Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 3

Rapid Advances With Industry 4.0 Takes a Common-Sense Approach By: Mary Kaye Bredeson, executive director; and Jennifer Ferrero, APR, marketing communications Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing Jennifer Ferrero APR, Communications and Marketing COE for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing www.coeaerospace.com A ttend an aerospace industry conference this year, and you are bound to hear buzz words like, “Industry 4.0” and the “Internet of Things.” Key terms like “virtual and augmented reality,” and “robotics and mechatronics,” are teased out from keynote speeches over snack time at the convention center. When listening to what’s up-and-coming on the manufactur- ing floor, while drooling over images of 3-D printed cockpits, it seems that there has been rapid adoption of technology in manufacturing. We even wrote about Industry 4.0 on our website: http://www.coeaerospace.com/industry-trends/industry-4-0/ But how much has Washington’s aerospace industry adapted to Industry 4.0? Mary Kaye Bredeson Executive Director, COE for Aero- space and Advanced Manufacturing www.coeaerospace.com COE SPOTLIGHT 52 AMT Senior Aerospace out of Arlington, Washington, is home to about 450 employees, and has an annual revenue of $150 million per year. They are a Tier 1 supplier to Boeing and are busy enough to run the factory 24/7. They produce machine parts and assemblies for the Boeing 737, 777 and 787, as well as aircraft made by Bombardier and Sikorsky. They could be a good example for other aerospace manufacturers in the area regarding how they are adapting to Industry 4.0. Case Study: How has AMT Senior Aerospace adapted to Industry 4.0? Matt Washburn is a training manager with AMT Senior Aerospace. He can see applications of using mixed reality when diagnosing a problem on a machine, “I can see sliding on vir- tual reality glasses and getting information on a machine instead of pulling out a 2 1/2-inch- thick maintenance manual,” he notes. But for AMT Senior Aerospace, that it won’t happen until, “the technology is more refined.” NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS

Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 3 | Page 52