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This paper reports on a methodology for risk reduction, developed and tested at a brand new aerospace manufacturing facility, producing high value aero-structures. The facility was formed as part of a ‘Risk Sharing Partnership’ between Airbus and GKN for production of the Airbus A350 ‘Fixed Trailing Edge’ (FTE). Whilst operating in New Product Introduction (NPI), the challenge for GKN was to increase production volume for each successive year of operations. At the time of writing, the facility was producing FTE structures at a rate of 4 per month i.e. Rate 4, and attempting to transition to Rate 6. The ultimate aim was to produce FTE structures at Rate 13 within an 8 year period whilst concurrently engineering the product and improving its processes. For schedule adherence, elimination of process failures was critical and often manifested at the final stage of assembly (integration cell).

Composite production rates will need to increase markedly to meet future demand, especially in the case of mainstream automotive. Coupled with that is need to keep quality levels high and costs down. Scrap represents a large portion of this cost and should be minimised. Due to the complexities of composite manufacture there are numerous sources of variation. These variations mean that a composite part cannot be considered to be “flawless”. Instead acceptable levels of variation are established. These requirements govern whether or not a part is scrapped based on a set of measurements. These measurements are carried out assuming that there are no flaws arising from the design of the part. This paper details the attempt to manufacture a flat panel followed by some more complex features in order to determine if the acceptance criteria can be rigidly adhered to.

Composite materials have seen, and will continue to see, increased usage, particularly in the realms of automotive and aerospace where increasingly tight emissions standards call for lighter weight structures. These structures will also have to be made at a lower cost than previous iterations, particularly for mainstream automotive concerns. The production of composite panels is a complex, multi-step process consisting of a number of interactions. Variability is present within the raw materials and throughout the production process. Quality is intrinsically linked to both production rate and cost. Fewer defective parts means fewer concessions and less scrap, thus presenting a cost saving. Present defect rates are relatively high for composites when compared to metallic structures. Quality in composites also does not assume defect-free conditions, but rather acceptable levels of features and variations which occur during production.

In a variety of industries there is a growing need to manufacture high quality carbon fibre epoxy matrix composite structures at greater production rates and lower costs than has historically been the case. This has developed into a desire for the automation of the manufacture of components, and in particular the lay-up phase, with Automated Tape Laying (ATL) and Fibre Placement (AFP) the most popular choices. When used for large primary structures there are such potential gains to be had that both techniques have seen rapid implementation into manufacturing environments. But significant concerns remain and these have limited their wider adoption into secondary structure manufacturing, where manual forming of woven broadgoods is dominant. As a result the manufacture of secondary structures is generally explored for costs reduction through drape simulation and lower cost materials.

In a variety of industries there is a growing need to manufacture high quality carbon fibre epoxy matrix composite structures at greater production rates and lower costs than has historically been the case. This has developed into a desire for the automation of the manufacture of components, and in particular the lay-up phase, with Automated Tape Laying (ATL) and Fibre Placement (AFP) the most popular choices. When used for large primary structures there are such potential gains to be had that both techniques have seen rapid implementation into manufacturing environments. But significant concerns remain and these have limited their wider adoption into secondary structure manufacturing, where manual forming of woven broadgoods is dominant. As a result the manufacture of secondary structures is generally explored for costs reduction through drape simulation and lower cost materials.