Aircraft Parts Lifecycle: Traceability Meets Precision Engineering

The Challenge

An aerospace components manufacturer needed to track every part from initial design through manufacturing, quality inspection, and installation. Regulatory requirements demanded complete traceability: given any installed component, they needed to trace back to the raw material batch, manufacturing parameters, inspection results, and the specific CNC program version used.

Our Approach

We built a Parts Lifecycle Management (PLM) system with a .NET backend and SQL Server database optimized for complex hierarchical queries. The system integrated with existing CAD/CAM tools via standardized STEP file exchange and direct API connections to CNC machine controllers.

Digital Thread: Each part was assigned a unique digital identity at the design stage. As it moved through manufacturing, every operation was recorded: machine parameters, operator ID, environmental conditions, and inspection measurements. This created an unbroken digital thread from design intent to physical reality.

Quality Gates: Automated quality gates at each manufacturing stage compared actual measurements against design tolerances. Out-of-tolerance conditions triggered hold procedures and required documented disposition before processing could continue.

Compliance Reporting: FAA and EASA reporting was automated with pre-configured report templates that pulled data directly from the digital thread. What previously took days of manual compilation was reduced to generating a report on demand.

Results

• Full traceability achieved for 100% of manufactured parts
• Quality escape rate reduced by 95%
• Compliance report generation reduced from 3 days to 15 minutes
• Recall scope narrowed by 80% through precise batch traceability

The system now tracks 50,000+ active parts with full lifecycle histories and has passed three consecutive regulatory audits without findings.