Critical Manufacturing MES for Aerospace
According to Gartner, the aerospace and defense industry is unique in the mix of its manufacturing practices and operations, blending batch, discrete and continuous process modes in the course of production.
Aerospace & Defense (A&D) manufacturers have to deal with fluctuating demand, which makes it challenging to plan for manufacturing and meet promised delivery dates. There is constant pressure on A&D manufacturers due to margin shrinkage, which drives the need for adoption of new technologies & processes to manufacture aircraft (or parts) with the best quality at the lowest cost.
Aerospace and Defense has always been considered a ‘specialty’ market for MES due to its specific needs for complex BOM management, supply chain management (including outsourced production parts and sometimes final assembly) and worker instructions. Compounded with strict government oversight and regulatory compliance, the need to adhere to design, quality, GMP, security and traceability can tax any MES. Industry 4.0 is key to driving operational excellence at all levels of the organization with the latest technologies in the IT/OT space for Aerospace & Defense manufacturer.
Critical Manufacturing has been solving the needs of the A&D industry with an MES that is scalable, that enforces stringent adherence to specifications, and includes features such as scheduling, simulation, mobile, enterprise integration and IoT.
Key Challenges of Industry 4.0 for Aerospace addressed by Critical Manufacturing:
 | Improve manufacturing process by simplification & standardization |
| Reduce assembly times and cycle times |
| Reduce lead times and keep the promised delivery dates |
| Real-time design & manufacturing integration for real-time decision making |
| Deliver the best quality product with lowest cost and minimized rework |
| Enable digital compliance by reducing paper-based documentation |
| Enable digital part-process-people traceability |
| Implement a leaner, flexible and scalable supply chain by vertical and horizontal integration |
| Implement cyber-physical security to reduce impact on daily operations & product related IPs. |
Key Capabilities of Critical Manufacturing MES for Aerospace
| Provides a dynamic 3D visualization (‘digital twin’) of the shop floor |
| Scales easily with growing operational needs |
| Drives visibility of production and costs across the supply chain for better decision making |
| Enables IoT-enabled production marketplace for smart factories |
| Allows users to quickly learn and do their job from any location, even with mobile devices |
| Analyzes, tracks, and executes continuous improvement |
| Enables efficient manufacture of personalized, mass customized and low volume products faster, more reliably, at higher quality and lower cost |
| Advanced analytics allow predictive measures in the face of shifting business realities |
| Real-time visibility and control of production processes, even across partner or remote sites |
| Reduced equipment and IoT device automation effort with a single view of all automation workflows, with one click deployment |
| Horizontal integration provides better synchronization for a smart supply chain |
| Vertically integrates IoT and shop floor with enterprise-wide information flows |