With the popularization of intelligent manufacturing, the major industries are undergoing revolutionary changes. The advancements of the different smart solution not only reduces their production cost, shortens the development cycle, and improves process stability, but also assists them to achieve higher output. Recently, the aviation industry, which has been in a downturn due to the epidemic, has also shown signs of recovery. Many predict that the industry will return to 2019 figures by mid-2023. Specifically, the aviation industry is also making higher demands on smart factories. 

 

The aviation industry makes higher demands on the smart factory

 

The aviation industry has shown unexpected signs of recovery in current years since the post-COVID orders from commercial airlines are getting higher than was predicted, and many manufacturing giants are doubling their capacity in production in the shell lines in many countries including US and UK. At present, the difficulties faced by the aviation manufacturing industry lie in the supply chain pressure and lack of stability. According to statistics, these manufacturing giants have invested more than $1m on the premise of improving delivery efficiency. 

 

Remarkably, aviation products, especially engine products, are subject to higher requirements in terms of quality and safety, so they also have higher requirements for production monitoring and document obligations, which makes intelligent factories more expensive. Fortunately, with the expansion of the field of intelligent manufacturing, sensor systems, 3D printing, big data analysis, and, most importantly, simulation using digital twins have been very advanced so far. In sum, the aviation industry is expected to rejuvenate and get smarter shortly. From the design, testing, manufacturing, assembly, testing, and transportation of tens of thousands of parts to the flight and maintenance of finished products, the application space of intelligent manufacturing technology will be everywhere.