Robotic Machining Adoption on the Rise in Aerospace Industry
About UsConferencePartner With Us
CIOREVIEW >> Aviation >> NEWS

Robotic Machining Adoption on the Rise in Aerospace Industry

CIO Review

FREMONT, CA: Robots are proving to be flexible tools for aircraft manufacturing and assembly. Their full potential however can be limited by the challenges of programming a robot in a CAD/CAM environment. Software that integrates offline programming, simulation, code generation, and path optimization makes the process seamless and error-free.

Unlike their land-bound cousins, aircraft have key differences that defy the automation paradigm. In Aerospace industry manufacturing tolerances are much tighter, while the subassemblies tend to be significantly larger and heavier. Compared to automotive, aircraft production volumes are much lower, while the life expectancy of commercial aircraft is measured in decades, not years. Global demand for aircraft is rising, straining current manufacturing resources.

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AMRC) is on the frontlines of this industry trend. “Sales of commercial aircraft are increasing,” says Ben Morgan, head of the Integrated Manufacturing Group at AMRC. “The majority of manufacturers have pushed their production capacity to the absolute limit and further capital investments are needed to reach the targeted rate. For some platforms we’re working on, this might be up to 60 aircraft a month, which is an incredible amount. So a step change in manufacturing is needed.” That step change is coming in the form of flexible robotic automation. Ushering the robots’ foray was the advent of composites in aircraft component manufacturing.

Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.

Rise of Aerospace Composites According to a study by market research firm Lucintel, the global aerospace composites market is expected to reach $112 billion annually by 2017, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.3 percent over the next five years (source: CompositesWorld). Composites typically weigh 20 percent less than aluminum and have a longer life span than traditional metallic materials. Credited for higher strength-to-weight ratios, better fuel efficiency and longer service intervals, composite aircraft materials are vital to the aerospace industry.

The composites revolution helped extend the jet way to robots. Robotic machining and material removal is increasingly being used in nonmetallic and metallic applications, including milling, drilling, surfacing, riveting, and waterjet cutting and trimming of composite skins and components for large commercial aircraft.

Prime for Robotic Machining

For years robots were peering over the shoulders of their computer numerically controlled counterparts. Now the focus has shifted. “With advances in robotics over the last 10 years, serial-arm devices are becoming a more feasible option,” says Morgan. “There’s been a boom in interest in robotic trimming, routing and machining. By developing concept robotic trimming systems and the facility we have at the AMRC, we’re starting to prove to high-end automotive and aerospace manufacturers that flexible cells are an alternative to some of the traditional, expensive CNC machine tools.”

Courtesy of Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing

The AMRC was established in 2001 as a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and Boeing. Located in a sprawling high-tech industrial park in Sheffield, England, it employs more than 400 researchers and engineers focused on modernizing manufacturing by testing and proving different technologies, and has more than 100 member companies ranging from global aerospace giants to local small businesses.  

“We’re talking maybe $15 million for some of the big CNC machines that are being used to manufacture these aerospace parts,” says Morgan. “For a robotic cell we would probably be looking at a couple of hundred thousand dollars.” The cost of deploying robots continues to decline, while their rigidity and accuracy is improving. Robotic technology can now compete for a broad range of aerospace applications previously limited to custom machinery, including one-up assembly, drilling and filling, automated tape layup (ATL), and automated fiber placement (AFP).

Robot Programming the Hard Way Most top-tier aerospace suppliers recognize the advantages of deploying robots for their subassembly operations and have even earmarked annual budgets for robotization. But for some, robot programming is the quagmire. Singularity, calibration, collisions, reach limitations, and motion granularity are uniquely complex to robotic systems and can make programming robots for machining operations particularly cumbersome. Navigating around the errors can be time-consuming. Companies accustomed to using CNC machine tools get stuck when they try to deploy a robot for the first time. They often try to use the robot manufacturer’s software for programming. However, this software is typically intended for simulation purposes, not programming. In a simulation environment you can see the error, but the difficulty lies in identifying the cause and how to fix it.

A different approach is to try to use CAD/CAM point converters, which create robot trajectories for different types of applications. The point converters tend to do a quick and inexpensive conversion to a robotic system, but there is no way to validate kinematics and check for errors. The main problem with these methods is the lack of a path optimization tool. Once the program is applied to the robot, there may be a lengthy prove-out period.

