Two aerospace heavyweights have joined forces to give the industry a glimpse of the future.
Spirit AeroSystems Inc. on Wednesday revealed that it and the vaunted Skunk Works division of Lockheed Martin Corp. have developed a demonstrator platform called Polaris that shows off digital engineering and advanced assembly and can be used to validate products from the initial design through the final build.
Unveiled this week at Lockheed’s (NYSE: LMT) facilities in Palmdale, Calif., Spirit said in a press release that the demonstrator has already been used to validate a design-build process that cut assembly hours by 70% and came with an initial 95% boost in quality.
It also showed how a supplier like Spirit (NYSE: SPR) can be integrated into a customer like Lockheed’s digital environment to greatly increase productivity and efficiency on a program long before components ever begin coming off the assembly line.
It’s the kind of digital integration of processes that “will form the foundation of how future defense programs are executed, and revolutionize the speed at which new products can be brought to market,” said Duane Hawkins, president of Spirit’s defense and space division.
"This reduced project execution cost and time by enabling parallel engineering development and operations planning, facilitating the team’s ability to clearly communicate and ensure consistency of requirements, and to identify integration challenges before parts and tools were ever released for fabrication.”
Spirit CEO Tom Gentile said in June at a Bernstein conference that defense work grew 20% last year, is expected to grow 15% this year and should become a billion-dollar business for Spirit by the middle of the decade.
“In terms of defense growth, we see not only new generation aircraft … but we also see hypersonics and even space,” Gentile said. “Defense programs are solid. They’re a little bit less volatile sometimes than a commercial program.”
Spirit employs more than 8,000 people in Wichita, where much of its defense work is based, as well as work on all Boeing Co. commercial aircraft.
The company is also a major supplier to Airbus from factories including its locations in the U.K. and North Carolina.
