Additive Manufacturing in the Aerospace Industry

Additive Manufacturing in the Aerospace Industry

Introduction

When 3D printing started, experts and generalists alike did not foresee a future revolutionized by this technology. However, recently, 3D printing has gained popularity and is being applied in several manufacturing sectors including the aerospace, healthcare, consumer goods and transport industries. Zijm et al. (2019, para. 1) defines 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) as “a technology that enables the production of complex geometrics and near-net shape components”. The authors continue to explain that the name additive manufacturing stemmed from the way it creates components or products. Namely, rather than subtracting, these technology builds items by adding materials until the desired structure is achieved. The technology can work with low setup costs and times, and significantly eradicate the need for large inventories while maintaining high degree of responsiveness in the supply chain (para. 1). Although the full potential for additive manufacturing has not yet being realized in the manufacturing sector, it is clear that it can transform the supply chain by reducing procurement lead time, eradicating the need to buffer stock and allow for product optimization based on consumer preferences and needs.

Customers and their Requirements

There are several players in the aerospace industry; OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are the sellers and include companies such as Lockhead Martin, Rolls Royce, GE Aviation, Airbus and Boeing (Singamneni et al. 2019, para. 1). The customers for these companies are commercial airlines, wealthy individuals in society, and the military. Understandably, the needs of these customers vary greatly which means the sellers have to customize every product to their individual preferences.

Product Description and Characteristics Identification

Military, commercial and private aircrafts have their individual features that make them unique. Aircrafts made for similar purposes are almost similar with some few differences based on the customer preferences. For instance, airliners used by commercial airlines to transport passengers tend to be almost similar due to demands of aerodynamic efficiency. These aircraft have few innovations in their appearance because it would lead inefficiencies. Commercial airlines sacrifice aesthetic for more cabin room to accommodate more passengers and thereby earn more revenue for the company. Therefore, there are few variations in physical appearance between these aircrafts. Airbus and Boeing companies which are the most dominant in the aerospace industry produce almost similar aircrafts but with distinctive window arrangement and nose shapes. Unlike commercial, private aircrafts are designed based on the individual preferences of the buyer. For instance, most billionaires and millionaires request for specific design modification in their private airplanes. It is expensive to produce every aircraft part based on the specifications of the user which is why private jets are costly. Unlike commercial and private aircrafts, military aircraft are specially designed to allow for improvement performance in terms of air lift, thrust and propulsion. Different militaries have distinct requirements and therefore most of these aircrafts are manufactured individually instead of being mass produced.

Existing Supply Chain Map

            There are few OEMs manufacturing aircrafts due to the huge capital investment and stringent regulations blocking entrance in this industry. However, the complex aircraft design necessities OEMs to collaborate with suppliers, creating a tier system of the supply chain. The first tier suppliers manufacture avionics systems, engines, aircraft frames and other components in collaboration with sub-tier suppliers (Singamneni et al. 2019, p. 1). These suppliers share risks through partnerships. Manufacturers ensure that the aircraft’s final assembly meets the standards set by the governing bodies. Consumers order aircrafts or their spare parts from part suppliers or manufacturers (Singamneni et al. 2019, p. 1). The operational model of the industry is depicted in the figure below retrieved from Singamneni et al. (2019).

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Compared to other sectors, the aerospace industry has the lengthiest, time-consuming and most complex supply chain in the world. Aircrafts require sophisticated components which cannot be manufactured by a single supplier. This requires suppliers to partner as indicated earlier, creating a complicated supply chain system. End users are often required to use inventory predictions in order to ensure they operate uninterrupted which forces them to keep high inventory levels. It is estimated that the cost of these inventory is around fifty billion dollars (Singamneni et al. 2019, p. 2). Measures of reducing inventory through demand forecasting strategies such as the use of predictive algorithms to forecast parts failure are sometimes ineffective as they cannot account for all the variables involved. Predicting which parts will fail is a challenging undertaking. In addition, sometimes suppliers may have stopped producing some spare parts which makes it challenging for aircrafts to operate and increases supply chain inefficiencies (p. 2). For commercial airlines, such inefficiencies result in huge financial losses and damaged reputation.

The aircrafts industry’s supply chain also encounters other complications due to high costs as well as aircraft’s downtime. Some end user begins facing problems even before aircrafts leave the manufacturer. For instance, commercial airliners opt to heavily customize their cabin area in order to compete favorably with other airlines. Given that the overall cost of the cabin area is around three point five percent of the entire aircraft’s costs, many end users invest more on its design compared to other parts. However, comprehensive interior design specifications are hard to agree on and often taken more than six months to be delivered to the manufacturer (p Singamneni et al. 2019, p.3). The main causes of such delays include financial constraints as well as late changes resulting from the need to consult board members in some airlines. There are also other parts that require customization which increases production controls and processes uncertainty. Delayed decisions and customization often result in complications in the supply chain and raises the cost of manufacturing. Other challenges of the aircraft industry’s supply chain include the need for high customization levels and spare parts lumpiness. Manufacturers and suppliers find it hard to provide maintenance as well as production services promptly, while still operating profitably. Expensive materials and the need to provide quality products in a timely manner puts pressure on the suppliers (p.3). Competition for limited resources needed to manufacture aircraft’s parts causes companies to invest heavily in buffer stocks which significantly increases the cost of operation. However, additive manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize the aircraft industry’s supply chain by brining improvements to the maintenance and manufacturing processes.

