Athena Represents Contract Manufacturers at AIA Meeting

Athena Manufacturing President Bill Johnson recently attended an Aerospace Industries Association Engineering & Technology Leadership Council meeting in Washington, D.C., centered around discussion of several important issues in the future of aerospace. Attending alongside a variety of large prime OEMs and service providers, Athena helped to speak for the interests of contract manufacturers. The event covered subjects ranging from the next steps in aerospace technology to the development of the industry’s workforce.

One topic of discussion was particularly important to Athena: how to standardize mechanical part definition and procurement. Currently, mechanical parts and assemblies are designed as three-dimensional models, which are then prepared for supplier handoff by exporting the 3D models into various file formats, as well as occasionally creating two-dimensional drawings. The supplier ends up with different configuration documents from each program, which often ends up extending lead-time and adding risk as the supplier sorts out all the details and requirements for the new product.

“We hope the prime OEMs and their suppliers can agree on the standardization of digital data package contents. Process improvements that get new part numbers in production faster, and with less risk and waste, will increase output of contract manufacturers in the American A&D industry and aerospace machining and fabrication providers especially,” said Johnson.

Athena is proud to work with AIA and its member companies in continuously pushing to improve the industry. Athena President Bill Johnson enjoyed connecting with fellow aerospace leaders at the meeting to share ideas on the future, and is excited about what’s next for this important organization.

“I’m very pleased that AIA is taking the lead in connecting the dots in the aerospace and defense supply chain for mechanical parts,” Johnson said. “Component manufacturers like Athena struggle with numerous and sometimes conflicting rules for digital product definition, and Timothy White put together the AIA ETLC so that everyone has a seat at the table, from prime OEMs to small manufacturers like Athena. I’m certain we can make progress toward reducing costs, decreasing waste and shortening lead times.”

At Athena Manufacturing, we pride ourselves on our work in the aerospace and defense industry and beyond. If you’re looking for precision machining and manufacturing, contact the Athena Manufacturing team to learn how we can help you.