Aims

• investigate the existing and future structure of the global aerospace manufacturing industry, with particular reference to supply chains
• develop and pilot the use of practical and rigorous tools for data gathering, planning and strategy within the sector

Background

The global aerospace industry is facing a period of great change. There has been a decline in both civil and military markets over recent years and there are powerful new technological, economic, and political pressures on the business. The result has been consolidation amongst prime contractors and greatly increased pressure to develop new supply chain relationships and configurations.

There is a paucity of reliable data on the pressures that drive change in the aerospace industry and its world wide supply networks. Manufacturing, technological and managerial competencies are often inadequately or incompletely characterised. There is also a lack of practical tools to aid firms in formulating and implementing new manufacturing and corporate strategies.

The first phase of the MIDAS project draws upon CIM and partner expertise in these areas. It aims to review the macro-environment, and characterise the global supply network as well as investigate experience at the level of individual firms through focused case studies of international projects (first in the UK and then globally).

The outcome will be a model articulating existing and emerging competencies and drivers of change within a map of the supply network. The second and third phases of the project will gather more data aimed at greatly expanding the global picture and develop the model, using systems dynamics and futures forecasting techniques, in order to provide the industry with a tool for investigating and developing alternative strategic options.

Phase 1 research programme

The first eighteen months of the project combine two parallel thrusts. The first is a thorough review and preliminary analysis of the macro-environment of the industry - both economic and technological. The second is an intensive period of interview based data gathering to develop the first set of case-studies.

Economic investigations are focused on both market level and geopolitical drivers for the industry. Key topics here include offset, consolidation and a detailed review of future market analyses. The technological macro-environment is investigated both at the level of core technologies and manufacturing process developments. Full account is taken of the various national technology forecasting and foresight exercises world-wide as well as the views of individual experts, organisations and the published literature. Both of these activities are influenced and informed by the developing body of case data and use the interviews to expand upon economic and technology issues as they emerge.

The case studies investigate key projects in the industry - military and civil. The objective is to develop a rich and detailed understanding of the industry's supply infrastructure and the managerial, technological and manufacturing issues and capabilities that are seen as central to it. An important focus is at the level of 'sub-primes' supplying aero-structural components to the 'primes' who act as 'systems integrators'. A vital part of each study is interviews with the primes themselves, and with procurement agencies, customers, suppliers in lower 'tiers' of the supply chain and various other key aerospace agencies. The preferred route is to conduct initial interviews with key strategic decision makers in an organisation, followed by a more detailed look at the manufacturing area. Interviews are free in format, but are directed at specific issues which are refined as the case studies develop. The output of phase one will be a practical model articulating infrastructure and macro-environment within a dynamic industry structure framework.

MIDAS project map

Project team

Bruce Ellis

Sponsors

• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• GKN Westland Aerospace

Research partner

University of Exeter (With detailed inputs from the Defence Engineering Group at University College, London)

Outputs

• Strategic planning tools for aerospace and manufacturing industry

Contact

Yongjiang Shi E: ys@eng.cam.ac.uk