The aerospace industry relies on specialized suppliers who have developed unique expertise in producing materials and components such as lightweight alloys, advanced electronic systems, and high-performance composites. This specialization has enabled significant technological progress, but it has also made the industry extremely vulnerable by creating dependence on a limited number of suppliers.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, these supply chains were severely disrupted. Factory shutdowns, transportation restrictions, and production interruptions in key countries led to delays and shortages of critical parts. Later, the war in Ukraine once again highlighted the industry’s dependence on single sources of raw materials. Titanium supply, for example (an essential metal for aircraft manufacturing), was seriously threatened by sanctions imposed on Russia, one of the world’s main producers.
It has thus become clear that the aerospace sector is exposed to major risks in the event of geopolitical, economic, health, or environmental crises. Indeed, planetary boundaries must also be taken into account: in France, in 2024, Earth Overshoot Day occurred on August 1. This marks the date on which we have consumed all the resources that the planet can regenerate in a year. This affects both the quantity and quality of inputs the industry needs to continue operating.
In a three-part series, Alcimed explores the avenues examined by aerospace stakeholders to make aviation more sustainable and more resilient. In this first article, Alcimed looks at how to build resilience in the aerospace industry to ensure long-term production.
Sourcing materials more effectively is essential to reducing dependence on fragile supply chains in aircraft manufacturing. This involves using recycled or renewable materials to slow the progressive depletion of resources.
Building an aircraft as well as manufacturing the production tools requires various materials, each selected for specific properties (strength, lightness, durability, etc.), such as aluminum, steel, composite materials, plastics, and insulators. Adopting more responsible resources ensures that each component, whether part of the aircraft or the tools that produce it, aligns with a more measured consumption of resources. This contributes to a production model that preserves global ecosystem balance and guarantees the long-term sustainability of natural resources. For example, the steel company GravitHy plans to build its first “green” iron and steel production plant in France. This green steel promotes the use of recycled steel, thereby reducing the need to produce steel from raw iron ore.
To strengthen supply chain resilience, broadening the supplier base is also important. By diversifying sourcing channels, a company reduces its reliance on a small pool of suppliers, mitigating risks associated with potential disruptions such as delays or stock shortages. It becomes less vulnerable to interruptions caused by unexpected events, such as natural disasters or geopolitical conflicts.
Material traceability is essential to ensure transparency and compliance with required standards when sourcing raw materials. By using technologies like blockchain, companies can accurately track the origin and journey of materials. This could make it possible to create a unique passport for each material, documenting information such as the date and place of production and physical characteristics. With this distinct digital fingerprint, manufacturers could identify the origin of raw materials and select the most sustainable options.
Without influencing the aircraft design itself, significant actions can be taken at the factory level to continue producing today’s aircraft while supporting greater industry resilience.
Industrial buildings may be affected by an increase in extreme weather events. This includes potential impacts on structures, materials, and equipment, which could disrupt operations and reduce productivity at manufacturing sites.
Production sites located in coastal areas or near waterways, traditionally for ease of logistics, could be threatened by rising sea levels and increased flooding due to more frequent and intense storms.
Temperature and humidity variations linked to the location of certain sites may affect production processes and the quality of materials used in the aerospace sector. Companies may need to adapt their processes to maintain the quality of finished products.
Finally, transportation infrastructures used for material distribution (ports, roads, railways, etc.) may be damaged by extreme weather events, delaying deliveries of critical resources for aircraft manufacturing and compromising factory resilience.
Adopting industrial processes that use less energy and water is becoming crucial as natural resources become increasingly limited.
For instance, integrating solar panels into aerospace factories contributes to strengthening energy resilience. By harnessing solar power for industrial operations, these factories reduce their dependence on nonrenewable energy sources and lower their carbon footprint. This shift to clean energy helps reduce long-term energy costs and enhances overall factory resilience.
