by Ben Merrell

Composed of 4 million distinct parts, and with a supply chain spanning 1 500 companies and 30 countries, the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, is a masterpiece of complexity. The A380 is also a case study on the importance of effective partnerships in order to tackle a problem many companies face: how can you improve the efficiency of a convoluted supply chain?

A look into where the A380’s major components are manufactured gives you a sense of the challenges involved. Each set of wings is produced in Wales, the rear fuselage and tailfin in Hamburg, the horizontal tail plane in Cadiz, and the forward and center fuselages are made in Saint-Nazaire France. Each of these components needs to be transported to Toulouse, where they are assembled, and only the tailfin is small enough to be transported by air. Thus the remaining pieces must be transported by sea via the port of Pauillac, near Bordeaux.

Originally these Ro-Ro vessels were designed to ferry A380 components between the manufacturing facilities and assembly point, all located on mainland Europe, however with the A380 being phased out by 2021, the fleet has been adapted for different runs. The LD fleet now transports many components for the A320 which recently surpassed the Boeing 737 as the highest selling airliner of all time and has perhaps an even more convoluted supply chain than the A380. While most of the fuselage sections are manufactured at the same facilities in Europe which service the A380, for some A320s the final assembly point is in Mobile, Alabama and so the components must be sailed across the Atlantic.

Given the seasonal unpredictability of the Atlantic this crossing poses a threat to maintaining Airbus’ tight production schedule. Until recently Airbus has manufactured approx 60 A320’s per month and it is paramount that the assembly lines remain in operation to ensure on-time delivery. The Mobile facility can finish 4 A320s monthly which means that a full set of components must be delivered to the plant each week. It is easy to imagine how delays might be incurred during the trip from St. Nazaire to Mobile: A hurricane in the S. Atlantic could force one of the vessels to deviate course or shelter while waiting for the storm to pass. A single delay is undesirable and given the frequency that LD conducts this run the risk posed by the crossing is magnified and because of the size and delicacy of the fuselage there are few practical alternatives to sea transport.