Check Out : 

Top Aerospace Manufacturing Companies

“When we decided to buy a new solution to tool composite parts with a robot, we could not have imagined how different the robotics world was from our traditional CNC machine world,” says Eddy Coubard, CAD & CAM production engineering manager at SOGERMA COMPOSITES AQUITAINE. “New vocabulary, a new working method and new problems, it was a challenge.”

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, SOGERMA COMPOSITES AQUITAINE is a wholly owned subsidiary of SOGERMA Group, and is based in France with 475 production and R&D personnel supporting more than 100 major suppliers in Europe and around the world with highperformance composite material products. “We tool aeronautic composite parts in small quantities, which means we have to get the robot programming right the first time,” says Coubard. “Otherwise, our costs increase dramatically.”

“The first robotic software we tried was not efficient at all,” he says. “It required making the tool path in CAD/CAM software and writing a kind of G-code with a post-processor, then reading this G-code on a simulator, only to realize that most of the time there were errors. Then we had to go back to the CAD/CAM software and write the robot code through another post-processor.” This is the typical scenario. A company acquires a robot, tries to deploy it for a machining operation, only to realize that they don’t have the proper software for the job.

First Step, Software

A better strategy: Consider the robot programming software up front. This should be done either at the time of robot system acquisition, or even prior to the purchase. CAD/CAM software specifically designed for programming robots addresses issues with singularity, collisions, joint limits, reach issues and wrist flips. The right software should automatically calculate and optimize robot trajectories, seamlessly integrate external axes, and provide instant visual feedback. It should be easy to use, even for operators new to robotics. The software should also support offline programming, without interrupting production on the shop floor other than for the final test and fine-tuning. Changeovers then become a parallel, rather than a sequential, operation.

Recently named one of the 10 Most Promising Engineering Design Solution Providers by CIO Review magazine, Jabez Technologies Inc. of Montreal, Canada, released the first CAD/CAMbased offline robot programming software in 2002. The latest version of Robotmaster® software streamlines programming, simulation, code generation and path optimization into one integrated solution. All major robot models are supported.

“A robot can be a difficult device to manage,” says Chahe Bakmazjian, president of Jabez Technologies. “It consists of six rotary joints stacked one on top of the other, so it’s very difficult to anticipate errors. Usually you encounter the error when it happens. There’s no warning.” “Aircraft manufacturers often put large robotic systems in place, but they’re only exploiting them to a limited area where they know they can avoid errors,” says Bakmazjian. “Any time they want to go outside those areas, it becomes very restrictive.”

COMPOSITES AQUITAINE’s Coubard says that by replacing their old software their programming time was reduced by two to three times.

“Robotmaster allows us to work in the same way we used our CNC machines to tool parts,” he says. “Since Robotmaster also interfaces with Mastercam® software, we were able to quickly and easily perform full 7-axis milling and drilling.”

Coubard says they are using Robotmaster to program a rail-mounted 6-axis robot. Applications include tooling thermal protection parts made of glass fiber for the Airbus A330 airliner and honeycomb for the Airbus Super-Puma MK II helicopter.

“With Robotmaster we’re able to embrace the world of robotics. Now we can tool our composite parts in the same easy way we used to tool them with the CNC machine,” says Coubard. “In fact, the new simulation feature is so powerful that we have yet to exploit all of its capabilities.” Without Robotmaster, Coubard says they would have most likely abandoned robotics and gone back to old CNC machining methods.

Error-Free Programming At the AMRC, Morgan’s group uses robotics and metrology to develop new methods for assembling complex products for aerospace and other high-value industries. “We’ve been working with Robotmaster for the last three years,” says Morgan. “The software has allowed our operators and engineers to quickly and effectively reprogram the cell, as well as optimize the machine path. It has great flexibility and control.”

“Using this software lends itself to the research environment in particular, because our range of work and part variability,” says Morgan. “We don’t manufacture anything here, so often we end up doing one, two, or three parts and then we’ll move on to another part. But the aerospace sector itself is demanding reconfigurability as well, so we’re meeting that requirement with Robotmaster.”

