Optimising high value inventory management and workforce integration for aerospace
7th October 2026 | 3 min read
The Challenge
Operating warehousing and line-feed logistics within highly regulated, high-value manufacturing environments demands rigorous quality control, absolute inventory traceability, and seamless workforce integration.
Under a five-year contract managing aerospace inventory across a 620,000-square-foot footprint, Unipart was tasked with transforming a complex multi-site warehousing network to enable a 50% increase in production capacity.
Managing inbound global supplies across eight warehouses, and four proximity stores, whilst operating entirely within the customer’s legacy SAP systems meant the operational challenge was highly complex.
Additionally, the transition required the TUPE transfer of over 500 staff, embedding a new operational culture within a highly unionised environment, and managing highly sensitive materials under strict ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) requirements. Every production component required absolute traceability, with Certificates of Conformity (CoCs) linking receipts directly to specific production assemblies.
The Solution
Unipart met these demanding requirements by deploying The Unipart Way, our proprietary system for continuous improvement, establishing rigid compliance protocols, and executing a seamless workforce transition.
System-driven traceability and compliance
Unipart aligned all warehouse processes to the customer’s SAP architecture, ensuring that every movement of high-value inventory was fully traceable:
- Implemented a continuous perpetual-inventory regime, categorising stock
and auditing high-value items up to four times annually to ensure zero
variance between physical and system records. - Created a digital document library for CoCs, linking each inbound receipt
to its exact quantity and production batch, ensuring any discrepancy automatically
triggered product-conformity and quality assurance checks. - Maintained strict temperature and humidity standards required for safety-critical
components, monitored daily with defined business-continuity protocols to prevent
material degradation.
Point-of-use kitting and hazardous material management
To support continuous production lines, Unipart structured the warehouse layout to feed assembly points directly whilst managing safety-critical materials:
- Designed processes to build and deliver an average of 21,000 custom kits weekly
directly to the assembly lines, incorporating controlled return loops for over-ordered
materials. - Operated dedicated, temperature-controlled chemical cells for hazardous substances,
including paints and sealants. All materials were managed against active, approved
substance lists with annual COSHH training embedded across the workforce. - Standardised the immediate segregation of non-conforming parts into secure,
audited quarantine zones to preserve the integrity of the primary supply chain.
Workforce transition and infrastructure agility
Unipart managed complex human and physical infrastructure changes without disrupting ongoing manufacturing schedules:
- Executed a seamless transition of over 500 employees through collaborative
matched-pair working groups and transparent joint consultations, achieving
industry-leading staff retention. - Sourced, commissioned, and fully integrated a 140,000-square-foot overflow
facility within six weeks to buffer global supply-chain shocks and secure raw
material availability.
The Impact
Unipart’s operational discipline successfully de-risked the customer’s manufacturing logistics, transforming underperforming metrics into benchmark standards:
- Successfully enabled a major production-capacity expansion, securing subsequent
investment approvals to consolidate further manufacturing activities, by increasing
production capacity by 50%. - Transferred 100% of the 500+ employees under TUPE with zero operational downtime,
whilst rapidly turning underperforming transitioned metrics from red to green. - Maintained EASA and ISO 9001 compliance, supported by visual racking inspections
and audited hazardous-substance procedures.
This contract illustrates Unipart’s ability to master high-stakes technical and human challenges. By seamlessly operating within restrictive, legacy client-side IT systems without data loss, executing complex unionised transitions on active customer estates, and mitigating the immense risks associated with aerospace compliance, Unipart successfully safeguarded safety-critical workflows protecting key national infrastructure.
