thyssenkrupp and Deutsche Aircraft sign materials agreement
20th Jun 2023 | In News | By Michael Tyrrell
Deutsche Aircraft and thyssenkrupp Aerospace have announced they are entering into a long-term frame agreement for an integrated end-to-end supply chain solution for material management for the D328eco aircraft.
thyssenkrupp Aerospace, a division of thyssenkrupp Materials Services, will be responsible for supplying materials, from planning to sourcing, processing to warehousing, as well as logistics and distribution to Deutsche Aircraft and its European subcontractors.
There are three components to this materials management solution. The first is a ‘digital control tower’ that thyssenkrupp Aerospace and DAG have co-created to manage the entire ecosystem and to coordinate all material flows, from sourcing to distribution. The second part of the solution sees thyssenkrupp Aerospace take full responsibility for the procurement of all materials. The third part is a materials hub and distribution centre, which enables thyssenkrupp Aerospace to deliver materials just-in-time to the production lines of the multiple subcontractors of Deutsche Aircraft.
The entire solution has been built from the ground up to enhance end-to-end transparency of the D328eco aircraft supply chain, ensure a seamless, on-time supply of materials to Deutsche Aircraft and its sub-contractors, and overall, to boost the resilience of the entire supply chain, a major concern in the aerospace and defence industry.
Patrick Marous, CEO of thyssenkrupp Aerospace, commented: “We are delighted to enter into this long-term agreement with Deutsche Aircraft and their subcontractors. The solution we developed is an object lesson in the benefits of co-creation. We spent one-year consulting with Deutsche Aircraft to assess their supply chain for raw materials. And because we built this from the ground up together with the team from Deutsche Aircraft, they get exactly the efficient, transparent, and resilient materials supply chain they need to ensure uninterrupted production of their D328ecoTM aircraft. Our global network of certified mills and our materials expertise further ensure Deutsche Aircraft gets the quality they need.”
Maximilian Fahr, vice president supply chain of Deutsche Aircraft, highlights the trusting relationship the two partners developed over the one-year consulting period as a major factor in their decision to enter into this long-term agreement. He said: “Materials is key for manufacturing, and so is reliability and risk management. We got to know each other well and built a trusting relationship. The demonstrated capabilities of managing a complex network of capacities as well as the supply chain management skills to build an end-to-end solution from scratch, convinced us in partnering on this supply chain journey. These assets will support the D320eco programme entry and prepare the ramp-up phase and long-term material provision.”
Sustainability is central to the design and manufacture ethos of Deutsche Aircraft, especially in the D328eco. This supply chain solution was created with that in mind. Fahr, said: “Resilience and reliability are essential to our materials supply chain and so is sustainability. By working closely together with the team from thyssenkrupp Aerospace, we developed synergies that will lead to reduced scrap. We increase material utilisation through the demand consolidation handled by thyssenkrupp Aerospace and that plays an important role in reducing our overall carbon footprint and helping us on the way to more sustainable production.”
As part of the strategic further development ‘Materials as a Service’, thyssenkrupp Materials Services is focusing, among other things, on the consistent expansion of its service portfolio.
thyssenkrupp Aerospace is taking another important step in this direction with this partnership with Deutsche Aircraft. As one of the world’s leading supply chain management and Third-Party Logistics (3PL) service providers in the market for raw materials, thyssenkrupp Aerospace offers end-to-end solutions to build resilient and digital supply chains. The company’s service portfolio is modular and scalable, encompassing all development stages from designing to managing and operating the supply chain for its customers.
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