Operators report that the software works 100 percent of the time – the first time – without the need for manual teaching intervention or touch-up. It’s error-free robot programming without the complexity. So easy, even a newbie can use it. Couple a flexible robot with an advanced software solution. Now you’re free to exploit the entire robot workspace. What first appeared as a liability of an overdetermined system with various ways to reach the same point has now become an opportunity given sophisticated path optimization tools.

Robots have proven their airworthiness. They just need the right software to realize their full potential.

@by_Robotmaster

Check Out: The Manufacturing Outlook

More in News

The movement of business information across cloud platforms, internal systems, applications, and devices has made protecting that data a more complex operational task. Security teams must be able to track the locations of sensitive data, who has access to it, and how it flows through an organization. Manual checkings can be tricky to keep up with, especially as the amount of data increases. Some automated security controls can take care of mundane monitoring, access controls and policy enforcement, while allowing for experts to dedicate more time to investigating security incidents. Automated data security solutions are thus playing a more crucial role in effective data protection strategies, especially for businesses using sensitive data like that related to customers, finances and operations. Market Shifts in Automated Data Protection The market is progressing towards security platforms that can secure information across multiple environments and not just one repository at a time. Cloud storage, databases, applications and endpoints are frequently deployed under varying configurations, leading to the creation of varied and difficult-to-manage security controls. Automated discovery tools can search through data stores and mark and organize records based on profiles. Improved classification enables more effective controls to be implemented at higher risk locations, and less significant restrictions to be imposed on routine business information. Access control systems are also getting smarter. Static permissions can continue to be in effect when employees move to a different role or when they no longer need to access certain information. Automated systems can audit user roles and access activity, and modify permissions based on set policies. Behavioral monitoring takes it further by spotting unusual logon times or file access, which can indicate unusual activity. These controls can enable organizations to keep access at the right level without the security teams having to go through each change in permissions. Data loss prevention is increasingly linked to automated monitoring. Security systems can monitor data transfers over email, cloud storage and endpoints and compare activity to organizational policies. If a transfer is made that conveys sensitive information, it can be subject to further verification, it can limit movement, or be the subject of an alert for review. Sensitive data can also be automatically encrypted, ensuring it is protected properly at all times, in all places, and across all storage types. With distributed data, consistency can be maintained with centralized policy enforcement. Security Challenges and Practical Solutions Security alerts can cause stress for security teams, and it may be harder to identify important events when there are a lot of alerts. An automated risk scoring offers a practical answer and assesses events based on data sensitivity, access history and user behavior. Regular activities may continue following established rules, but those with higher risk levels may be subject to investigation. In cases where there is not enough context in the message or an automated response may impact legitimate business activity, human review can still be valuable. Secure information across hybrid environments can also provide management challenges. Cloud platforms and internal systems may have different configurations and security policies. A centralized policy management approach can give a single policy framework, and then individual controls can take into account the technical requirements of the individual environments. Gradual integration is helpful when the legacy systems are not capable of supporting modern security interfaces. Gateways and monitoring layers can be used to gain visibility without the need to replace existing applications in one fell swoop. Governance of automation needs to be done with care, as badly configured automation can lead to operational disruption. It is possible to discover surprising effects when testing security policies in controlled environments prior to deployment. Clear response thresholds can also be used to differentiate between what needs to be done automatically and what needs to be approved. Expensive decisions, such as blocking critical access to business, can still be subject to human authorization. Advancing Capabilities and Stakeholder Value Machine learning is being used to help detect patterns of behavior that may not be defined in rules to protect against security threats. Access paths that do not follow the norm, or transfers or changes in system activity, can be assessed against defined behaviors. The best use cases are those that use statistics in conjunction with traditional security measures, not exclusively relying on automated predictions. Even in the face of uncertainty, sound information and good judgment are crucial in determining the way the organization should act. Security orchestration is also helping to improve the way that various controls interact. When one system identifies a suspicious event, it can trigger a series of events across various aspects of identity management, endpoint protection and access control. A coordinated response can help minimize the time between detection and containment, as well as repetitive work by the security team. It also establishes uniformity in the response process for various types of incidents. The other functional advantage is automated compliance monitoring. Access permissions and configurations, as well as data locations, can be continually validated against internal policies or regulatory mandates by security platforms. Automated records enable compliance teams to pinpoint areas in need of attention and provide better evidence of the effectiveness of controls. Continuous monitoring can also help to minimize the need for periodic manual monitoring. ...Read more
