Case Study: GKN Aerospace achieves increased productivity and reduced material waste with Lectra

GKN Aerospace UK Site Reaches New Heights In Reliability And Efficiency With Lectra Solutions For Composites

GKN Aerospace – Cowes, a tier-one supplier of composite aerostructures, was facing rapidly increasing demand, tighter quality and environmental requirements, and largely labor-intensive cutting processes. As part of a Lean Manufacturing push, the site needed to scale production, control costs and reduce material waste without compromising quality.

Lectra deployed its composite software and cutting suite (DesignConcept, Diamino and Vector), plus training and remote service, to automate cutting, speed job changeovers and optimize nesting. The upgrade delivered higher productivity, improved reliability and finer tolerances, significant material savings against an ~£12M annual composites budget, reduced process time and energy use, and the ability to meet growing demand cost‑effectively.

GKN Aerospace

Peter Steen

Value Stream Manager Composite Logistics