One of the biggest challenges facing the aerospace industry is how to speed up production. There’s a huge industry backlog, with OEMs such as Airbus currently thousands of shipsets behind schedule. To have any hope of clearing the backlog in the future, the industry needs to more than double its volume over a sustained period. While Airbus reported strong performance in 2023 – delivering 735 commercial aircraft to 87 customers globally – the operating environment is ‘complex’, with its year-end backlog standing at 8,598 units. It’s not just Airbus: for the same period Boeing reported a backlog of 5,462 aircraft.
‘To recover from this position the industry needs to do more than build extra facilities and put more hands on deck,’ says Stephen Beecher, sector engagement manager for aerospace at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).
‘It needs to be more efficient with the resources available. We need to move towards technology supporting people and develop a smarter approach. Which means that one of the hot-ticket issues in the industry at the moment is rate readiness.
‘The industry needs to work smarter rather than harder.’ When asked if digital transition is the best route to clearing the backlog, the answer is ‘yes’.
To achieve the higher rates being asked for requires the integration of automation, robotics and data capture that will enable you to be more efficient
Beecher explains that the AMRC has a range of initiatives to help with this transition. From software frameworks to manage data in the form of Factory+, to the Project Butterfly set of digital tools that addresses decarbonisation of the manufacturing process, the AMRC is creating a culture of using digital to help the aerospace industry become more efficient.
To do this, it also has the digital thread that seamlessly connects all product data from design to end-of-life, and smart workbenches that create interconnectivity between intelligent digital tools. ‘But as with all data’, says Beecher, it’s important to recognise that ‘it’s one thing gathering the data, and another thing how you interpret it, and what you do with it. We have a lot of experience with this, which means that we can use it to assess sustainability aspects of your processes.’
As part of the University of Sheffield, the AMRC positions itself as ‘a world-class centre that specialises in carrying out world-leading research into advanced machining, manufacturing and materials for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors.’
What this means in practice is the organisation works in technology readiness levels (TRL) three to six, taking academic or industrial research projects and moving them along to the technology development and demonstration levels, before handing them on to higher TRLs involving development test, launch and operation. From an AMRC perspective in aerospace, ‘it’s about being able to take innovation from academia, or challenges identified by industry, and being able to develop these into something production ready at TRL6, that can be incorporated for use in the industry.’
Part of the complexity causing the aerospace industry backlog is its reluctance to adopt 4IR tech in its manufacturing processes. ‘In a lot of cases,’ says Beecher, whose background is in composite materials research, ‘some of these materials have been used for as much as 15 years’. But as the British engineer explains, to move away from this ‘traditional method requires large capital investment.’ But by using the innovation expertise of the AMRC, manufacturers can employ leading-edge digital techniques including discrete event simulation (DES) ‘to identify areas where there is the most opportunity for gain. This will enable the transition into automated robotics for example. The AMRC might be able to identify the adoption of software to make the overall process more efficient.’
While the backlog spotlight tends to fall on big OEMs such as Airbus and Boeing, Beecher thinks there should be ‘recognition that the supply chain needs to be ready to achieve increased rates as well.’ The post-pandemic, post-Brexit industrial landscape was marred by a series of disruptions to the global supply chain, but the AMRC has stated that it is using ‘its unique position’ to create more resilient supply chains. By linking UK companies, the organisation aims to help its industrial partners strengthen their supply chains and maintain continuity among new demand patterns, supply constraints and logistical challenges.
But it’s not just about joining the dots. A pressure point in the supply chain that needs addressing, says Beecher, lies in paper-dependent SMEs re-focusing on digitalisation in order to benefit from reliable information trails: ‘You need to be able to take data and manage it across the complete process.’
With the AMRC’s ‘digital thread’ approach, small changes can make big impacts, says Beecher: ‘At low rates of production you could almost sustain these manual methods and paper environments. But to achieve the higher rates being asked for requires the integration of automation, robotics and data capture that will enable you to be more efficient.’ The AMRC also believes that by making more parts in the UK this will encourage domestic economic development while delivering sustainable, zero-carbon supply chains.
While the ramp rates required by the sector could be achieved by increasing the density of traditional manual methods, Beecher thinks that adopting worker augmentation through automation is a more viable option.
He prefers the more twenty-first century solutions and philosophies being offered by the AMRC, one which is the Composites at Speed and Scale (COMPASS) open access facility at Sheffield - this will build on the AMRC’s composites and automation capabilities to de-risk the development and manufacture of high-rate, large-scale composite parts.
Critically it will enable single components to become larger, with complex sub-assemblies of up to 10m becoming a reality. Again, this innovation will reduce cost, prevent delays and save time. The first research programme undertaken in COMPASS will be with long standing member Boeing, which will be in partnership with Spirit AeroSystems and Loop Technology.
COMPASS will provide the wider UK industry with an open-access facility to develop, demonstrate, test and validate new composite manufacturing technologies and capabilities. It also represents a major boost to aerospace research and development for the UK, helping to solve composites manufacturing challenges needed to meet future demand for lighter commercial aircraft, and will help the aviation industry reach net zero.
Beecher thinks the AMRC’s influence extends further than its technology development. The organisation represents an industry hub with links not just to the University of Sheffield but ‘many others too, engaging with them on research programmes and strategy. We’re also part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult’. Beyond that, the AMRC ‘supports the Aerospace Technology Institute as well as other industry and government organisations. We have a hundred members including the likes of Airbus and Boeing all the way down to cutting tool manufacturers, from the OEMs to SMEs. We have all this engagement with industry, research organisations and government bodies to help them steer their strategies.’
This article also appears in The Engineer's 2025 Tech Trends Supplement
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