In recent years, the globe has altered dramatically. The new decade began with a spirit of optimism and historically robust economies in the commercial aerospace and defense sectors.
Both industries had been growing for at least a decade. Healthy backlogs and high demand did not appear to disappear anytime soon.
Unfortunately, we all understood by March that we were amid a true “Black Swan” occurrence. The market swung from continuous optimism to a historic drop in demand in a couple of days.
Governments worldwide had put the economy into an induced coma at that point. Within weeks, 60 percent of the world’s commercial aircraft fleet had been grounded, and worldwide aviation traffic had dropped by more than 80%.
As a result, tens of thousands of layoffs have been announced in the sector, as demand for new aircraft has practically vanished for the time being.
The narrative of the fall and its consequences has received much attention. Because of the severity of the slump, the industry has been obliged to address immediate concerns, such as right-sizing staffing levels and safeguarding funds.
While these are key factors to consider, it’s also important to keep an eye on the future and effectively realign the firm today to take advantage of the new market realities and subsequent return to growth.
Digitization
For a reason, “digitization” is one of the most commonly used keywords in the aerospace sector.
Digitization technologies enable the industry to predict and identify what needs to be repaired or replaced, often before a part breaks or fails and then pinpoint the best time and employees to do the work, thanks to new capabilities that quickly capture and thoroughly analyze massive amounts of data.
This rush of data and analytics fuels new technologies like virtual reality, which allows engineers and technicians to see all angles of an assembly from inside and out and swiftly access manuals and other information on handheld devices.
The new technology will aid in the improvement of the entire supply chain and workflow, resulting in time and cost savings.
Throughout the industry, there are examples of digitization. Digitization and digital engineering divisions have already been developed by most large manufacturers, contractors, and research organizations.
To aid the US Air Force in digitizing and modernizing defensive systems, Northrop Grumman implemented considerable digitalization in most aspects of their new Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent engineering and manufacturing development baseline.
3D printing
In 2018, the global aircraft 3D printing/additive manufacturing industry was worth around $1 billion. By 2026, the figure is predicted to exceed $6 billion. During the previous ten years, the industry has primarily used the technology to make non-essential plastic parts.
However, incremental advancements, particularly in 3D metal printing, have led to new use cases for a slew of replacement parts throughout the cabin as well as more critical commercial and military components like engine parts, wingtip fences, bearing housing, combustion chamber protective jackets, and more in recent years.
While the pandemic dampened the aerospace 3D-printing industry in 2020, new needs for lightweight components and replacement parts will propel the market forward.
Repair and maintenance
Engineers and professionals working in maintenance and repair will benefit greatly from the expanding use of composites. During visual inspections, most aluminum damage, whether dents or bends in the aircraft’s body or fuselage, can be detected.
Composite components, on the other hand, necessitate ultrasonic scanning. This is driving equipment, digitization, and skilled employee investments.
Almost every aspect of the aircraft industry will continue to rely heavily on digital skills, including avionics, composites, troubleshooting, production, and design.
Materials of the Future
As the aviation industry seeks lighter, stronger components in aircraft bodies, fuselages, and engines, new composites and alloys such as titanium, fiberglass, reinforced epoxy, and ceramics have steadily replaced aluminum.
The materials are corrosion and chemical resistant, and they keep their properties in harsh situations and are stronger and stiffer than aluminum.
Airbus also touts the promise of new bio-composites that are cost-effective, lightweight, and recyclable.
They can be made from biomass, biowaste, plants, crops, and microorganisms and can be utilized alone or in combination with typical materials like carbon or glass fiber.