The commercial aerospace industry’s ambitious targets to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2050 (from 2005 levels), are not on track. To succeed, airframe and engine manufacturers, suppliers, and companies throughout the value chain must coordinate the sustainability agenda. A collaborative effort will ensure the industry has a say in its own future, rather than having that future shaped by government regulations.

That’s the premise of a new report from Boston Consulting Group, “The Sustainability Opportunity for Aerospace.” The authors contend that although various new technologies and solutions are emerging to increase efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they represent only incremental improvements. The industry must take more transformational measures because proactive coordination will lead to faster reductions in CO₂ emissions. Moreover, sustainability represents an opportunity for the aerospace industry.

Now is the time for aerospace companies to chart a path to sustainability as they consider pandemic-related restructuring initiatives. During the next 12 to 18 months, the industry should retain emissions-related capabilities and investments as it reconsiders how to manage post-COVID-19 travel demands, remote work, and other immediate challenges.

“Leadership teams will clearly face tough choices regarding what to trim, but sustainability initiatives should not be on the list,” the report’s authors argue.

Companies should consider the full range of collaboration structures, including co-investing with other stakeholders, changing suppliers, and exploring vertical-integration opportunities that prepare them to develop or incorporate carbon-reduction technologies.

One example: forming a consortium of fuel refiners, engine manufacturers, infrastructure developers, and regulators to consider how best to implement sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) refined from non-petroleum feedstocks. SAFs offer significant emission reductions with existing engine designs. However, to supply enough SAFs to achieve 50% adoption by 2050, production capacity will have to increase 25x.

Another advantage, collaboration can help companies identify new opportunities in adjacent business areas, such as battery manufacturing or hydrogen fuel cells.

“Given that sustainability imperatives are growing in virtually all industries, this approach will allow organizations to expand beyond their current boundaries and potentially develop products and services that address broader decarbonization challenges,” the authors say.

“There’s more to do than just focusing purely on technical investments,” Gonzalo Tobaruela, a BCG project leader, tells AM&D. “Technologies won’t be introduced at scale unless regulations and the overall industry ecosystem support them.”

Companies should work with regulators to establish standards needed to shape the sustainability agenda. A proactive approach will give companies a seat at the table as new standards are established, converting regulation into a source of competitive advantage.

Regulators must create positive incentives as well. Subsidies have promoted change – boosting adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), for example. Similar approaches in the aerospace sector could encourage research and development investments and adoption of new technologies.

Aerospace companies have a choice. They can be passive participants and fall behind the competition. Or they can be proactive, building the right foundations today to seize sustainability’s opportunities in the future. – Eric

Dayton, Ohio-based Reynolds Machinery, exclusive distributor for Hurco CNC machine sales and service in the Buckeye State, won the 2020 Top Unit Sales Award for North America.

Hurco representatives presented Reynolds Machinery with the award at the distributor’s showroom and technical center with the assistance of the Hurco Job Shop Automation Collaborative Robot.

National Sales Manager for Hurco Scott Camloh says, “Reynolds Machinery’s winning formula serves their customers well because they focus on support and service after the sale. They’re responsive to their customers and understand how to help them gain the greatest benefits from Hurco CNC machines.”

Watch a video of the Reynolds award being machined on a Hurco CNC machine.

Reynolds Machinery President, Scott Mays, hold the company’s Hurco 2020 Top Unit Sales Award for North America.

Airbus gears up for A321XLR assembly

Industrialization and parts production for the first A321XLR are underway by Airbus and its suppliers, paving the way for major component assembly of the first forward fuselage, center- and rear-fuselage sections, and wings, in the second half of 2021.

“The production of components for the first A321XLR flight-test aircraft is progressing through the sites all across the world, for large and small components as well as systems,” notes Gary O’Donnell, head of the A321XLR program. “In parallel, many parts are already being tested and demonstrated – on the aircraft structure and systems – to validate the functionality of those first aircraft components. The production system is now coming alive, with our teams receiving the design drawings from Airbus and the key risk-sharing design partners and bringing them into physical reality.”

Premium Aerotec Group in Germany is completing the final parts for the rear center tank and aft fuselage. Stelia Aerospace is producing parts for the aircraft’s nose and forward fuselage. Collins and Parker Aerospace are producing fuel & inerting systems.

Major sections of the A321XLR contain significant design changes from current A321neo/A321LR aircraft, especially the center and aft fuselage integral rear center fuel tank and fuel management systems – key to the aircraft’s 4,700nm range – 15% more than the A321LR version.

Wind River, Curtiss-Wright collaborate on cybersecurity

Software company Wind River Systems is collaborating with Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions to offer integrated cybersecurity and anti-tamper protections for aerospace and defense systems, enabling their customers to meet security and performance requirements for mission-critical applications.

Wind River’s Titanium Security Suite has been integrated, tested, and validated on Curtiss-Wright OpenVPX modules. The collaboration enables customers to integrate security during the design phase, incorporating advanced cybersecurity and technology protections that meet Defense Department requirements.

XSYTIN-360 end mills combine a phase-toughened ceramic XSYTIN-1 substrate with a cutting geometry offering 10x higher productivity compared to current solid carbide or ceramic products.

XSYTIN-1 ceramic material exhibits high wear and thermal shock resistance, making XSYTIN-360 end mills highly predictable, versatile, and high-performing. They’ve shown high material removal rates and increasing productivity on a range of materials, including high-temperature alloys, 3D-printed sintered high-temperature alloys, hardened steels, ductile cast irons, and compacted graphite iron (CGI). In hardened steels, the tool life of XSYTIN-360 end mills match high-performance carbide end mills when run at high speeds (11,460rpm), while also removing more than 73in³ (1,200cm³) of material.

Suitable for machining materials in the aerospace, automotive, die & mold, and power generation industries, XSYTIN-360 inch and metric end mills are available now.

Greenleaf Corp.