How is digital technology accelerating the ecological transition in the aeronautics industry?

The public health crisis, with its massive impact on air traffic and aircraft orders, has prompted aircraft manufacturers, parts suppliers and subcontractors in the aviation sector to turn to digital. The first goal is to make production more flexible. The arrival of true Industry 4.0 factories means it is now possible to implement man-machine processes and to build ultra-agile supply chains to reduce costs and respond quickly to a rise or fall in demand.

Most importantly, there is an urgent need for digitalization to design new models, new engines, new aerodynamic components and other mechanical parts that will equip the airplanes of the future, while controlling costs and minimizing errors.

Going forward, aviation professionals will have access to powerful, highly accurate software tools and intelligence to apply to simulating, automating production, and monitoring the operating conditions of their products.

They will literally capitalize on data and connectivity to speed up production launches, predict aircraft behavior and consumption, and achieve granular, efficient management of the life and use of airplane parts. The deployment of augmented reality and digital models is also poised to shorten the time required to bring aircraft into compliance and to significantly reduce potential risks.

In addition, because the sector has pledged to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared to 2008 levels, it is the right time to go digital. This is easily demonstrated by the potential of digital twins. These replicas of an airplane, its equipment or a manufacturing process can take in data transmitted by sensors installed on existing products, even during operation. Thus, they provide a way to analyze the actual use of an airplane and to identify the biggest sources of emissions and open up pathways to innovation in the next iteration, for example. It is also possible to use a digital twin to thoroughly test the design and performance of parts vis-à-vis their contributions to the aircraft's energy consumption.

Furthermore, on airplanes in flight and in airports, digital technology enables connected flight management systems that can reduce fuel consumption and corresponding emissions in a meaningful way by tweaking the aircraft's flight path and speed.

There is no doubt that the aeronautics industry as a whole must embrace the digital technologies available to it to make the ecological transition without sacrificing competitiveness. The tools exist. What remains is for leaders and their teams to adopt a "digital compatible" culture to ensure that digital solutions become the new business capital.