Smart manufacturing in aerospace and defense involves updating production processes to increase efficiency and reduce risk. It starts with connecting engineering to the shop floor with a model-based manufacturing plan. Leverage a digital twin to validate that plan virtually before physical commissioning. Finally, implement advanced manufacturing technologies to help continuously optimize products and processes.
Digitally transforming your aerospace and defense manufacturing processes can help you optimize your factory floor and accelerate production startup. Aerospace manufacturers who adopt a smart manufacturing process can achieve key benefits:
Accelerate digital transformation to increase production output and flexibility while optimizing quality. (Airborne)
Meet aerospace production targets and increase competitive advantage across your manufacturing process. (Deloitte)
Achieve reductions in detailed structural design time by using our smart manufacturing solutions. (General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.)
Connect engineering disciplines and processes, plan, optimize and test your factory floor virtually and accelerate production ramp-up to meet production throughput targets faster. Explore the key pillars of smart manufacturing for aerospace and defense:
Modernize your aerospace manufacturing processes by connecting data from all engineering disciplines to the shop floor to create a model-based manufacturing plan. This "shift left" approach helps ensure right-first-time production with products that conform to design specifications.
Update your legacy equipment with smart technologies to create a comprehensive digital twin. Simulate manufacturing scenarios to optimize operations. This allows you to virtually validate your manufacturing plan before physical commissioning and achieve a smart factory floor faster.
Create a flexible, connected aerospace factory of the future by monitoring performance and predicting operational issues in real time using sensors and smart devices. Establishing this closed-loop process will increase the flexibility and visibility of your manufacturing environment.
Customer achieved up to a 96% on-time delivery rate while managing diverse materials and part types. (Proform)
Use automation and digitalization to uncover bottlenecks and optimize production. (Airborne)
Reduce production lead-time and increase capacity and utilization. (GKN Aerospace)
Company:Armor Meca
Industry:Aerospace & defense
Location:Pleslin-Trigavou, France
Siemens Software:NX, Opcenter APS, Teamcenter
Learn more about managing change in the A&D industry and how to leverage digital transformation in manufacturing. Discover blogs, ebooks and more to leverage these concepts and achieve digital transformation in your manufacturing process for long-term success.
To ensure right-first-time production for your aerospace products, you need to implement a smart manufacturing approach. This approach to aerospace production involves:
Our solutions can help you accelerate production by designing jigs, fixtures, gages and other tooling equipment for manufacturing operations to exact specifications.
Aerospace manufacturers are facing increased pressure to deliver products faster while still conforming to design. Additive manufacturing in aerospace can help improve efficiency by prototyping 3D-printed tools, jigs, fixtures and finished goods. This approach gets raw material close to the finished part, minimizing raw material cost and waste. By making parts on an as-needed basis at the location of service, additive manufacturing reduces inventory and shipping costs. Additive manufacturing, supported by our Siemens Xcelerator solutions, allows companies to reimagine products, retool manufacturing and rethink business models.
Aerospace composites are increasingly important as they help manufacturers satisfy key requirements such as reducing weight, increasing payload and reducing fuel consumption. To realize these benefits, aerospace and defense manufacturers must be able to design and manufacture composite components with high precision and production yields, as well as operational durability and repairability. Solutions within the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio can support composite engineering design and manufacturing.
Automation in aerospace manufacturing helps improve efficiency, safety and throughput. Robotics and artificial intelligence are speeding up operations, while sensors and smart devices are monitoring performance and predicting operational issues in real-time.
Our smart manufacturing solutions enable companies to accelerate digital transformation of the entire production process. With our Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of software solutions, you can connect engineering disciplines and processes; plan, optimize and test your factory floor virtually; and accelerate production ramp-up to meet production throughput targets faster. This ensures visibility across the product lifecycle, allowing you to predictably deliver consistent products that conform to the approved design.
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