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Over the last couple of years, manufacturing automation expertise center SAM XL (Delft, Netherlands), alongside 30 other consortium partners, has been developing a closed-loop, zero-defect manufacturing strategy for flexible and modular manufacturing of large components under the PenoloPe Project. Now, SAM XL is in the process of processing the raw video footage of the project, which will be combined into a compilation video highlighting each partner’s achievements in PeneloPe’s resulting aerospace pilot line.

The EU-funded project began in 2020 with the goal of achieving an end-to-end digital manufacturing solution, linking product-centric data management and production planning in a closed-loop digital pipeline. PeneloPe’s partners worked to develop technologies such as simulation models, online control, data analytics and AI, all to achieve new methods of manufacturing that result in:

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• A reduction of 15% in production costs
• A 20% decrease in production time
• Better use of raw materials
• A direct reduction of up to 22% of energy consumption.

The final solution will be implemented, benchmarked and demonstrated in industrial pilot lines to indicate its feasibility of developing large-scale, high-precision components in real manufacturing conditions.

Manufacturing and repairing large-scale parts, usually one-of-a-kind components, tends to be a complex and challenging process that requires the implementation of an integrated methodology capable of ensuring the manufacturability, quality and high precision of the parts from all stages — i.e., design, simulation/modeling and production planning.

The resulting closed-loop digital pipeline involves online control and quality assurance as its zero-defect manufacturing strategy. An exchange between TU Delft scientists and SAM XL’s software and hardware engineers, together with the 30 European collaboration partners, have been working closely together to incorporate large industrial robots and the company’s gantry robot as automation platforms. The developed demonstrator pilot line, located at SAM XL in the Netherlands, is being used to design, develop and test different manufacturing technologies, though it will initially focus on assembly, inspection and finishing a full-size composite fuselage section and wing section. 

The infrastructure at SAM XL will also be used as a didactic factory for workforce training and follow-up innovation. To improve manufacturing techniques on a large scale, the company believes that knowledge sharing is essential; thus creation of a European network of didactic factories will facilitate discussing and sharing.

“The PeneloPe project showcases how state-of-the-art technology and teamwork can transform manufacturing into a sustainable, precise, and modular process,” says Dave Kroezen, lead robotics software engineer. “It’s inspiring to be part of a journey that advances aerospace production capabilities by working on the factory of the future and sharing that knowledge with our partners.”