5.0 INDUSTRY
Design of an automated factory to support satellite deployment
ALTEN assisted a satellite operator in designing its automated factory to optimize assembly line productivity and ensure that the satellites manufactured meet the standards of European satellite constellations.
Project Highlights
Industry: Aerospace
Region: France
Client challenge: Design the future automated factory to produce satellites that meet European standards.
Achievement : Plant modeling, supplier comparison, comparison of technical solutions with risk analysis, cost estimation, and estimated implementation timeline.
Our Client’s Challenge
Our client, a satellite operator, planned to deploy a constellation of telecommunications satellites to provide high-speed internet access in areas underserved by terrestrial networks. To successfully carry out this project, our client sought to design an automated manufacturing facility that would enable it to produce satellites fully compliant with the requirements and standards of European satellite constellations.
In this context, ALTEN was contacted to define new process requirements to achieve the targeted production rate and to work with selected suppliers to design the factory. Our goal was specifically to optimize the productivity of the assembly lines and to integrate robotics and Industry 4.0 technologies, enabling our client to have a truly automated factory.
Our Solution Tailored to the Project’s Challenges
To meet our client’s needs and help them envision their future automated factory, we began with an analysis of the current state, structured into several key phases:
- Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to map the process and identify non-value-added activities
- Feedback based on the Kaizen method
- Functional analysis of solutions
- Benchmarking and solution proposals
- Workstation balancing study
- Identification of bottlenecks
- Definition of technological solutions to improve the layout, flows, and assembly and inspection processes
This in-depth analysis phase allowed us to better understand the changes needed so that our client could fully leverage the automation of their future factory through human activities. We then proposed a multi-point improvement plan:
- Modeling of the new factory
- Operational simulation to validate the achieved throughput
- Design of solutions with suppliers and associated benchmarking
- CAPEX, OPEX, and ROI analysis
- Risk assessment and mitigation action plan
The Benefits of the Project
For this project, we provided our client with several deliverables:
- Functional specifications
- Plant modeling
- Supplier evaluation
- Benchmarking of different solutions
- CAPEX, OPEX, and ROI calculations
- Sharing of supplier demos
Grâce à notre accompagnement, notre client a pu obtenir la feuille de route à suivre pour mettre en place sa nouvelle usine. Nous lui avons notamment fourni une analyse des risques pour chaque solution technique envisagée dans le cadre de notre étude comparative, ainsi qu’une estimation du chiffrage pour tous les fournisseurs. Thanks to our support, our client was able to obtain a roadmap for setting up their new plant. In particular, we provided them with a risk analysis for each technical solution considered in our comparative study, as well as cost estimates for all suppliers.
Digital Twin for Smart Factory
Stay one step ahead of your industrial transformation and design your factory from the ground up by modeling the impact of changes on existing systems and processes, without disrupting actual operations.
