A Method for Traceability and “As-built Product Structure” in Aerospace Industry

The complex aerospace manufacturing information management systems of the future will challenge the methods of maintaining “As-Built Product Structure” while there is an ongoing need to revise or modify products in production or service stages.As the whole supply chain of a product is considered, it becomes more complex to maintain the relations of the design data up to requirements and the relations of the components down to serial numbers and lot/batch numbers. Establishment of these relations will provide traceability for the “to be” information of the functions of the product and “realized” information of the parts/material of the product.This paper will present a method of maintaining “As-Built Product Structure” through a manufacturing data management system for the whole supply chain.