Magellan Aerospace, a global enterprise providing integrated products to the aerospace industry worldwide, has awarded the contract for the delivery of an integrated Automated Kitting solution to Airborne, technology leader in advanced composites. The delivery to Magellan Aerospace in Winnipeg, Canada, marks the starting point of Airborne's global expansion into the North American market. The solution is tailored to the specific requirements of Magellan Aerospace and will support their goal to reduce material waste and increase productivity and repeatability through automation.

Airborne's Automated Kitting solution increases cutting and kitting productivity by increasing capacity, reducing the amount of manual labour, and minimising material scrap. It also enables a flexible and digital workflow. The translation from nesting files to machine controls and sorting optimisation is fully automated by Airborne's proprietary algorithm on-the-fly. At any moment the production manager can change the ply nest and the system follows, no programming is needed. The system also ensures full digital tracking of the sorting and sequencing process, thus eliminating kitting mistakes.

The Automated Kitting solution is scheduled to be installed at Magellan Aerospace's Winnipeg facility in early 2021. A number of customised features tailored to Magellan's unique requirements will enable flexible use and further increase productivity. Initially, the kitting solution will be used to support efficient and cost effective manufacturing of composite horizontal tail assemblies for the Lockheed Martin F35 fighter aircraft. Airborne's Automated Kitting solution is ideally suited to be tailored to the specific needs and material requirements of any production program for the aerospace industry, or other industrial applications.

Jeff Pastula, Director, Business Procurement and IT, Magellan Aerospace: "Working with the knowledgeable team at Airborne to select and customise the automated cloth cutter and kitting solution for Magellan's Advanced Composite Manufacturing Centre was ideal. Their thorough understanding of the requirements for our program enabled us to come up with an innovative solution that we are looking forward to adopting into our process."

Arno van Mourik, CEO Airborne: "We are thrilled Magellan has chosen to invest in Airborne's integrated Automated Kitting solution as the next step in their strategy enabling their customers to meet their goals with regard to improving their time-to-market as well as their production schemes. This is exactly our vision on how to rise up to the enormous challenges the aerospace industry is facing."

Next step in advanced composites manufacturing

Magellan Aerospace is dedicated to a continuous investment in advanced technologies for the manufacturing of aero structures components and assemblies. Recently, Magellan has invested in an advanced composites manufacturing and assembly centre that houses multiple best-in-class technologies in a single, environmentally controlled facility. Airborne's integrated Automated Kitting solution will help Magellan to increase its shop floor productivity, specifically with regard to the ply cutting and kitting process.