Aerospace Manufacturing: Complexity Over Volume
Unlike automotive, aerospace production is characterised by low volume and extreme complexity. A commercial aircraft programme may produce 10 units per month; a defence programme may produce fewer than 10 per year. Every part requires full traceability, every process requires qualification, and every deviation requires documented disposition.
In this environment, a Manufacturing Execution System serves a different purpose than in high-volume manufacturing: not maximising throughput, but ensuring nothing is missed, nothing is lost, and everything can be reconstructed for a customer or regulator — years after the fact.
Regulatory & Quality Requirements
AS9100D Quality Management
Aerospace extension of ISO 9001. Adds requirements for risk management, configuration management, first article inspection (AS9102), and key characteristics requiring statistical process control.
ITAR Data Sovereignty
Manufacturing data for ITAR-controlled parts is itself controlled technical data. On-premise deployment ensures production records, process parameters, and quality data never reach non-US servers or personnel.
NADCAP Special Processes
NDT, heat treatment, welding, and surface treatment must be performed by NADCAP-accredited suppliers. MES must record which certified provider performed each special process on each part number and serial number.
First Article Inspection (AS9102)
FAIR verifies that the first production part fully conforms to design documentation. MES records all process parameters, tooling, NC programmes, and quality measurements for the first article, ready for customer review.
OEE in Aerospace: Utilisation Visibility
OEE for aerospace machining centres and assembly jigs typically runs at 50–70% — not because of poor performance, but because of the inherent nature of aerospace production:
- Long-cycle machining: A single titanium structural component can require 8–24 hours of CNC machining. The machine is productive the whole time, but any tool breakage or NC error at hour 20 creates a catastrophic Quality loss.
- Program verification: New NC programmes often require dry runs and first-off inspection before production cutting — planned downtime with real cost.
- In-process inspection holds: CMM inspection after each operation, waiting for quality approval, creates Availability losses — especially if the CMM is a shared resource.
The value of OEE in aerospace is predominantly in utilisation scheduling — understanding which machines have available capacity for new work, and which are constraint resources.
Full Part Traceability from Billet to Delivery
Aerospace customers require full traceability linking every finished part to its material origin (billet heat lot, certificate of conformance), every operation performed (machine ID, operator, NC programme version, date/time), every tool used (tool ID, service life remaining), and every quality measurement taken.
Shopfloor Copilot captures all of this through OPC UA signals from CNC machines and CMMs, linked to job traveller records in the MES. Any future customer query about a part can be answered in minutes, not days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Complete Traceability. Zero Cloud Exposure.
Deploy Shopfloor Copilot on-premise in your ITAR facility. AS9100D-aligned quality records, full part traceability, and OEE visibility — with all data remaining on your infrastructure.
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