Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Yearbook 2020
The 2020 edition of the Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing Yearbook is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.

Six Trends to Watch for in Aerospace and Defense This Year
October 7, 2020
The world has changed remarkably in 2020. The new decade began with a sense of optimism and historically strong economies in both the commercial aerospace and defense sectors.
Outlook
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Smart Manufacturing
The Future is Electric for Aerospace Composites
October 7, 2020Composite materials consist of fibers—in the aerospace industry, they are typically glass, carbon or kevlar—suspended in a matrix of epoxy resin. -
Smart Manufacturing
It’s Time to Industrialize Hypersonic Weaponry
October 8, 2020The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) wants the industry to secure the country’s leadership in hypersonic weaponry. The request is no small feat. -
Smart Manufacturing
Automate the Process, Recover the Profits
October 8, 2020Aerospace OEMs and their supply chains are evolving plans to manage the economic impact caused by the health-related shutdown last spring.
Techview
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Product Design & Engineering
Mastering Microturbines
October 1, 2020Extreme complexity is inherent to jet engines of all sizes, from those on a Boeing 777x to ones that power the smallest drone. -
Smart Manufacturing
Embracing Digital Twins
October 1, 2020The concept of the digital twin in A&D was born in the 1970s, when NASA began employing full-scale virtual mock-ups of space capsules to forecast the performance of machines in outer space. -
Smart Manufacturing
AR Brings Extreme ROI
October 13, 2020It is not surprising that the aerospace and defense industry exists at a higher plane of manufacturing. The components and end products being assembled must endure intense forces and pressures, are expected to perform without failure, and even the slightest mistake comes with extreme safety risks. -
Product Design & Engineering
Avoiding Costly Defects
October 14, 2020Avoiding product defects—and quickly finding and fixing those that occur—is a critical priority for all manufacturers. -
Grinding & Deburring
No Burrs, No Defects
October 2, 2020A burr could become a danger point in the turbine engine. Classical manufacturing processes like turning, milling and grinding can lead to burr formation and unwanted sharp edges.
A&D Manufacturing
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Manufacturing Management
Ways to Effectively Address Supply-Chain Risk Laid Bare by COVID-19
October 2, 2020When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many aerospace and defense manufacturers realized they were not resilient enough to withstand the resulting challenges in their supply chains. -
Smart Manufacturing
New Management, Processes Deliver Growth to SPM
October 9, 2020Long-term customer contracts are a lofty goal for every contract manufacturer. At Shapes Precision Manufacturing (SPM), that goal is being achieved by a strong new management team using new fabricating processes initiated by a skilled workforce. -
Machining & Metal Cutting
Renishaw Reduces Machining Time for Maker of Impellers
October 2, 2020Honeywell Aerospace, part of global commercial and consumer engineering conglomerate Honeywell, produces a large number of the impellers and blisks used in commercial aeroplanes. -
Smart Manufacturing
SPR Machine Discovers New Productivity in Brass
October 9, 2020Three partners contributed their diverse manufacturing and machining experience—and their last initials—to found SPR Machine in 2002. -
Software
CAD/CAM Software Works to Transform Royell’s Capabilities
October 15, 2020Teenaged Jamie Yelle daydreamed as he pushed a broom across the floor of his father’s machine shop. As he cleared a path through aluminum chips, filings, and scraps of metal around the machinery, he imagined what the company would look like if he were at the helm. -
Machining & Metal Cutting
Could Switching to Grinding Help My Manufacturing Process?
October 15, 2020While recent advancements in machining centers have allowed for increased capability around high-volume operations, there are several factors that still necessitate the need for grinding. -
Smart Manufacturing
Improved Bucking Bars Speed Production, Increase Safety
October 12, 2020To speed production and increase worker safety in the aerospace industry, major manufacturers are willing to pay a higher price for quality equipment. -
Grinding & Deburring
Rolls-Royce Germany Finds Way to Increase a Grinding Capacity
October 12, 2020Christoph Fedler, project director for equipment management at Rolls-Royce Germany, was facing a challenge: He needed to increase the available capacity of the prime discipline at the Oberursel facility, namely micrometer-precise grinding of curvic couplings. -
Software
CAM Software Plays Key Role in Shop’s 5-Axis Machining Success
October 14, 2020To grow in today’s manufacturing world, shops need to consolidate operations, automate, increase efficiency, capture and analyze data and more, in order to fully leverage opportunities in thriving industries, such as aerospace.
Machines & Automation
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Automation
Experts: Increased Automation Critical to Meeting Aircraft Demand
October 5, 2020Before the coronavirus pandemic upended normal life and essentially shut down commercial airliners, the aviation industry had a projected need for 40,000 new aircraft—planes, helicopters, air taxis, and unmanned aerial vehicles—in the next 20 years.
Smart Manufacturing
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Smart Manufacturing
Supply Chain Safeguards
October 6, 2020The warning about the vulnerability of the aerospace and defense industry’s supply chain came buried in the pages of a report issued by the consulting firm EY two years before the COVID-19 outbreak became a full-blown global crisis. -
Automation
UR Helps Tool Gauge Double Production of Components
October 13, 2020Tacoma, Washington-based Tool Gauge manufactures precision metal and plastic components and assemblies for the aerospace industry. -
Smart Manufacturing
Your Best Cyber Defense Isn’t a ’60s Super Spy. It’s You.
October 6, 2020Since its first volume, in 2006, this publication has followed the story of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which, through trial and sometimes painful error, has gone from a daring design to a distributed manufacturing supply chain to, finally, a warplane in service around the globe. -
Smart Manufacturing
Coping with Upheaval in the Supply Chain
October 16, 2020Risk-management technology is beginning to help manufacturers cope with the supply-chain upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Thomas Derry, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management: “We are a lot better at managing risk than even 10 years ago.”