Features MRO
Strengthening supply chain reliability

Supply chains for the aerospace industry have become increasingly complex, challenging manufacturers of military and commercial aircraft to maintain control, consistency and predictability in the supply of primary assemblies.

For aerospace companies such as Bombardier, the time and money spent on subcontracting multiple components of an assembly can be challenging. Photo: Bombardier

This includes parts and sub-assemblies of such major systems such as landing gear, cargo systems, hydraulics systems and structural components as well as smaller components parts sourced from Tier II providers. For large aircraft, small aircraft and helicopter manufacturers, the time and money spent on subcontracting multiple components of an assembly can be daunting and challenging to manage, especially the complex parts.

In some respects, the supply chain situation has become somewhat more problematic in recent years as the aerospace industry has attempted to increase its economies by adopting some of the automotive industry’s more “commoditized,” cost-driven approaches to purchasing. However, this approach can actually be detrimental to production efficiencies, particularly when it comes to more complex, higher tolerance systems and components.

“When choosing a supplier, we always want to be sure they are going to provide a quality part, and deliver on time, because we design complex, one-of-a-kind parts that must be delivered in time to meet our customer’s schedule,” says Russell Gibbon, Director, Landing Gear and Hydraulic Systems Engineering at Triumph Aerospace Systems in Redmond, Wa. “If there is a quality problem, we’re in trouble. If they’re late, we’re in trouble. So, we’re always looking for suppliers with a good track record for quality, for consistently meeting schedule commitments.

“When it comes to high-volume, routine build-to-print components, many aerospace manufacturers source them overseas as commodities,” says Randy Brodsky, President of Primus Metals, Inc. (Lakewood, CO), a Tier I and II supplier of structural components, kits, and subassemblies to the global aerospace industry. “But when it comes to higher complexity, higher tolerance components, or those that require exotic materials or are produced in lower quantities, then aerospace companies need to seek out parts manufacturers who have the necessary credentials, production machinery, quality systems and JIT delivery capabilities.”

Such was the case with a recent project of Triumph Aerospace Systems – Seattle (Redmond, Wa.), a member of the Triumph Group, an industry leader in the design, integration and manufacture of complex aerospace components and systems for aerospace vehicles. In producing a complicated landing gear system for a new military helicopter, for example, Triumph was seeking a supplier that could make some critical parts in a limited quantity.

“After canvasing the supply base, we settled on Primus Metals to manufacture a number of the critical and complex parts of the helicopter landing gear system.” Gibbon explains. “Most of the parts were very complex aluminum millings with tight tolerances. All of the parts required delivery within a short time frame to meet our customer commitments.”

Avoiding potential risks
Brodsky, whose company manufactures a broad range of turnkey, integrated sub-systems and components used within aircraft, says aerospace companies can improve on supply efficiencies by verifying that their suppliers have all the necessary capabilities and credentials.

For example, AS9100 certified manufacturers such as Primus, are able to produce the most complex components in-house, and then work exclusively with its NADCAP supply chain for part finishing to manage all the burdens that a purchasing agent is normally required to perform through multiple vendors. Final subassembly is then commonly handled in-house as well.

In many instances, machining experience, equipment capability, capacity and quality systems will affect a supplier’s ability to deliver on a timely, consistent basis.

Brodsky adds that there are more complex designs coming out each year because engineering is exponentially evolving. The demand to find high quality manufacturers continues to become more and more difficult.

“It can be extremely risky for aircraft manufacturers to assume that a low bid or perhaps even relying on a traditional supplier will provide quality parts that require next generation materials or other complexities,” he says. “In some cases there can be 1,000 dimensions on a single piece of hardware and tolerances within millionths of an inch. Such requirements are usually outside the capabilities of the ‘commodity’ job shop and customers become complacent about monitoring historical suppliers and continuing to seek the best of the best in the marketplace.”

Enhancing management control
The ability of the supplier to provide complete assemblies, subassemblies, kits, and turnkey products can improve an aerospace customer’s management control over its own manufacturing processes.

Such control enhances their abilities to consolidate orders instead of having to facilitate and maintain many supplier relationships to accomplish the same goal. This further reduces the lead times for product delivery as well as drive down supply chain costs.

Yet many suppliers, both domestic and overseas, are unable to deal with the supply chain management effectively, which is critical for producing turnkey parts and
assemblies, Brodsky notes.

“This is important to many aerospace companies because there is a lot of risk involved when their component contractors are using three, four or five subcontractors to fulfill their commitments, in addition to the customer already using multiple suppliers to fulfil the same program’s demands. Coordinating and ensuring the delivery of all these variables commonly fails.”

Primus Metals, Brodsky’s company, deals with premier commercial and military aerospace manufacturers such as UTC, Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, Zodiac Aerospace, Eaton Aerospace and Triumph Aerospace Systems. Therefore, it is significant that Primus has a robust NADCAP (global cooperative accreditation program for aerospace engineering, defense and related industries) supply chain, which enables the company to produce turnkey parts and assemblies.

“This is very important when there are multiple subcontractors involved,” Brodsky explains. “But it requires additional overhead and strong internal controls, so many of the smaller job shops don’t want to deal with it.”

At the same time Brodsky estimates that more than 95 per cent of his company’s business has to deal with a significant level of supply chain management. While this can have some affect on the company’s pricing structure, he feels that for most customers, the supplier’s ability to provide more reliable quality with on time delivery is worth far more savings than a few per cent of hard costs on the front end.