Digital supply, program hub started

PARIS, July 5 (UPI) -- Five European aerospace and defense companies have created a digital hub for the management of collaborative programs and their supply chains.

BoostAeroSpace, providing standardized and secured collaborative services, was formed by EADS/Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales.

The companies said inter-company digital collaboration has become critical for competitiveness. For the aerospace and defense industry, 70-90 percent of the value is provided by the supply chain with most suppliers being small and medium-sized enterprises. To strengthen European aerospace programs competitiveness has to be improved at extended enterprise level.

To enable and accelerate the deployment of digital processes and tools across the extended enterprise from the Original Equipment Manufacturer to suppliers and to customers, standardized solutions and open standards are a key factor for success, they said.

BoostAeroSpace will provide collaborative workspace and e-meetings; product life-cycle management collaboration; digital mock-up sharing; and supply chain management collaboration and logistics exchanges.

Collaborative workspace and e-meeting service has been available since April. AirDesign and AirSupply services will be fully operational before year end, the company said.