When an aerospace or defense program adds a supplier, it needs more than an available machine. It needs a reliable way to turn a component’s requirements into a repeatable manufacturing process.
That work includes CNC programming, tooling selection, fixture design, process development, inspection planning, and prove-out. When several suppliers produce the same component, each may carry out much of this engineering independently.
HAKERN Technologies is developing an approach centered on a different starting point: a controlled process developed with the OEM, with a defined path for transferring it to qualified manufacturing environments.
Engineering once. Manufacturing across multiple suppliers.
Consider an OEM sourcing the same complex part from three machine shops. In a traditional arrangement, each supplier may develop its own CNC programs, fixtures, tooling strategy, and inspection approach. The drawing is shared; much of the manufacturing knowledge remains separate.
The HAKERN model aims to establish one process foundation that participating suppliers can build on. ForgeStandard captures the manufacturing sequence, required capabilities, process controls, and approved revisions in a common baseline.
One process foundation. Shared lessons learned. Multiple production sources.
This does not remove the need to validate each receiving environment. Machines, controls, equipment condition, and other operating factors can differ. Transfers still require the appropriate adaptation, verification, qualification, and customer approvals. The objective is to reuse what is already established and concentrate new engineering on the differences that matter.
More control for the OEM
A defined process can give the OEM a stronger basis for developing additional production sources. Ownership and usage rights are established through the project agreement, with the aim of keeping the required manufacturing knowledge available to the program.
That knowledge can support new product introduction, second sourcing, production transfers, and longer-term sustainment. It creates continuity when production needs change, while preserving the controls required for a critical component.
A stronger starting point for suppliers
Complex work can be difficult to quote when the manufacturing process has yet to be developed. Uncertainty around tooling, setup, cycle time, and technical difficulty affects both the price and the decision to pursue a job.
A defined process package gives the supplier more information to evaluate. Demonstrated cycle times, their underlying assumptions, tooling requirements, and known process challenges provide a clearer basis for a quote.
Each supplier must still confirm feasibility, costs, and performance in its own environment. The benefit is a more informed starting point, with the remaining development work identified earlier.
Share the learning, including what goes wrong
The opportunity for collaboration continues after a part enters production. If one supplier experiences a nonconformance, the investigation may reveal a weakness that is relevant to the common process.
Once the cause is understood and the correction is approved, that learning can be evaluated for inclusion in ForgeStandard and deployment to other participating suppliers. A finding at one source becomes an opportunity to prevent a similar issue elsewhere.
Some findings will be specific to a local machine, setup, or execution error. A controlled approach helps distinguish those local corrections from improvements that should be shared.
Build capacity around knowledge
Additional manufacturing capacity depends on more than equipment. It also depends on the ability to prepare, qualify, and support the people and processes that will produce the component.
HAKERN’s vision is to connect critical components with proven process knowledge and compatible manufacturing capability. Through collaboration between OEMs and suppliers, the goal is a more repeatable path from engineering to production—and a stronger foundation for American manufacturing.