Case Study: U.S. Air Force saves $150M on the C-17 program with iBase-t Solumina

How Solumina Transformed the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Program and Aerospace Manufacturing

The U.S. Air Force faced major delays and cost overruns on the new C-17 aircraft program, with tens of thousands of engineering changes creating chaos across the manufacturing process. iBase-t’s Solumina was introduced to help bring clarity and control to the program by addressing the disconnected systems and inefficiencies affecting design, instructions, and execution data.

Using iBase-t’s Solumina, the Air Force and McDonnell Douglas unified process planning, execution, and quality tracking while connecting “as-designed” to “as-built” for digital traceability. The result was an estimated $150 million saved over the life of the C-17 program, about $1.5 million saved per aircraft, fewer errors, faster change implementation, and improved shop floor agility.

U.S. Air Force