Soaring or stalling: Can aircraft manufacturers prevent rate ramp-up problems?
High production rate ramp-up will be needed across much of the A&D sector, yet at a time of soaring order books and rapid production rate ramp-up, supply chain risk is top of mind for aircraft manufacturers. Recent analysis on the A&D supply chain completed by TpG indicate that a fifth (21%) of suppliers are not financially ready to support the high ramp-up ahead of them. Dirk de Waart, leader of PwC’s PRTM Commercial A&D Group, discusses the findings and explains how TpG is using an approach, taken in part from the world of private equity M&A, to help companies pinpoint risk and prevent supply chain disruption.
Leading civil aerospace manufacturers have announced record deals for their new generation of commercial aircraft. Military programmes such as the Joint Strike Fighter and Tanker are also ramping up in the next five to ten years. Such manufacturing rate increases put pressure on the supply chain, leaving programmes vulnerable to delays or failure. Aerospace companies and their leading tier-one suppliers are aware of these supply chain issues but the best way forward to preventing them from happening is not so apparent.