An ROI-Based strategy for implementation of existing and emerging technologies in helicopter manufacturing

Abstract

An aircraft structure has several part families. These part families are currently manufactured using a baseline technology. There are several other competing technologies, already existing or still in the development stages, that could be applied to the structure under consideration. Each technology has a probability distribution of costs and savings (over baseline) associated with it. The problem is to determine which of the candidate technologies should be used and to what extent, to manufacture different part families. In this paper, the authors have obtained the optimum time-dependent technology mix over a finite planning horizon, such that the return on investment (ROI) is maximized. This has been done subject to the constraints that the risk resulting from investment in a combination of technologies, does not exceed, in any year, some predefined quantity, and that the quantity produced using a particular technology does not exceed its applicability in any year.