Marketing across Latin America is evolving as organizations seek better ways to understand changing consumer behavior and improve business performance. Traditional campaigns based on assumptions are giving way to data-driven strategies that reveal how audiences interact with brands across digital and offline channels. Businesses are recognizing that collecting information is only the first step. The real advantage comes from transforming that information into meaningful decisions that strengthen customer relationships and create sustainable growth. An effective advertising intelligence platform helps organizations combine information from multiple marketing channels into a single view. Instead of managing disconnected reports, teams can evaluate campaign performance, customer engagement and market trends with greater clarity. This allows marketing professionals to identify which activities generate the strongest results and where to redirect resources. As businesses expand across different markets in Latin America, this level of visibility becomes increasingly valuable because customer preferences often vary by region and industry. How Can Businesses Turn Marketing Data into Practical Decisions? Information becomes valuable when it leads to action. Regularly analyzing campaign performance can help marketing teams adapt their messaging to better target their audience and create more relevant customer experiences. Instead of making broad assumptions, they can now discover patterns that reveal what drives customer purchasing and how customers respond to various communication channels. Organizations are also combining sales data with marketing data to gain a clearer view of the customer journey, from initial awareness through long-term loyalty. Innovative Systems configures Oracle Cloud and custom enterprise software around customer requirements, including data migration and business workflows. Decision makers can then identify campaigns supporting business growth, adjust those requiring modification and use ongoing monitoring to direct investments toward more productive programs. Technology also enables quicker decisions to be made by facilitating the presentation of complex information in easy-to-digest formats. Marketing leaders can track trends and emerging opportunities and act swiftly to counter market shifts. This flexibility is particularly crucial in competitive markets where customer needs are constantly changing. Master Steel integrates robotic welding and industrial automation systems to improve business workflows, operational consistency and manufacturing performance. What Role Does Advertising Intelligence Play in Long-Term Business Growth? Long-term growth depends on consistent learning and continuous improvement. Organizations that embrace advertising intelligence create marketing strategies based on measurable outcomes rather than assumptions. This strengthens confidence in planning while improving collaboration between marketing, sales and executive leadership. An advanced advertising intelligence platform enables businesses to monitor market changes, evaluate competitor activity and understand customer engagement across multiple channels. These insights support more effective campaign planning while encouraging innovation that aligns with evolving consumer expectations. Companies can test new ideas, measure results and refine future strategies with greater confidence. Across Latin America, businesses are increasingly investing in technologies that support informed decision-making and stronger customer connections. Advertising intelligence fosters a culture in which every campaign becomes an opportunity to learn and improve. Instead of viewing marketing data as isolated information, organizations use it to guide product positioning, customer engagement and business development. The result is a more agile marketing approach that supports lasting growth, stronger brand value and the ability to respond confidently to changing market opportunities. ...Read more
Organizations across Latin America are investing more heavily in structured digital transformation strategies as operational complexity increases across industries. Businesses want technology adoption processes that reduce implementation delays, improve coordination, and support measurable operational outcomes. As companies manage expanding digital workloads, structured adoption planning is becoming a larger priority across enterprise environments. How Are Intelligent Planning Systems Improving Adoption Efficiency? Intelligent planning systems are improving adoption efficiency by creating structured frameworks that guide organizations through complex technology implementation processes. AI-powered platforms analyze operational requirements, workflow dependencies, and organizational priorities to create adoption strategies that align more closely with business objectives. Better planning reduces implementation delays and improves coordination across departments. Automation is also strengthening adoption management processes. Digital platforms can assign tasks, track progress milestones, and monitor workflow completion automatically, reducing the administrative burden associated with large-scale technology rollouts. Automated coordination allows teams to focus more heavily on implementation quality and operational alignment rather than manual project management activities. Real-time monitoring capabilities are improving visibility across technology adoption