The supply chain continues to present many challenges for the global aerospace industry and Paris Air Show 2023 was an ideal opportunity to come together to discuss how to address those challenges in the long term.

Sir Michael Ryan, Industry Chair, AGP, explained, “What we’re doing in the UK with the Aerospace Growth Partnership [AGP], we’re working with the supply chain to help them develop, to help them improve and to help them be more competitive going forward, and then hopefully overcome a lot of challenges that they’re seeing at the minute.”

According to Sir Ryan, collaboration across the sector is the only way to address challenges and current issues such as sustainability. The development of Supply Chain Solutions, a new initiative aimed at helping the primes work with SMEs to address supply chain issues, will do just that.

The initiative will see a programme of activities developed by the primes – who are investing both cash as well as resources and capabilities – to help supply chains develop. “We’re going to work with each of the suppliers in their companies to support them to improve in various aspects of their business,” Sir Ryan explained “And we can only do this together – it is not imposed on the companies, of course we have evidence of what we did in SC21 on how working together with the supply chain actually helps the primes, tier 1s and the SME community and Supply Chain Solutions will build on that.”

There are over 120 expressions of interest for Supply Chain Solutions so far and there are challenges ahead to build the initiative, but Sir Ryan believes that “the more you put into this activity, the more you get out” and SC21 produced a lot of results so it is hoped this new initiative will do the same.

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