New Supply Chain Map

In the current competitive markets, meeting the needs of consumers in a timely fashion without compromising profitability as well as quality is important to every company. Additive manufacturing has the ability to provide improved solutions for the supply chain processes of many industries. Using additive manufacturing as opposed to conventional manufacturing allows companies to benefit from several opportunities such as reduced safety inventory, procurement lead times, wastes; increased qualities of the product as well as the capability to produce customized and complex product designs (Özceylan 2017, para. 8). Furthermore, additive manufacturing can also reduce the stages of the conventional supply chain systems due to the need for fewer components as shown in the diagram below retrieved from Ozceylan (2017). The supply chain processes shown in blue have all being eradicated by the use of additive manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing significantly reduces the supply chain processes. According to Singamneni et al. (2019, p.4), the ability of converting materials into complicated three dimensions’ forms without using intricate tooling makes AM interesting particularly in the aerospace sector, given the supply chain and inventory limitations and the requirement for timely manufacturing. Additionally, it allows manufacturers to design complex products as well as possible performance and material optimizations, resulting in light and incorporated part designs and viable performance features. Aircraft industry leaders such as Boeing, Airbus as well as airliners such as Emirates are currently exploring the potential use of 3D printing in the production of aircraft parts such as brackets, hinges, airframe designs among others (3D Systems 2018). Additive manufacturing’s applications are varied and depend on the needs of the end users.

Design optimization is one of the benefits of using additive manufacturing in the aerospace industry. Optimization of multidisciplinary design is mainly used in aircraft engineering. According to Singamneni et al. (2019, p. 6), due to “the stringent certification criteria faced by the aerospace industry, engineers must carefully consider all the design variables and constraints such as material and structural integrity, aerodynamics, weight, reliability, manufacturability, sustainability, and cost”. Therefore, designers of aerospace products do not have the freedom to optimize aircrafts as they would want because it would lead to complicated geometrics that are hard to make using conventional methods. Manufacturers usually compromise on product features based on the traditional methods of manufacturing available to them (Singammeni et al. 2019, p. 6). 3D printing and other computer technologies have eradicated some of these traditional methods, creating opportunities for more innovative designs.

Optimized design solutions are also an important benefit of using additive manufacturing. Weight reduction enables enhanced efficiency and performance of the aircrafts. Namely, novel geometrics including lattice, cellular structures, optimized structures and honeycomb with bionic qualities can enhance the aircraft performance (Singamneni et al. 2019, p. 6). Furthermore, these designs also minimize the cost of aircraft’s operation during production and maintenance. Aircraft designs that were difficult or even impossible to make using traditional manufacturing methods can be made using 3D printing. Lightweight designs are currently made using topology optimization based on element analysis as well as removal of insignificant material to achieve a topologically optimized part (Singamneni et al. 2019, p. 6). Moreover, the capability to produce complex designs using additive manufacturing allows manufacturers to optimize different parts for unique functionalities which include airflow patterns, distribution of stress and others. For instance, the incorporation of conformal channels to cold down critical aircraft’s components (Singamneni et al. 2019, p. 6). At present, additive manufacturing seems to the sole solution to production of highly optimized aircraft parts.

Comparison of Old and New Supply Chains

Undoubtedly, additive manufacturing will continue to revolutionize the supply chain processes due to its unique characteristics. The technology has several benefits over the traditional methods as it does not require tooling, allows for product optimization based on the needs of the consumer and is feasible in producing small product batches. In addition, it allows end users to change product design whenever they want to, its more economical in production of custom products and can generate complex geometries, and allows for simpler procurement processes with low inventories and short lead times (Özceylan et al. 2017, para. 1). Most importantly, 3D printing reduces wastage of material. Conventionally, components or raw materials are sourced from supplier, stored by manufacturers and then shipped to end users through distributors and retailers (para. 2). However, with the implementation of additive manufacturing technology, organizations do not have to use the traditional supply chain and can therefore ship directly to end users.

Conclusion

Evidently, additive manufacturing allows for development of innovative solutions that have the potential to positively change the conventional supply chain system in the aerospace industry. With additive manufacturing raw materials can be directly transformed into products without undergoing the traditional steps of manufacturing. Commercial airlines can replace failed aircraft parts quickly and avoid aircraft downtime which is usually costly. Additive manufacturing also allows optimization of product design based on the needs of end users. Moreover, the need to use different suppliers, high level inventories and predictive algorithms to predict the aircraft parts that are likely to fail is eradicated. Reduced supply chain processes and activities allows means that the cost of the products is low and affordable to most consumers. For commercial airlines, use of additive manufacturing allows them to save on cost of operation and aircraft acquisition.

Reference List

3D Systems., (2018). Emirates Airlines and 3D Systems Change the Supply Chain Equation with Additive Manufacturing. [online]. YouTube. [Viewed 28 November 2019]. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqKFsHqmJZ8

Özceylan, E., Çetinkaya, C., Demirel, N., & Sabırlıoğlu, O. (2017). Impacts of Additive Manufacturing on Supply Chain Flow: A Simulation Approach in Healthcare Industry. Logistics, 2(1), 1. [Viewed 28 November 2019]. Available from: DOI: 10.3390/logistics2010001

Singamneni, S., Yifan, L.V., Hewitt, A., Chalk, R. and Thomas, W., 2019. Additive Manufacturing for the Aircraft Industry: A Review. J. Aeronaut. Aerosp. Eng., 8. [Viewed 28 November 2019]. Available from: DOI: 10.4172/2329-6542.1000214

Zijm, H., Knofius, N. and van der Heijden, M., 2019. Additive Manufacturing and its impact on the supply chain. In Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management [online]. 521-543. Springer, Cham. [Viewed 28 November 2019]. Available from: DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-92447-2_23