ABI Research forecasts that aerospace manufacturers will spend US$33.6 billion on digitalization in 2024, ballooning to US$53.8 billion by 2034. This increase in digital spending represents an enormous opportunity for technology suppliers to offer solutions that can increase production volume, reduce carbon emissions, provide operational visibility, and test new product designs. The Dassault Systèmes, PTCs, and Siemens of the world will be critical facilitators of digitalizing aerospace operations, enabling firms to optimize their entire value chain and meet surging demand.
Digital twins, digital threads, Artificial Intelligence (AI), hydrogen-based jet technology, asset trackers, and other technologies will be crucial to meeting demand from the commercial airline, military/defense, and satellite sectors. This is especially true as governments worldwide continue to invest billions in these nationally valuable sectors, seen as a means to establish geopolitical prominence.
What Is Fueling Digital Transformation in the Aerospace Industry?
Aircraft manufacturers’ digitalization spending is driven by various factors, spanning the political, business, and social lenses. Foremost, safety is at the heart of every aspect of aerospace manufacturing, with recent Boeing mishaps generating greater emphasis on aircraft safety. At the same time, some regulations require manufacturers to use specific tools for certain tasks. For example, tools have to utilize/apply a particular torque. If you lose an electronic screwdriver that applies a bolt, you cannot pick up another one nearby. As a result, the manufacturer will suffer production delays.
Digital technologies are increasingly essential for the aerospace industry, enabling companies to monitor where tools are at all times. This requirement presents an opportunity for suppliers of asset trackers to work alongside connectivity providers to ensure aerospace manufacturers have full visibility into where their tools are located. In turn, these solutions prevent manufacturers from experiencing downtime.
Cybersecurity has an essential role to play in aerospace digitalization as well. As Nozomi Networks recently demonstrated, connected industrial tools such as torques are susceptible to cyberattacks. Hackers can manipulate tool configurations, place ransomware on a device, or even gain access to the wider network. If components are not assembled properly, this can lead to potential safety risks, financial losses, and reputational damage. For these reasons, cybersecurity vendors that provide visibility into Operational Technology (OT) assets are essential during the aerospace industry's digital transformation journey.
Another driver for digital transformation in aerospace is the increased demand for new products. Governments, especially in Asia-Pacific, will ramp up their investment in military/commercial aircraft, defense, and satellite constellations as countries aim to compete economically and politically. For instance, Air India invested roughly US$80 billion on 470 new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing in February 2023. Moreover, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has encouraged U.S.-based aerospace companies to construct new facilities, increasing production volume in the country. Additionally, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) expects demand for air travel to increase by, on average, 4.3% annually for the next 20 years. This serves as an impetus for aircraft suppliers to adopt technologies that expand production capacity and achieve new efficiencies.
Predictive maintenance is another reason for digitalizing the aerospace industry. If equipment/machinery becomes unusable on the assembly line, manufacturers will experience downtime and unhappy customers. Therefore, data analytics is seen as a necessary technology investment. Instead of scheduling maintenance at a regular cadence, they now realize that with technology, they can conduct maintenance when needed. Data analytics is also tightly integrated with digital twins, which are used to enhance aircraft performance and sustainability. Digital twins enable manufacturers to modify their production processes virtually, maximizing optimization.
In order to scale the production of planes, missiles, satellite equipment, and other aerospace products, manufacturers must adopt digital technologies that provide visibility into operations/supply chains. In other words, they must build a digital thread across their supply chain and manufacturing operations. Building a digital thread removes data silos and enables companies to improve collaboration across departments. Parts traceability is a notable concern, as missing critical parts/components will halt production. For example, Gulfstream failed to deliver two G280 jets in 1Q 2023 due to a shortage of Honeywell’s turbofans. Being able to forecast these shortages beforehand could have impelled Gulfstream to identify an alternative supplier and prevent the delivery delay.
How Aerospace Manufacturers Are Leveraging Digitalization
Some of the more prominent manufacturers embodying digital transformation in the aerospace industry are outlined below:
Airbus
With a strong focus on data collection, Airbus has made digital twins a staple of its digitalization strategy. Data regarding engine efficiency, fuel consumption, and A350 XWB aircraft performance are fed into a digital twin. From there, Airbus engineers and designers can simulate various scenarios to see causal effects. This allows them to optimize engine settings, maintenance schedules, and aircraft design.
Airbus is also working on new hydrogen fuel cell-powered jet engines, with ground and flight tests planned for by 2028. These more sustainable aircraft can help alleviate the negative perception that younger talent has of the emissions-heavy aviation/aerospace industry.
Boeing
After two public relations mishaps in January 2024, Boeing has a tall order to win back consumers’ trust. Digital twins will be vital in achieving this goal, allowing the company to monitor the aircraft’s battery system, recognize safety risks, and accelerate design changes. Other digitalization initiatives from Boeing include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking of hand tools, developing a digital thread, and the Boeing Digital Foundation that unifies the plane maker’s cloud computing approach.
Lockheed Martin
With a smart manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, Lockheed Martin has embraced digital technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT). Lockheed Martin is a big champion of 5G networks and advanced analytics, having exemplified their use in aircraft maintenance for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). As a testament to its commitment to digital transformation, Lockheed Martin has participated in a US$12.5 investment round for Fortify, a startup developing a smart manufacturing platform.
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce deploys sensors on airplane engines to collect 5 million measurements daily, which are used for algorithms and digital twins. This use case empowers engineers to take a proactive approach toward maintenance, as opposed to waiting for an issue to materialize and then addressing it. AI is a core focus of Rolls-Royce, with the company constructing an ethical framework for AI as early as 2020. With the AI framework, algorithms are continuously being monitored to generate dependable results.
Working closely with Microsoft, Rolls-Royce is leveraging low-code techniques to develop its own AI tools. These tools will help the London-based manufacturer boost productivity, assist with Research and Development (R&D) projects, and foster organization-wide data sharing.
Lastly, like Airbus, Rolls-Royce has shown interest in hydrogen-based aircraft. The company is developing a combustion system based on hydrogen that can travel longer distances than electric battery-powered aircraft.
Learn More
The digitalization of the aerospace industry is one of many key focuses of ABI Research’s Industrial & Manufacturing Markets Research Service. As manufacturers continuously adopt new technologies, our analysts will identify the most significant opportunities, use cases, and market sizings for these solutions in aerospace and other industries. For example, this article was sourced from our presentation, Digital Transformation and the Aerospace Industry. It takes a deeper dive into how aerospace companies turn to digital technologies and the possibilities, risks, case studies, and challenges to be aware of. Download today!
