Promoted content: Machine vision, AI, blockchain and IoT are revolutionising supply chains

The manufacture of complex, high-value assets such as aircraft requires collaboration between multiple partners in the supply chain. Once complete, those assets can also remain in service for decades. So the sustained ability to record and track all the many thousands of parts required for assembly and in-service support is critical to the entire asset lifecycle, from design to retirement. But it’s a major challenge for manufacturers, aftermarket service providers, operators and other partners. Time delays, increased costs and potential security risks can arise when incorrect, faulty or even counterfeit or greymarket products are used. For example, one estimate suggests that up to 15 per cent of spare and replacement parts in US armed forces machinery may be counterfeit.

Many manufacturers have to deal with a significant legacy of largely manual, paper-based processes for managing the supply, assembly and in-service support of the parts they need. There are also likely to be multiple back office systems whose evolution over time has combined to create a complex legacy for asset management. Few – if any – manufacturers operate with a single system of record that can provide the integrity, accuracy and reliability of data about parts that can be made available securely where and when they’re needed.