As IIoT and Industry 4.0 are opening up more and more possibilities for composite parts manufacturers, cutting cost and increasing throughput by automating and optimizing processes such as material cutting, kitting and sorting are at the brink of disrupting the complete value chain of composites manufacturing.

June 4th 2019, Composites 4.0, Coventry, UK - Airborne, technology leader in advanced composites automation and digitalisation, and Plataine, the leading provider of Industrial IoT (IIoT) and AIbased optimization solutions for advanced manufacturing, combined their in-depth knowledge on disruptive engineering and manufacturing solutions based on the latest insights of the Industrial IoT and Industry 4.0 (I4.0). Both partners will be presenting at Composites 4.0 (UK) how composites manufacturers can really benefit from the digital transformation revolution facing the industry.

As IIoT and Industry 4.0 are opening up more and more possibilities for composite parts manufacturers, cutting cost and increasing throughput by automating and optimizing processes such as material cutting, kitting and sorting are at the brink of disrupting the complete value chain of composites manufacturing. For more than 93% of all composites parts manufacturers, growing volumes while cutting costs is troublesome (source: SME & Plataine Survey of 2018).
For the aerospace industry it is estimated that the number of air passengers annually will hit 7.8 billion by 2036. This means the aerospace industry needs to build 40,000 aircraft in the next 20 years - a challenging goal given the fact that current global commercial aircraft production capacity is 1,500 aircraft per year. As OEM's and suppliers are searching for ways to optimise their current production lines, pressure and demand for on-time delivery and cost down leaves manufacturers struggling to keep pace. Manual processes and practices are prone to error and slow companies down.

Joe Summers, Managing Director Airborne UK said: "The only question you need to ask yourself when you are a composite parts manufacturer for the aerospace industry, is: ‘are you ready to double your current production rate in the next five years'? The only way to meet the required production level is through immense automation and digitalisation. It's not about ‘should we automate?'. It's about ‘how do we automate best and fastest?'. At Airborne we have expecting these questions and developed the rights solutions. As a result, our solutions are ready to fly."

Avner Ben-Bassat, President & CEO at Plataine said: "Industry partnerships between IIoT hardware and software companies, offer the most advanced and cost-effective solutions. But, for truly effective automation in the composites industry, you need more than just a machine: you need to intelligently automate and digitize the production floor as a whole, allowing composites part manufacturers to enter many more applications than currently being used, optimally meeting dynamic production schedules at increased volumes."

New white paper on IIoT and Industry 4.0 Interested manufacturers will benefit from the knowledge of Airborne and Plataine through downloading a free white paper the companies have published in English and Chinese: https://www.airborne.com/airborne-at-composites-40-uk/ and https://www.plataine.com/whitepapers/

Presentations at Composites 4.0
Airborne will present its vision on digital and automated manufacturing of composites at Composites 4.0. where Miroslav Stojkovic (Airborne UK) will present at 14:30 ‘Integrating Digitalisation into Manufacturing'. Plataine will present its IIoT solutions at Composites 4.0 by Composites UK June 4 at 11.40am discussing ‘Opportunities, Challenges & Best Practices of Implementing Artificial Intelligence in Composites Manufacturing'

About Airborne:
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in The Hague (the Netherlands), Airborne is recognized as a technology leader in advanced composites, focused on the automation and digital manufacturing of composites for the aerospace, automotive, marine, oil & gas and consumer electronics industry. Automated solutions include Automated Laminating Cell (ALC), kitting, potting and end-to-end solutions. For more information, please visit www.airborne.com

About Plataine:
Plataine is the leading provider of Industrial IoT and AI-based optimization solutions for advanced manufacturing. Plataine's solutions provide intelligent, connected Digital Assistants for production floor management and staff, empowering manufacturers to make optimized decisions in real-time, every time. Plataine's solutions are used by leading manufacturers, including Airbus, GE, Renault F1® Team, IAI, Triumph, General Atomics, TPI Composites, and AAT Composites. Plataine partners with Airborne, Google Cloud, Siemens PLM, McKinsey & Company, TE W&C, the AMRC with Boeing, and CTC GmbH (an Airbus Company), to advance the ‘Factory of the Future' worldwide. For more information, visit www.plataine.com