PNAA 2019 Highlights

The Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance held its annual convention near Seattle earlier this week. There were a number of interesting presentations, with some interesting views and speculations. We’ve summarized some of the highlights below:

Felicia Coney of Collins Aerospace delivered an excellent briefing on their zero defects program and integration of smart factory concepts. As further automation and smart factories become the norm, there are implications for the supply chain to be on board with Industry 4.0. Message: The supply chain of the future needs to be automated and fit with more rigorous data requirements for quality and on-time performance. Invest in technology upgrades. Analysis: All that is good, but who is going to pay for it? Implications: Lower margins for lower tier suppliers as the top tier suppliers and OEMs flex their muscle and requirements for additional technology.