Associations united
Trinational initiative for the aerospace industry. Three associations from the United Kingdom, Germany and France have established the foundation ‘Aero Excellence International’. It aims to improve operational excellence, sustainability and cybersecurity in the aerospace supply chain.
The Aviation Forum held in the Bavarian capital Munich (Germany) at the end of November this year saw three European aerospace associations jointly sign a document to establish the alliance ‘Aero Excellence International’.
The three partners are the ADS Group, which represents 1,400 firms from the UK; the Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales (Gifas), which has more than 480 members in France; and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Luft- und Raumfahrtindustrie (BDLI, Germany’s aerospace industries association), which is the mouthpiece for more than 260 member companies in Germany.
Simplified and streamlined assessment
The initiative aims to improve the resilience of the supply chain through ’Aero Excellence’ – a new international standard for operational excellence in the aerospace and defence industry.
Suppliers can follow a pragmatic four-step approach that ranges from bronze to gold and is divided into commitment, self-assessment, evaluation and recognition.
Companies set their own pace to achieve industrial maturity. It includes operational excellence criteria, such as production system efficiency, supply chain management, quality and safety.
In addition, it also includes criteria for the environmental measures as well as cybersecurity – topics that are becoming increasingly important in the industry. According to ADS Group CEO Kevin Craven “resilience and efficiency in these fields are crucial for our industry’s ability to meet future challenges.”
Stabilise the industry worldwide
The initiative has already been active at more than 100 sites in France since January. Companies such as Airbus and Safran have begun to conduct Aero Excellence assessments of their supply chains globally – in the USA, Morocco, India and China.
The dedicated ‘Aero Excellence International Governance’ body is set to be established next year, to support the further adoption of the standard and to explore agreements with other organisations.
Marie-Christine von Hahn, BDLI’s principal managing director, is pleased that the European industry has taken this step now – “in these times of increasing risks to the global supply chain and amidst a challenging ramp-up. Aero Excellence International will stabilise the supply chain by increasing transparency and collaboration.”
Gifas CEO Frédéric Parisot considers the initiative to be “a perfect synthesis of best practices and proven results from the shopfloor.” Furthermore, he closed, “it’s a fantastic lever to strengthen the supply chain and make it more robust and agile to face crises.”