Going beyond lean

Image courtesy Vendigital / Siemens UK

The UK’s aerospace industry has seen significant improvements in productivity but the truth is that much more could be achieved by accelerating the adoption of digital technologies and enriching the skills base.

Productivity in the sector has risen 25% since 2013, according to research by ADS, and is contributing more value per employee to the UK economy than any other sector too. This is good news but there is still much room for improvement. On a macro level, output per employee in the UK remains 10% lower than in France and Germany. The uptake of robotics and other automated systems has been slower here too, and we are currently sitting just 24th in the world robot density rankings, making the UK the only G7 country to sit outside of the top 20.

The rapid growth in demand in the sector, which could offer organic growth opportunities of beyond 50% to firms over the next decade, is outpacing any growth in productivity. With the industry struggling to grow capacity due to people and capital constraints, this means there is a real threat that the UK supply chain will not be able to take advantage of this opportunity.

Whilst the principles and best practices of lean manufacturing are well established in aerospace and defence, the sector does lag behind other process industries, such as automotive, food and beverage, and life sciences, where digital toolsets and automation have already been widely adopted. In the aerospace and defence industry, a focus on low-volume, high-complexity products, combined with an understandable resistance to change in a highly-regulated industry, have held back digitalisation and limited productivity improvements.

With demand-side pressures set to continue, OEMs and Tier One members of the supply chain have an opportunity to boost competitiveness and realise value by embracing digitalisation to accelerate productivity gains.

These gains can only be achieved by adopting an innovation mindset and investing in digital toolsets and skills. Whilst on their way to the factory of the future, most OEMs and Tier Ones are still at an early stage, which means the opportunity to improve operational efficiency and realise value through enhanced productivity is significant.

More could be done to improve worker productivity too. As well as harnessing the power of data to help drive productivity gains on the shopfloor, digital toolsets could help to alleviate some of the pressures caused by skills shortages. From a leadership perspective, an innovation mindset could help to inspire change by encouraging decision makers to ask, ‘why couldn’t we do things differently’.

To achieve a step-change in productivity and alter the mindset of decision makers, OEMs and Tier Ones require a deep understanding of the tangible value that factory of the future technologies can bring. As well as learning from other industries, there are some early-mover examples coming through.

For example, GKN Aerospace has been using sophisticated plant simulation technology at its factory in Norway to improve process efficiency and optimise its engines and components, in doing so combining lean techniques with technology as an enabler. The capacity and utilisation data provided was found to be 30% more accurate than that available to the OEM previously.

The starting point for digital transformation is a clear understanding of what is happening on the factory floor. OEMs and Tier Ones can then consider what they want to achieve and start to pinpoint which changes could deliver the most value and over what timeframe. Starting small and focusing on quick wins can help to secure the buy-in needed to support organisation-wide change. Key to this is enabling stakeholders to see the link between small steps and the longer-term vision, plotting incremental gains against bigger metrics, such as lead time.

In essence, it is crucial that digital technology is not confined to sandbox environments but is embraced, developed and refined in real operational environments, where it can deliver the productivity gains realised in other sectors. In order to do this effectively and without significant risk, new technology should also be interoperable with the existing estate. Orphan technology can make scaling difficult and sustained transformation is rarely yielded from a single piece of technology alone.   

With productivity improving in the UK aerospace and defence sector, there is a danger that some manufacturers might think this is enough. The reality is that without accelerating the adoption of digital tools and improving data visibility across the industry, the sector could fall behind. Of course, this is a big undertaking and it will be challenging but it will definitely be worth the effort.