A readiness level approach to manufacturing technology development in the aerospace sector: an industrial approach

Abstract

The use of readiness levels to describe system maturity has become an increasingly recognizable element of the development of technologies for future products in the aerospace and defence sectors. Technology readiness levels (TRLs), as originally defined by NASA, are now widely used by global organizations to articulate the relative maturity of key generic technologies. The implementation of radically new manufacturing capability can also benefit from such an approach. However, the direct use of TRLs in a manufacturing environment is problematic on the basis that it is hard to interpret them precisely, and because the effectiveness of the technology itself is only one of a number of success factors associated with a successful implementation. For several years now the aerospace industry has recognized the need for a manufacturing specific readiness interpretation to enable the delivery of new capabilities in a defined sequence of events. This paper describes an approach used within a single aerospace organization, Rolls-Royce plc. The framework has been identified as a good practice by the UK Aerospace Design and Manufacturing National Technical Committee.

Identification of critical technology building blocks

“…Normalized measure of system maturity utilizing TRL and IRL (Sauser et al, 2008) MRL 1-10 Manufacturing maturity and risk assessment (OSD Manufacturing Technology Program, 2015) MCRL 1-9 Manufacturing assessment directly related 1:1 to TRL scale (Ward et al, 2012)…”

“…In the early phases also integration readiness level (IRL) and system readiness level (SRL) can also be considered (Sauser et al, 2008). In relation to process or manufacturing-related context, two main assessment methods can be considered: manufacturing readiness level (MRL) and manufacturing capability readiness level (MCRL) (OSD Manufacturing Technology Program, 2015;Ward et al, 2012).…”

A Socratic Approach to Optimizing Aerospace Manufacturing Costs

“…Understanding program objectives and goals are critical knowledge necessary to obtain and become inputs when defining the test strategy. It is important to have defined costs goals (developmental and unit production costs), Built In Test (BIT) coverage requirements [7], Manufacturing and Test Readiness Level (MRL/TRL) requirements [8] as well as an understanding of the overall program strategy. The ultimate goal is to only conduct tests that will demonstrate a capability or prove a system will meet requirements and to remove any tests that will not accomplish these objectives, therefore, reduces the overall costs.…”

A Technology Readiness Level scale for iron and steel industries

“…By answering these questions, managers can ensure that enough knowledge has been gained about key process variables. For example, in this regard our revised scale aligns with Ward et al (2011) where 'Knowledge/control of key process variables' is a key aspect of risk assessment. The questions also help to consolidate managers' maturity assessments further, helping to form a common language for those within (and outside) the organisation (see Table 2).…”