Readiness levels of Industry 4.0 technologies applied to aircraft manufacturing—a review, challenges and trends

The present paper provides an overview of the state-of-the-art research, outlining the applications of the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies on the aircraft manufacturing sector and their maturity state based on the technology readiness level (TRL) scale. A literature review has been conducted for the identification, selection, and evaluation of the published research. A total of 57 papers extracted from the two most relevant scientific databases for the area (Web of Science and Scopus), from 2010 to March 2021, were analysed and summarized. The research, analysis, and evaluation of these papers has provided an outlook of how the aircraft manufacturing industry is inserted into the I4.0 context, based on a classification of the I4.0 technologies maturity for this industrial branch. Then, a survey was performed with 12 specialists from 5 different aircraft manufacturing companies aiming to report the practical point-of-view in this area. Thus, this paper highlights and discusses the gaps found in the literature related to the I4.0 technologies applied to aircraft manufacturing and their main useful implications not only from the academic point-of-view but also from competitive business aspects, providing recommendations for industrial managers, engineers, and stakeholders. Finally, this paper proposes new opportunities and challenges for future research.