With so much Boeing trending news, I'll shoot my shot at explaining the approach we take at my aerospace firm and why it's the gold standard for the industry. When applied, it strikes the perfect balance between the speed needed to change the world while avoiding catastrophe.

— Steve Lilley, Co-Founder, Protospace Mfg

More than 20 years ago, Protocase revolutionized the prototyping and innovation sphere with its advanced mass custom manufacturing for electronic enclosures. From the beginning, we offered a lightning-fast lead time of 2–3 days, with no minimum order. Over time, we evolved based on our customers' needs and expanded to custom sheet metal parts, CNC machining, and 3D printing.

With this expansion, we organically acquired major aerospace and defense customers despite not yet checking all their boxes. However, as our customer base and their demands grew, we worked tirelessly to become AS9100D certified. More on that in a bit. We also broadened our offerings by becoming ITAR and Canadian Goods Program compliant, and NIST 171 as well.

Over time, we found that customers who didn't require these rigorous standards and certifications (mostly for aerospace applications) preferred to avoid the additional processes. At the same time, our customers in aerospace and defense did require these standards and certifications and needed a more tailored experience.

This is why we created ProtoSpace Mfg for aerospace and defense, transforming our current and new aerospace and defense customers to a new world of speed, agility, and lower overall project costs. And we do it all with a process I can teach you about even if you're not a rocket scientist: Mass Customization. Remember, visionaries in the aerospace industry can't change the world with long timelines, but they also can't afford critical failures- not even one. Success lies in the delicate balance between speed, compliance, and safety. Mass customization allows companies to cater to the specific project at hand while maintaining efficiency. 

What is Mass Customization?

In broad strokes, to most people, mass customization in manufacturing refers to the ability of a business to produce custom products quickly and efficiently by breaking down each task into a set of repeatable work elements. Unlike mass production, wherein machinery produces large quantities of standardized products repeatedly, mass customization marries flexibility and efficiency. Mass customization breaks down manufacturing into discrete steps that are essentially repetitive. For instance, in our one-stop custom manufacturing, our clients can choose to have their parts powdercoated, a standard finishing process. No matter which parts are being powdercoated, the manufacturing process is the same. These are the repetitive work elements—the mass part. 

However, the color and texture of the powdercoat are different for each customer's order. These are what we term the parameters or the custom part. Mass customization enables ProtoSpace Mfg to achieve exceptionally fast lead times of 2–3 days. Without it, we could never produce custom orders so efficiently to support our visionary clients because we'd be approaching every single order as something brand-new to manufacture instead of taking our client's unique order and breaking it down into repetitive work elements. 

For us, mass customization isn't just for manufacturing. Mass customs are infused into every facet of our business, from marketing to training and more. If we are to work quickly and efficiently, no matter the department, the only path forward is to adopt the tenets of mass custom. 

Speed and Compliance in Aerospace Manufacturing

Speed Matters. Consider the market dynamics here: Aerospace innovations require agility. Long timelines hinder progress. With tons of competition out there, rapid development ensures a competitive edge. But it has to be done in my business at the level of AS9100 Certification: an industry-specific quality management standard for aviation, space, and defense products and services. AS9100 builds upon ISO 9001, emphasizing safety and reliability. It's also all about Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating risks. Then there's Supply Chain Control: Ensuring suppliers meet standards. And, of course, Continuous Improvement: Regular audits and reviews.

Let's delve into the critical aspects of supply chain management for dynamic aerospace companies, as this is how to win the space.

Collaboration and Expertise

A visionary aerospace company cannot thrive in isolation. It must collaborate with other players in its supply chain. These players include suppliers, manufacturers, logistics providers, and service providers. Leveraging the expertise of these specialized partners is crucial. Each player brings unique skills, knowledge, and experience to the table. For instance, Suppliers understand raw materials and components. Manufacturers excel in production processes. Logistics providers optimize transportation and distribution. Service providers offer maintenance and repair capabilities. By tapping into this collective expertise, the visionary firm gains a competitive edge and accelerates innovation.

Right-Sizing Internal Staff

A huge vision requires focus. Instead of trying to do everything in-house, the firms we support concentrate on their core competencies. By delegating non-core tasks to external partners, these companies free up internal resources. This allows employees to focus on what they do best—achieving greatness in their specialized areas. For example, an aerospace firm excelling in aerodynamics should not divert resources to manage logistics or component manufacturing. Instead, it can rely on external partners who specialize in those domains.

Training and Recruitment

Our ability to scale to an organization of 400+ employees has only been possible because we adopted the tenets of mass customization to training. We believe in hiring people with the right aptitude *and* attitude rather than the person who ticks all the customary boxes that would seemingly make them a fit (for example, a specific degree or technical training). We focus on fostering growth by breaking down training into increments wherein our people can master and then level up. 

Taking the craft out of employee training is the whole way to move quickly and add another productive member to the team. Take, as an example, a new hire for our production team. Rather than providing them with a six-month training program on every exhaustive topic and aspect of sheet-metal bending, we start with training on completing bending parts with one single bend. Once they master this type of task, they can move on to the next level. Oh, and we never, ever promote or level up someone based on their seniority or years of service. To do so would be counterintuitive to our whole ethos of scaling growth through mass customization. This is the way!

Avoiding the "Do-It-All" Trap

Attempting to do everything internally is a pitfall. It wastes resources, time, and money. When a visionary company tries to handle every aspect—from design to production to distribution—it risks spreading itself too thin. This leads to inefficiencies and compromises quality. Specialized players in the supply chain have honed their skills. They know how to optimize specific processes. By partnering with them, the visionary firm benefits from their expertise without reinventing the wheel. Collaborating with specialized firms allows cost optimization. These partners operate efficiently because they focus on specific tasks. For instance, a precision machining company excels in machining components. By outsourcing machining to them, the visionary firm reduces costs and ensures high-quality parts. Additionally, external partners can guarantee price stability and safety. Their expertise minimizes risks and ensures compliance with industry standards.

And there you have it—a demystification of the mass customization process that drives my daily life and firm in this exciting industry, one that simply cannot thrive without mastery at every level of the value chain.

About Steve Lilley

With over 35 years immersed in the realms of technology and innovation, Steve Lilley has steered the creation and expansion of numerous tech-driven enterprises. Presently, he serves as the President of Protocase Incorporated, a pioneering manufacturing venture he co-founded in 2001, and as the director of 45 Drives Limited, another technology-focused business established in 2012. In 2023, Protocase launched ProtoSpace Manufacturing, a division dedicated to serving engineering and innovation in aerospace and defense. 

About ProtoSpace

ProtoSpace Mfg offers full-service CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication. With our lightning-fast nominal lead time of 2–3 days and host of in-suite finishes, markings, and graphics, we can make a wide variety of parts and enclosures to exact, complex specifications. We check all of the boxes for AS9100D, traceability, ITAR compliance, and more. Our offerings include, but are certainly not limited to, Non-critical Space and Payload Parts, Parts for Robotics and Rovers, Custom Enclosures for Avionics, Ground and Test Systems, Production, MRO/AOG Tooling and Components, Components for Cube Sats, Parts and Enclosures for Prototyping and Experimental Projects, Annunciator Panel Lenses and more. The aerospace industry is evolving, and customers increasingly demand personalized solutions.