base on the assembly schedule, the components,
purchase parts, fasteners, sealants…etc. should arrive
VII. FINAL ASSEMBLY shop floor on time.
The aircraft receive the components from different 2) Monitor detail schedule for the critical path and
suppliers and proceed the final assembly process, testing, warning any issue will stop the line to management
painting, fly test and delivery to customers/airlines. Figure 8 level.
shows final assembly of civil aircraft.
3) Different functional groups sent the authorized
A. Target representatives on-site the final assembly to work as a
team to solve any issues which stop the line.
Due to meet the customer needs is very important to gain
the revenue and reputation, so the aircraft manufacturer has to 4) Dig out the potential risks and prepare the backup
keep the dependability and keep the market share. If late to plan, monitor the risk till vanished.
lunch a new model aircraft or delivery the aircraft, it will cause
penalty and canceled the orders by the customer. VIII. CONCLUSION

B. Focus The demand trend of civil aircraft is stable and increase in

the future years. Due to the material technology development
The whole final assembly smooth and stable production, and fuel price volatility, the composites material become more
including: important in aero-structures, also starting to apply in the aero-
1) Quick response. engine. It is the good opportunity and right timing to integrate
the supply chain in the aircraft composite parts.
2) Risk management and backup plan. This study provides the Competitive Operation Model,
which introduce the concepts of value stream and lean
3) Logistic supports. production into the supply chain process and management
process for aircraft manufacturers and aero- structure suppliers.
4) Functional group integration.
In each stage of value chain, this study provide the
direction and solutions. Thus the aircraft manufacturer and
their suppliers can increase the performance and competence in
the competitive market.

REFERENCES

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Figure 8 Final Assembly [12] [6] Duncan Macrak, UK Aerospace Industry-GKN Aerospace
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