Winged words from the West

Barry Warburton, Aerospace and Advanced Engineering Sector Specialist for Invest Bristol & Bath looks at what made this project a success and how the industry must continue to innovate if it is to repeat this success story. The next generation A400M military transport is a feat of modern-day aerospace engineering. It shows how the aerospace sector can work together through its supply chains to contribute to building more aircraft with new innovations and technologies. This will help the sector to build future aircraft faster and orchestrate a multitude of components. The A400M is the most versatile airlifter currently available, and is capable of flying considerably faster, twice as far and is able to carry almost twice as much cargo as its predecessor, the C-130 Hercules. Many of the new technologies that made this possible were developed by aerospace and engineering companies located in the Bristol and Bath region. Indeed, the UK's first A400M was named ‘City of Bristol' by the Royal Air Force in a rare honour to highlight the important role industry in the city played in the delivery of the aircraft. Many features of the A400M's innovative design are likely to find a home in the design of future aircraft. The state-of the-art wing assembly jigs used by Bristol-based Airbus to create the composite material wings for the A400M - made from carbon fibre reinforced plastic - demonstrate the possibility to produce complete lightweight wings with reduced materials wastage. And then there's the innovative design, development and production of the aircraft's landing gear from Gloucester-based Messier-Bugatti-Dowty. Innovation from the company means the A400M has the ability to land on reasonably soft unprepared surfaces, for example it can handle moisture-rich surfaces equivalent to a muddy football pitch, and it can ‘kneel' to allow the offloading of large vehicles. These landing gear innovations are making their way to aircraft around the world, and are already in service on more than 19,000 aircraft making over 30,000 landings every day. <Strategy meets expectations> I firmly believe that the priority now is to harness this learning to ensure yesterday's and today's aerospace and engineering successes are identified, maintained and, most importantly, invested in for the future. According to Airbus's global market forecast, air traffic is expected to double in the next 15 years with a correspondingly high expectation for future aircraft orders. Many questions will have to be answered: how will manufacturers and suppliers to the sector meet the challenges of a significant scaling up of aircraft construction and cater for the rise in demand for supply chain innovation and reform? With a doubling in the global fleet, how will maintenance, parts, service and support operations cope? Are the present strategies, processes and networks best suited to an industry with such high expectations? One element is clear – a crucial ingredient to the success of the industry is high performance, competitive supply chains. Aerospace suppliers are being pressured into delivering increasingly higher levels of service and equipment support, while delivering on environmental performance and resourcefulness. There is a clear indication that those companies that purely subcontract by machining metal will, in the long-term, start to see a reduction in opportunities. World class supply chains of the future must be agile and form genuine symbiotic partnerships with their customers. Suppliers will need to work their way up the value chain through investing in new technologies, offering integrated solutions and sharing risk with their customers. In fact, commercial aircraft manufacturers have reached the conclusion that their trusted tier 1 suppliers hold the key to their success as managers within the extended supply chain by eliminating late deliveries to their factories. While these suppliers are reporting strong operating margins, they are often achieving them, in part, by passing on unnecessarily high supply chain execution costs caused by lack of visibility or collaboration. The A400M shows how an efficient, high performance supply chain can be achieved. It was designed and delivered by a European collaboration, with key elements coming from the South West. The aircraft has several million individual components manufactured from a global supply chain of companies, many of which are in our region. Finally a further vote of confidence in the South West supply chain has been made by aero-engine giant, Rolls-Royce which is to invest £18 million in its Bristol plant to provide for the upkeep of aircraft engines. Innovation has been another essential ingredient to the success of the A400M, and this will continue to be at the heart of the industry. The need to reduce the environmental impact of aircraft, plus pressure from airlines to reduce operating costs, means that new aircraft will be based on very different product and manufacturing technologies from those that are currently in use. The South West region has a global presence and substantial facilities from composites research and manufacturing, to unmanned aerial vehicle opportunities and the MRO market, which is growing rapidly. With South West innovation hubs such as the National Composites Centre, Filton Enterprise Area, Bristol Robotics Lab and Plymouth University's Advanced Composites Manufacturing Centre pushing the boundaries of materials, engineering and automation, innovation and efficiency, there is a wealth of expertise to draw on. In addition, 14 of the world-leading aerospace companies have bases in the region. The South West can (and does) offer cutting-edge research and applications in additive manufacturing, advanced materials and composites engineering. The ability of the region's industry to develop and use these technologies will be crucial to the future of the sector. <Collaboration is crucial> Above all, collaboration must be the glue that binds any successful project. Here in the South West, the ability to react quickly to form new supply chains within a cluster where innovative, highly competitive solutions meet multi-disciplinary advanced engineering skills and technologies has been key to projects such as the A400m. It's been integral also to the A350 and A380 which have in part also been developed out of the South West cluster. It's an exciting time for aerospace globally. Between now and 2032 there is a global requirement for over 29,000 new passenger aircraft worth around $4.4 trillion USD. It's also a time of great change with challenges ahead. The A400M proves that high performance, collaborative supply chains combined with technological innovation delivers a winning combination. Invest Bristol & Bath is the investment promotion agency for the Bristol and Bath region, part of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and supported by all four local authorities in the region. www.bristolandbath.co.uk