CASH

Collaborative working within the Aeronautic Supply cHain

CASH project main objective is to bring aeronautical SMEs into the world of Concurrent Engineering (CE), assessing and validating the new common way of working standards, processes, methods and tools which should be available as results from European Commission funded projects in Aeronautics.

The goal of CASH is to complement the CE effort by leading research to evaluate and master the complexity of new Information Technology to adapt package and disseminate methods, means and best practices to the intention of SMEs with the aim of SMEs implantation and validation.

Projects objectives

• to extend the CE research effort in aeronautics to the specificity of SMEs operating in the supply chain in full compatibility with the Enhance methodology and standards
• to validate in real size and real time CE new technologies inside the supply chain
• to confirm, within SMEs, the accessibility of the general CE economical goals in aeronautics (30% reduction in time to product)
• to disseminate and transfer CE technologies from SME to SME in aeronautics

The target is to assemble a maximum of pertinent methods and tools for getting the best decision taken in a collaborative manner at SME level.

In order to achieve the different goals of CASH, the proposed workplan will start by analysing the appropriation status of the common collaborative processes, methods and tools in aeronautical SMEs and studying the needs of these SMEs in compliance with the results of Enhance project. These needs will then allow to adapt collaborative processes and methods to the context of aeronautical SMES and to study the integration of market tools.

This SME oriented customisation will be experimented through test bench cases in the different phases of the aircraft lifecycle. Transversal phases like remote access to data and network reliability will be designed and/or experimented first and other specific phases will be tested, taking into account the requirements and specific means of aeronautic SMEs.

This project will allow Enhance to benefit from the feedback of aeronautic SMEs (as the CASH project will benefit from the results of this project). A great effort will be done with regards to the packaging of the different solutions resulting from CASH. These results will be disseminated through European countries using the European Community dissemination platforms and some European projects in the area of collaborative working and CE (Enhance, Cepra).

Expected results

CASH expected results are the validation and implementation by SMEs of CE best practices newly developed (or disseminated from European Concurrent Engineering projects in aeronautics) and adapted to aeronautic SMEs needs and capabilities. Feedback from CASH to Enhance and vice versa will be of interest for the expected project reassessment. Reassessment is to occur in its strategic milestone at mid term CASH project.