The Internet of Things is one type of technology which has found applications in almost every industry. The aviation industry is adopting it, especially in the manufacturing sector. It can be used to streamline operations with the help of a highly detailed record of information pertaining to the expected lifecycle of a specific asset.
How has the Aviation Sector Adopted IoT?
The aircraft manufacturing sector has evolved drastically, specifically in the tracking and maintenance of parts. These parts can be tracked with the help of IoT. Parts can be tracked from the time of manufacturing up to the date of disposal, meaning that tracking has never been easier. Furthermore, IoT has also been adopted in a lot of capacities such as asset management all the way up until production line management.
The Aircraft Build Cycle
The basic build cycle of any aircraft is divided into four distinct phases, which are:
Design and build
- Management of the product lifecycle
- Planning of enterprise requirements
Schedule and operate
- Planning of flights
- Flight control system
Monitor and maintain
- Planning of material required
- Aircraft maintenance systems
Dispose
- Management of aircraft demolition
- Make a prediction on maintenance events
- Optimize certain production operations
- Improve the life cycle of components
These steps might sound simple, but the process involves thousands of different parts and the record maintenance of all these parts becomes even more difficult. When IoT is adopted in the process, there is an immense reduction of possible outages as well as unplanned maintenances.
How can IoT Improve this Process?
With the help of IoT driven blockchain technology, the aircraft manufacturer can maintain provenance related details of all the necessary products. This recorded data can then be accessed by everyone involved in the production process, which includes aircraft owners as well as the concerned maintainers.
With the help of IoT, manufacturers will be able to gain a much deeper and quicker understanding of the innate details of the aircraft. Furthermore, they shall also be able to apply predictive analytics in anticipation to any problem which might occur.
With the help of IoT, aircraft manufacturers will now be able to:
- Make a prediction on maintenance events
- Optimize certain production operations
- Improve the life cycle of components
The major benefit from IoT’s involvement in the aircraft manufacturing industry is the concept of predictive maintenance. With this help, it becomes much easier to track an aircraft’s exact position, as well as its in-flight performance.
It’s only a matter of time until the technology completely takes over the sector. Advancements are constantly being made in the manufacturing sector, which will only increase as the days pass by.
Nichole Heydenburg is a Content Writer for Apex Waves, an electronic test equipment company based in Cary, NC.