Regarding water usage, according to the French government’s Plan Eau press kit, “Of the 32.8 billion m³ of water withdrawn in France on average between 2010 and 2019, 9% was used for industrial purposes.” Today, water is indispensable for industrial activities, serving as a raw material, an energy vector, or a component of manufacturing processes. It is essential to adopt production methods that significantly reduce water consumption and limit waste. This can include using water recycling technologies, optimizing cooling systems to minimize losses, or implementing wastewater treatment systems to allow reuse.
By minimizing manufacturing errors, robots help reduce waste of costly materials and improve the use of essential resources such as energy and raw inputs, supporting overall sustainability.
Industry 4.0 refers to the adoption of digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve decision-making, monitor operations in real time, and optimize processes. This synergy between robotics and digital technologies enables more stable production and rapid adaptation to disruptions, strengthening the industry’s resilience to contemporary challenges.
With Industry 4.0, it will become easier to produce homogeneous-quality products from recycled materials. The central challenge lies in managing the variability of the technical characteristics of incoming materials. Today, manufacturers already use technologies to help homogenize outputs at the end of the production line.
However, robotization and digitalization require additional equipment that must itself be manufactured. This often involves the use of rare earth elements—metals used in high-tech manufacturing processes such as batteries, screens, and smartphones. These rare earths are extracted in environmentally sensitive regions, making their extraction more difficult and costly and contributing to the overconsumption of natural resources. Additionally, data centers, essential for storing, managing, and processing massive amounts of data and for providing digital services, consume enormous amounts of energy (between 1% and 1.3% of global electricity according to the IEA), and this consumption continues to grow as data volumes increase.
Thus, a balance must be found to ensure that Industry 4.0 truly becomes more sustainable than current solutions.
Changing an aircraft’s design can significantly contribute to the use of less resource-intensive and lower-emission products and processes, thereby strengthening resilience while maintaining or improving performance. Two approaches can be distinguished:
Reconciling all these requirements, from using fewer materials to choosing more sustainable ones and maintaining performance, is essential. Emerging technologies such as 3D printing and modular designs that allow for standardized parts may help achieve this balance.
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All these measures may still not be enough.
Another approach involves shifting the current economic model from one based on selling products to one centered on usage. In this system, the manufacturer is compensated proportionally to how much the product is used rather than its upfront purchase price. The manufacturer is therefore incentivized to create durable and reliable products, as profitability depends on product lifespan. The longer a product operates without failure, the more revenue the manufacturer earns, encouraging the design of high-quality and robust goods. This creates more sustainable value for both the environment and the customer.
Manufacturers could develop pricing models that charge airlines based on the number of flight hours or usage cycles rather than an initial purchase price. Alternatively, subscription models could be introduced, enabling airlines to pay monthly or annual fees for access to aircraft fleets or specific operational capacities.
Some solutions already exist. Safran offers such a model, called “pay-per-hour” or “power by the hour”, for some of its aircraft engines. Safran sells the engines to manufacturers or airlines, then offers a maintenance contract where the customer pays according to the number of flight hours. This allows customers to better manage maintenance costs and benefit from optimized technical support. For Safran, it ensures long-term recurring revenue, better visibility of after-sales operations, and stronger customer relationships.
To remain able to manufacture aircraft in 20, 30, or 40 years, it is essential to adapt to the various challenges that arise over time: health crises, geopolitical conflicts, the depletion of natural resources, and more.
This begins with producing more sustainably and responsibly, with sourced and traceable materials and a more diversified and committed supplier base. Factories also play a crucial role in strengthening resilience. Using processes that consume less energy and fewer natural resources, as well as transitioning to a “true 4.0” industrial model, are essential challenges. Finally, modifying the aircraft design itself, or even the economic model by shifting from a “product” logic to a “usage” logic, also helps ensure a long-term future for the aerospace industry.
Given these challenges and constraints, we can expect significant innovation within the aerospace sector. The value and contribution of these innovations to more sustainable and resilient aviation will need to be assessed. Alcimed can support you in identifying the best solutions to meet emerging needs with a sustainability- and resilience-driven approach. Do not hesitate to contact our team!
About the author,
Quentin, Consultant in Alcimed’s Aerospace-Defence team in France
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