Aerospace-X

Description

Aerospace manufacturing is character­ized by highly distributed, global supply chains involving numerous stakeholders, strict certification requirements, and increasing pressure to improve efficiency, sustainability, and resilience. However, today’s processes are often fragmented, document-based, and insufficiently connected across organizational boundaries, limiting transparency and collaboration.

Aerospace-X addresses these challenges by building a federated data space ecosystem that enables companies to share data securely and sovereignly while maintaining full control over their infor­mation. This forms the foundation for new, cross-company digital applications and services along the entire product lifecycle.

The project follows a holistic approach structured around four central domains. It enables capacity management (Work Package 2) by improving the planning, coordination, and utilization of produc­tion resources across multi-tier supply chains. At the same time, it supports the transition towards a circular economy (Work Package 3) by enabling better tracking of materials and components, facilitating reuse strategies, and contributing to digital product passports. In parallel, Aerospace-X enhances transparency regarding environmental impact through carbon footprint management (Work Package 4), allowing stakeholders to assess and optimize emissions along the supply chain. Complementing these aspects, the project establishes end-to-end quality management (Work Package 5), enabling data-driven quality assurance across all lifecycle stages, including process monitoring, traceability, certification, and non-conformity handling.

These domains are tightly interconnected and are implemented using shared technologies such as data spaces, digital twins, and standardized data models (e.g., Asset Administration Shell). A key aspect of Aerospace-X is its close collaboration with other Manufacturing-X initiatives, such as Factory-X, particularly regarding the development and adoption of common technical foundations for data spaces, including interoperable architectures, connectors, and standards.

A central outcome of the project is the demonstration of cross-company digital workflows, where data from shopfloor systems, quality systems, and certification processes are seamlessly linked and exchanged in a standardized and interoperable manner.

Role of gemineers in Aerospace-X (WP5 Lead)

Within Aerospace-X, gemineers coordinates Work Package 5: End-to-End Quality Management and leads the development and industrial validation of data-driven quality management across the aerospace supply chain.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leadership and coordination of WP5, defining the architecture and aligning partners for end-to-end quality management
• Development of data-driven quality concepts, transitioning from document-based to interoperable, data-centric processes
• Integration of digital twins and shopfloor data for process monitoring, early warning, and traceability
• Linking shopfloor data to certification and non-quality workflows (eCoC, eNQ) within the Aerospace-X data space
• Demonstration and validation in industrial use cases, enabling cross-company root cause analysis and continuous improvement

Summary

Aerospace-X represents a major step towards a digital, sustainable, and resilient aerospace supply chain, where data spaces enable seamless collaboration across organizational boundaries. By addressing key domains such as capacity, sustainability, and quality, the project lays the foundation for the next generation of aerospace manufacturing ecosystems.

Kick-off of the Aerospace-X project at ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research, Hamburg (© Airbus)