Aerospace machining compliance is essential for ensuring components' safety and legal delivery, requiring thorough examination of suppliers' procedures, particularly component traceability.
Fremont, CA: Aerospace machining requires precise and intricate quality standards. When incorporated into aircraft, non-compliant parts incur expensive fines and pose severe risks to human safety. The complexity of supply networks complicates matters, which might give rise to unforeseen compliance problems.
Parts traceability is a crucial component that is sometimes disregarded, even though manufacturers frequently concentrate on streamlining internal procedures for improved compliance. Knowing why this is essential will make any compliance approach more effective.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
Improving the visibility of the aerospace supply chain is crucial due to the associated dangers. Fortunately, various strategies can be employed to achieve this objective. Now, let's examine some of the most critical actions:
Enhancing identification processes
Manufacturers must use firm tubers and strong anti-fraud ideas to ensure the authenticity of aviation parts. There is a significant chance of fabrication when depending on paper records. Instead, prioritize on-part stamps, secure digital tracking systems, or a mix. Working with vendors skilled in permanently marking or engraving items removes doubts about their genuineness. Methods such as dot-peen marking provide permanent evidence of provenance without increasing lead times. Dot-peen marking machines ensure effective identification since they can imprint four to eight characters per second on average.
Embracing IoT solutions
Integrating Internet of Things (IoT) trackers into supply chains is imperative. These gadgets monitor vital parameters like product conditions and storage temperatures and provide real-time location updates. Their main benefit is being able to trace the exact location of goods at all times. IoT tracking is more expensive than less complex options, but for manufacturers and their customers, the extra trust and possible cost savings from compliance assurance make the investment worthwhile. But it's important to remember that these gadgets are vulnerable to cyberattacks, as shown by the rising rates of IoT attacks. Make cybersecurity a top priority by routinely upgrading firmware, encrypting data transmission, and changing all IoT devices' default passwords.
Supply chain and compliance assessment
Given the industry's constant growth, aircraft manufacturers must regularly review their supply networks and compliance plans. Regulatory strategies must be flexible since many manufacturers now use new suppliers for different components. Every year, it is important to thoroughly inspect suppliers and other third-party organizations to ensure they follow corporate policies and applicable laws. Additionally, conducting a comprehensive risk analysis is essential to identify potential weaknesses in your compliance plan that require immediate attention.
