The paradox: full order books, a strained supply chain

The aviation industry is in excellent health and performing very well. ‘To cite just one example, aircraft manufacturer Airbus has orders for no less than ten years,’ says Kevin Guerif. But behind this growth lies a much more complex industrial reality, rooted in the Covid-19 health crisis. ‘This period has led to a significant loss of skills in the aviation supply chain, with early retirements among the most experienced workers and young talent seeking new career paths,’ he explains. ‘At the same time, some companies, weakened by the crisis, have found themselves limited in their investment and recruitment capabilities.’ As a result, the supply chain is struggling to keep pace with the increase in production.

The dual driver of civil and defence

Aircraft orders are coming from both the civil and defence sectors. ‘The environmental concerns of travellers who are conscious of their carbon footprint are not slowing down demand for aerospace,’ notes Kevin Guerif. ‘Rather, they are stimulating manufacturers’ ingenuity to develop alternative fuels and more efficient and less polluting civil aircraft that incorporate advanced technologies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.’
In addition, the market is booming in Asia, which is set to become the world’s largest, establishing China and India as new aviation champions. On the defence side, aerospace growth is even stronger. This is due to global geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Ukraine and between India and Pakistan. ‘Never in recent history has the military budget reached such levels,’ he observes. ‘France has an important card to play and, moreover, Dassault, the industrial spearhead of national defence, is mobilising its partners, including SEGULA, on its military programmes.

Innovation as a solution

To support this boom in aeronautics and overcome logistical weaknesses, SEGULA can play a leading role by leveraging methods developed in the automotive industry. ‘This sector is often one step ahead because, since the advent of Taylorism, it has become a master in managing the performance of its supply chain,’ says Kevin Guerif. ‘And we are able to implement best practices and technologies that we have developed for the automotive sector.’

Here, SEGULA uses artificial intelligence, digital twins and augmented virtual reality. This technological component is essential to make up for lost time in the supply chain and accelerate its transformation.

‘In 2023, we created a dedicated department, SEGULA Transform. The team in this department is unique in that it draws on business expertise to add technological building blocks such as Big Data, Cloud Computing and AI. This is our strength and our
added value.’

Comprehensive support for the supply chain

SEGULA uses artificial intelligence to intervene at all levels of the supply chain, from industrial design to human resources, process optimisation and documentation. ‘Take Airbus Helicopters, for example,’ suggests Kevin Guerif. ‘We were tasked with optimising the maintenance of NH90 combat helicopters to ensure that they return to flight as quickly as possible, fully validated and operational.’ With this in mind, SEGULA has designed a digital application that tracks each stage of maintenance in real time,
with a whole range of performance indicators. This tool radically changes the way the customer works and guarantees maximum flight hours for the aircraft by drastically reducing repair and maintenance time on the ground.

Another area of innovation in SEGULA’s supply chain is human resources. Safran has entrusted SEGULA with upgrading the skills of its supply chain. ‘In just 18 months, we were able to support their supply chain by recruiting and training 180 new talents from 18 of the group’s sites in France. Mission accomplished, with the help of our teams and our AI tool SmartRecruiters! As a result, the Safran group was so impressed by our supply chain expertise that it has listed SEGULA Technologies as a key engineering and industrialisation partner. It’s a success story we’re really proud of!