Airbus Monitors and Controls Lighter Aircraft Evolution Using Advanced Weight Accounting System
A key factor in enabling Airbus to deliver a competitive commercial advantage over other aircraft manufacturers is simply to deliver lighter aircraft. Weight Accounting is a strategic activity for Airbus and the use of a suitable tool to monitor and control strict weight targets are critical to attaining commercial success.
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Region
- Europe
- France
- Germany
- Spain
- UK
- Alliance partner
- Sun Microsystems
- Solution
- Application Development & Integration
- Applications Management
- IT Outsourcing
- IT Transformation - Strategy and Architecture
With this in mind, Capgemini was selected to implement an Advanced Weight Accounting System (AWAS) to improve and unify the existing Weight Accounting process for the Airbus partnership. This Product Lifecycle Management system is a multi-site application enabling a common tool to be used for the A380 program. Harmonisation of the weight accounting process enables Airbus to accurately monitor and control the evolution of aircraft weight, enabling the reduction of estimation error margins and hence delivering better quality data to be used for aircraft performance.
Client Profile
Airbus, the first truly European company, is one of only two aircraft manufacturers in the market for large commercial airliners. It designs, builds, sells and supports commercial aircraft with a capacity of 100 seats or more.
With its Central Office in Toulouse, France, Airbus boasts the most modern and comprehensive airliner family in the world and consistently captures about half of all commercial airliner orders. More than 2,500 Airbus aircraft are currently in operation with 189 operators in all regions of the globe.
Airbus reached a turnover of US$17.2 billion in 2000 and had booked more than 4,300 orders by the end of July 2001. It produces more than one aircraft every working day and this rate keeps increasing.
Business Requirements
A key factor in enabling Airbus to deliver a competitive commercial advantage over other aircraft manufacturers is simply to deliver lighter aircraft. Weight Accounting is a strategic activity for Airbus and the use of a suitable tool to monitor and control strict weight targets are critical to attaining commercial success.
With this in mind, Capgemini was selected to implement an Advanced Weight Accounting System (AWAS) to improve and unify the existing Weight Accounting process for all the Airbus Company (France, UK, Deutchland, Spain).
The main aim of the AWAS project was to offer a common database that can be accessed by all partners working to a common standard throughout the aircraft lifecycle (from initial design through Entry Into Service and beyond).
This AWAS tool would lead to a common method of weight accounting and reporting across the Airbus partnership with reduced time scales and an enhanced viewpoint of weight to all levels of the Airbus partnership.
The Solution
The backbone architectural choice made by Airbus to use Windchill version 5.0 challenged Capgemini to meet a complex set of requirements using specific developments based on the Windchill product. For the AWAS project, the main advantages brought by using this PDM product are:
- fully web compliant,
- common set of data and format for exchange among Airbus,
- possibility to do reporting (
- configuration management improving the quality of data,
- integrated development platform : Modelisation with Rational Rose and developments with Visual Cafe (JAVA)
- customisation capability to extend basic functionality to satisfy specific user needs.
Challenged with an initial phase aimed at developing prototypes for evaluating Windchill feasibility and performance aspects, Capgemini demonstrated that the product was fit for AWAS use.
A parallel activity was to refine the system specification written around the Unified Modeling Language (UML) Use Case approach. Having made the technical choices, the development was performed in successive iterations, starting with the system backbone architecture. The deployment platforms used are SUN Solaris or HP UX Servers and Windows clients.
This Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system is a multi-site application enabling a common tool to be used for the Airbus A380 program.
The Benefits
Airbus is now equipped with a fully capable tool for its Weight Accounting process, starting with the A380 aircraft program.
The main benefits are harmonisation of the weight accounting process enables Airbus to accurately monitor and control the evolution of aircraft weight, enabling the reduction of estimation error margins and hence delivering better quality data to be used for aircraft performance characteristics determination.
Each site has its own local Weight Accounting instance, enabling a high level of operational autonomy.
As the existing tools are becoming obsolete and prohibitively costly to maintain, AWAS brings a scalable and evolutionary solution built for the future. Enabling integration of legacy data for existing and future aircraft programs and standards have been system designed into the system from the outset.
“Time-To-Market” is a key factor to program success and AWAS will enable more frequent and tighter Weight Loop controls to be performed.
“Setting the standards” means anticipating the market, offering innovation and
greater value, focusing on passenger comfort and creating a true family of aircraft”.
- Airbus Philosophy
Written in co-operation with Airbus