processes. Organizations can track deployment performance, user engagement, workflow efficiency and operational bottlenecks through centralized dashboards that provide continuous implementation updates. Innovative Systems provides integrated enterprise software that supports operational coordination across billing, subscriber management and network services. Faster access to performance information helps organizations respond more effectively when operational adjustments become necessary. Collaboration tools are further improving implementation outcomes. Teams across operational units can access shared information, review progress updates, and coordinate responsibilities through centralized digital environments that strengthen communication and reduce implementation delays. Better collaboration supports smoother transitions during large-scale operational change initiatives. SR Productos para la Salud manufactures syringes, needles and medical disposables, supporting operational continuity across Latin American healthcare systems. Data-driven prioritization is also influencing adoption planning. Organizations increasingly rely on analytics to determine which systems require earlier deployment, where resource allocation should increase, and how operational priorities should be managed throughout implementation cycles. Why Is Scalability Influencing Adoption Roadmap Development? Scalability is influencing roadmap development because organizations require systems capable of supporting expanding operations and increasing digital complexity without creating operational disruptions. Businesses across Latin America increasingly manage larger datasets, distributed teams, and interconnected workflows that require flexible implementation strategies. Cloud integration is strengthening scalability within adoption planning environments. Organizations combine cloud infrastructure with intelligent workflow systems to maintain accessibility, operational flexibility, and centralized coordination across multiple locations. Flexible infrastructure supports smoother expansion while improving overall implementation efficiency. The AI-powered adoption roadmap is also becoming more data-driven as businesses seek stronger visibility into implementation performance. Organizations evaluate user behavior, workflow efficiency, system utilization, and operational outcomes continuously to refine deployment strategies and improve long-term performance. ...Read more
Enterprise translation buying has become harder because easy work is getting cheaper while costly mistakes remain costly. AI can push large content volumes through multilingual workflows, but buyers in regulated, technical, clinical and customer-facing environments still carry the burden of accuracy, terminology control, approval timing and cultural fit. The sourcing question is no longer language count alone. Procurement teams have to ask where automation belongs, where expert review remains nonnegotiable and how the supplier proves that judgment before content reaches customers, regulators, field teams and internal users. The pressure is uneven across the enterprise. Marketing teams may need voice adaptation across markets. Legal and intellectual property groups need precise language tied to filing requirements and claim scope. Life sciences teams face documentation where a small error can delay approval or create avoidable review cycles. The stronger model is not a generic AI layer wrapped around translation. It is a service structure that changes by content type, buyer function, language pair and tolerance for error. AI has made that distinction more visible. General models are useful on repeatable or lower-risk content, but enterprise translation depends on memory systems, terminology discipline, workflow testing and human review rules. A model that performs well in one language may be weak in another. A prompt approach that works for support content may not suit clinical, patent, legal and technical material. Executive buyers should look for evidence that a provider tests AI in near-production settings before scaling it, using benchmarking by content type, controlled pilots, error detection routines and a clear path from test to approved use. Service design matters as much as model choice. Translation and localization are bought by different functions inside the same global enterprise, and those functions rarely share the same risk profile. A provider built around customer and content specialization is better placed to learn the buyer’s vocabulary, regulatory context, review habits and release cadence. It can also extend beyond translation when the work demands adjacent execution, like patent filing support or data preparation for AI systems. That fit is harder to assess from language coverage alone. It shows up in workflow ownership and the ability to know when speed should yield to control. Internal AI adoption also deserves scrutiny. Many language suppliers can describe AI tools, but fewer have changed how work gets planned and tested. Buyers should favor firms that give staff secure AI access and formalize repeatable use cases. Experimentation without guardrails can become risk. Guardrails without experimentation can leave cost and speed advantages unused. The practical middle ground is disciplined testing and a willingness to retire older workflow assumptions when the evidence supports it. That buying logic makes Welo Global the premier choice for enterprises that need business translation and localization tied to complex content rather than generic language output. Its business structure separates localization, life sciences, AI data and patent-filing work, allowing methods to shift by buyer group and content risk. Its AI work is grounded in testing, benchmarking, specialist review and post-editing rules rather than simple automation claims. For executives balancing scale with review discipline, Welo Global offers a strong fit because it treats localization as specialized enterprise work, not a volume exercise. ...Read more