The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has partnered with global leader in high-technology aerospace components LISI Aerospace at its facility in Rugby to deliver a smart production line to increase productivity and secure new business within the aerospace fastener industry.
LISI Aerospace Rugby is a production facility and does not have its own R&D department. Nevertheless, the management at the site had a desire to introduce and innovate the next generation of production process which would ensure that it maintained a profitable business and an advantage over its competitors. The AMRC (The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) is a research centre and was the perfect partner for this project. The centre has a wide range of expertise in all kinds of industry 4.0 technologies and worked to consult LISI on the areas it wanted to develop.
The Manufacturer chatted with both partners to discuss the project, the challenges involved and what projects lie ahead.
The Manufacturer: Can you outline the initial aims of the project?
Taahir Patel, Process Development Manager, LISI Aerospace: At LISI, we were preparing for the global ramp up of production. With our next contract review coming up in 2025, we wanted to reserve fastener manufacturing in the UK which became the main focus and the title of the project – ‘Securing Fastener Manufacturing in the UK’.
However, we also wanted to increase the technology that we had on-site and introduce advanced, cutting-edge technology into the factory. A key part of the project was the development of people. My team, Process Development, was created because of this project which has grown from two to ten people.
Mark Capell, General Manager, LISI Aerospace: The project moved us from traditional engineering to process development. Without this project and the partnership with the AMRC, we wouldn’t have those ten people in these exciting new roles, which many new areas including data science and software development.
James Moore, Technical Lead in Machine Tool and Process Verification, for the AMRC: Our aim was to facilitate LISI in this project. We also led the development of a prediction of component quality system for each type of machine. This helped the ramp up and the throughput of parts by reducing the time spent by operators undertaking manual inspection, as well as decreasing the amount of scrap that was being produced.
TM: What were the primary challenges you faced and how did you solve them?
MC: When the whole project was first scoped out, it was very focused on the technical elements of Industry 4.0. However, we realised early on it was just as much about people and the organisation, because of the huge culture change it would create for the site. We had to invest time and effort in creating innovative new training programmes to highlight the opportunities to the workforce, which have been successful.
TP: Another challenge on the technical side was, when it came to the MES (manufacturing execution system) and MMS (machine monitoring system – one element of an MES) that we developed, we worked with the AMRC and leaned on their technical expertise to help us. Now, we’ve rolled this out across 90+ machines, and it’s going to be rolled out globally across other LISI sites too.
MC: Another challenge was securing financial support from LISI group. The idea formed in 2017, but the project started in 2020; we had to convince the bosses to invest in our site while everything else was going on around us. It was a massive leap of faith that couldn’t have happened without the AMRC and their support, guidance and knowledge. This has expanded from a small pet project to one of the flagship initiatives within the whole of LISI Aerospace and has been featured in our annual report to investors.
JM: We were on-hand to support the entire smart factory. The pilot only consisted of five machines and rolling it out wider was going to require a bigger infrastructure overhaul. There was going to be a huge increase in connected devices and data traffic which required increased cyber security. Implementing that was the main challenge for us, but now the IT system supports the smart factory and is ready for rollout to future machines.
Typically, the AMRC works in high value, low volume manufacturing, but the machines at LISI were completely different as they produce multiple components per second. A major challenge was coming up with a system that was able to take in the signals in such a short amount of time, do all the pre-processing, run the machine learning algorithm and then output a good or bad signal to the machine, which would then actuate a sorting gate if needed. We conducted a lot of research to find the best equipment and develop models that could work quickly enough. It was a lot of trial and error.
TM: Can the successful outcomes at the Rugby site can be replicated elsewhere, and will it require any modifications through the wider rollout?
MC: Throughout the project, in terms of machinery, there were two or three versions of the machines from one of our suppliers, Earlsdon Technology in Coventry. They developed three of our processes, one of them from scratch, which is our grooving machine. This now runs at a speed which is roughly three times the speed of the old generation machines.
They’ve been able to make the refinements, and we’ve now locked in the design. When it is transferred to other lines within the Rugby site or others, there is a standard template for that equipment which makes it easier to copy the processes across. We’re still fine-tuning elements including an accurate part count when it comes off the machine but as we solve those issues, it will be standardised across the group.
TM: What is the plan for training and upskilling employees across multiple sites, given the new roles and data centric approaches that have been introduced?
MC: From the start it’s been about picking people with the right mindset and potential. It requires more leadership, an increased hands-on approach and the ability to work as a team, running a line and utilising more data. The training package included data literacy for some of the members, communication skills, and leadership skills which differ greatly from a traditional training package.
We’ve already seen some of the smart factory operators who joined at the start of the project now being promoted into production engineer roles and digital manufacturing maintenance engineers. This project has not just provided new jobs, it has provided career paths.
TM: How will the AMRC and LISI Aerospace measure the success of the full-scale rollout, and how does this compare to how you measured the success of the pilot?
MC: We monitor all the KPIs at a top business level. Our business and strategic plan incorporates targets which are dependent on the smart factory rollout. In terms of our productivity, employee retention rate and absence rates, they are all related to the project due to the more fulfilling roles now available to employees. We are already seeing huge gains in terms of productivity.
Through the smart factory project, we’ve been able to build confidence with our main customers in very difficult and challenging conditions. From a supply chain point of view, the last four years have been a nightmare – from Brexit to global warfare. This project has really helped us.
JM: As the AMRC, we act as a test bed and support in developing proof of concepts which then get rolled out further throughout the facility, or through others. Our success comes from LISI now rolling out this tested concept across other facilities.
TM: What’s next for LISI Aerospace?
MC: This is my 15 years with LISI that the Rugby site has taken on a project like this, and part of its success is because we believed in it. Now the project has closed, the first thing we thought of was how and where we can do this again. It was a rewarding and fun process.
This project was focused on the machining of fasteners. But we have other processes; one is forging, and we’ve already got a project to increase the level of technology in this area, which we’ve been able to do ourselves. Now we are looking at what we can do to the coating process.
TM: Even though the AMRC are no longer working with LISI Aerospace on the project, do you have any plans to continue to support them now and in the future?
JM: We have worked closely together throughout the three years and we were able to learn a lot from each other. Towards the end of the project, we integrated one of LISI’s engineers into our process for the data analysis and the training of machine learning models. He had expertise in machine learning from his university studies but hadn’t worked on any implementations. We were able to pass on our knowledge of what we were doing while we were doing it. He could then run with that once the project had wrapped up and now has that knowledge to replicate over time.
TM: What did LISI Aerospace learn from this project?
MC: We learned a lot about project management techniques, and it’s been a constant loop of feedback since the beginning.
All the key issues manufacturing has faced over the last four years have been addressed in some way through this project. It’s aided us in putting together a gold standard apprenticeship programme and helped us to create our own engineers who are loyal to the company.
I see it as a badge of honour that we have worked with the AMRC. When the likes of Airbus, who I know have worked with AMRC, are on-site, I point out that we work with the same people. We’re in the same league. It’s definitely raised our profile.
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