Smart Manufacturing success stories - FourJaw

Aerospace Manufacturer, AVPE Systems increases factory uptime by 30%

Written by James Brook | Jul 29, 2024 10:26:57 AM

About AVPE Systems

In the competitive aerospace manufacturing industry, every minute of production time counts. AVPE Systems, a leading aerospace component manufacturer, recognised this and turned to FourJaw's machine monitoring technology to boost their productivity. The results were impressive: a 30% increase in factory uptime has transformed their operations and enhanced their ability to meet customer demands.

AVPE Systems, based in Bristol, UK supplies customers throughout the UK, Europe and Asia with complex machined components for the aerospace industry, specialising in airframe and landing gear parts as well the machining of castings, forgings and 3D printed parts.

Results

Project Objective

Striving to deliver the best service to its customers and after seeing a surge in demand for its products, AVPE Systems decided to invest in machine monitoring software.  Since installing the smart technology on their machines, AVPE has achieved a 30 per cent increase in shop floor uptime.

AVPE, part of the Broadway Group, introduced FourJaw’s plug-and-play analytics platform in 2023 as part of a broader business transformation programme to enhance productivity, eliminate process inefficiencies and gain capacity. 

Identifying and addressing the top causes of downtime 

Machine data gathered using FourJaw has enabled AVPE to identify and address the top causes of downtime across its factory, boosting overall production uptime by almost a third.

AVPE has also used data gathered with FourJaw to improve the accuracy of its planning processes. Armed with a real-time view of production schedules across its factory and a more precise understanding of how long each production run takes to complete, AVPE can provide more accurate lead times to customers and unlock additional capacity by finding more space in its schedules for urgent incoming jobs.

Summary

Manufacturers have recognised the importance of using business intelligence and analytics technologies such as machine monitoring in recent years, as the race to become more productive and competitive has picked up. This is particularly evident in sectors such as aerospace where there is huge pressure on the supply chain to meet demand.

AVPE Systems is a great example of this,  achieving results that have a direct impact on the success of the business and its customers by improving production uptime and productivity, supporting investment decisions and aligning its processes perfectly with the OEMs and Tier 1 customers it serves in the global aerospace industry.