JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #148 - November/December 2022 - 21

lndustry 4.0 offers increased traceability and reduced waste
costs while closing the gap on achieving
the very real environmental targets for the
aerospace sector, which stand at 15% by 2030,
40% by 2040, and achieving net zero by 2050.
Pick-by-light technology helps with kit collation
and sequencing for Velocity's customers
providing full traceability and creating operational
savings and improvements in cash flow.
The icing on the cake is the realised material
savings from our demand management and
nesting operations to produce the kits we
supply just-in-time to our customers,
This enables the company's customers to focus
on their core part manufacturing business
and to better meet the global challenges of
new aircraft programmes, higher production
rates and effective cost control to support the
growth of aerospace composite materials.
Velocity's Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) software is designed to wholly own
every element of the composite supply chain
to help find efficiencies and reduce waste at
every step. Its proprietary VRP and Hypernest
systems range from advanced real-time
nesting, batch control, life control, material
utilisation
reports,
quality management,
machine integration, change management
and new product development-introduction.
We have also worked with leading equipment
suppliers to develop our process machinery
in line with our service offering to provide
fully-automated cutting beds and augmented
digital identification systems for structural
composite materials plus dedicated equipment
for welding and sewing processes.
As a result, the company's customers have
been able to reduce their material waste by
up to 20%, while also creating operational,
stock and process efficiencies in a way that
supports staff to be more effective. Velocity's
current level of operational waste across all of
its programmes stands at well below than 1%.
These savings not only help companies to
become more efficient and competitive but
can help mitigate the impact of rising material
Industry 4.0 offers greater
traceability for customers
The need for full traceability in aerospace
supply chains has never been more necessary.
From project managing part manufacture and
supply to fit within " just in time " and " just in
sequence " production schedules, through to
tracking the journey, lifespan and viability of
individual products. Embracing Industry 4.0
gives manufacturers the tools needed to offer
high levels of traceability and management in
real time.
Our mission is to make the aerospace composite
supply chain as transparent and forward
thinking as possible. Our proprietary software
can now track the entire lifecycle of a ply or
material from freezer storage to shopfloor
to delivery, while additional processes such
as our new Digital Manufacturing Cell can
reduce both material and operational costs.
The cell is the latest in a range of data-driven
technological advances aimed at fully tracking
and tracing the aerospace supply chain for
customers, improving efficiencies, and making
savings on material and operational costs.
Velocity's own VRP technology is designed
to manage the entire value stream, from
customer demand management, raw material
management, batch traceability, complex
nesting, kit manufacture and kit logistics, with
all areas connected and sharing real-time data
to drive maximum efficiencies.
Additionally, the company's software solution
allows clients to benefit from real-time data,
which helps with resource planning from their
initial acceptance and planning through every
step before it is delivered to optimise operations,
cut down on waste and provide sound
information upon which to make decisions.
As such, the Digital Manufacturing Cell was
born out of a drive to reduce operational
costs for customers and create a smart, lean
manufacturing process. The cell combines
Velocity's bespoke software with a fully-automated
three-axis conveyor bed Zund cutting
machine, along with a series of smart stacking,
sequencing and packaging areas. It allows
every individual ply to be uniquely identified,
against which its progress can be measured.
The plies are then nested using the exclusive
Hypernest software, which ensures maximum
use of materials and minimum waste when
they are cut.
Following the ply cutting step, the process
combines
automated
visual
inspection
(AVISoCS) of every ply for unique verification
together with pick-by-light technology for
kit collation containing digital functionality
to demonstrate and confirm kitting progress
to both the operators and the VRP system.
This is all in place to augment the unbeatable
dexterity of people during the manufacturing
process and drive efficiency when running
significant length nests with multiple rolls.
The Modular Collation System (MCS) is
made up of multiple kit locations in racks,
being scalable to the required job size. Each
MCS comprises 1,500 pitched LEDs that
track in real time the ply location and kit
reference, together with completion progress
feedback to VRP. Following the collation, the
product is numerically sequenced to reduce
time at the customer's end when unpacking
the delivery, with each part available in the
order it is needed for assembly.
In addition to providing traceability and efficiency
benefits, the technology inherent in the
Digital Manufacturing Cell improves internal
processes and allows significant increases in
scale. We pride ourselves on minimal waste
and ultimate efficiency, and this facility allows
us to optimise our workflow, while managing
cutting operations of individual nests containing
thousands of plies, managing each job
flexibly and providing ultimate value to the
customer.
Enhancing the shelf life of
structural and consumable kits
A key element of composite waste, and savings
that can be made in the supply chain, is related
to expired materials. Velocity Composites uses
the latest software to manage and optimise
material life in order to reduce waste.
The lack of tracking and poor management of
the time that structural and consumable kits
are exposed to ambient temperatures can lead
N°148 November - December 2022 / jec composites magazine
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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #148 - November/December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #148 - November/December 2022
