For two years our R&D team has been researching and developing the world’s first inflatable AKE. They’ve done a brilliant job so far, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Turning a madcap idea into a prototype that can be launched at the World Cargo Symposium stretched even their top-class engineering and design talents. On top of that, they’ve had to deal with the outfall of a global pandemic.
We knew from the outset that, to be successful, the latest VRR air cargo container—which we have named the Air7—would have to be:
Unless we could meet all four criterion, this project wouldn’t get off the ground, no matter how innovative it was.
In our previous article, we showed you the lengths our people had to go to in order to create a fully-functional prototype that ticked the first three boxes. In this article, we explain what we have to do to tick that fourth box: proving to the relevant regulatory bodies that the Air7 is robust enough to cope with all likely and extreme circumstances during flight.
We also look at the product development process itself and explain why it can take a long time to get a new product launched.
Having ironed out the last few design and engineering wrinkles, the R&D team have now entered the final—and arguably most important—phase of the project: testing and certification.
Verifying aviation compliance is vital in our industry. After all, air cargo containers (or unit load devices) are actually an aircraft component. What’s more, they’re the only component to leave the control of an airline and pass through countless unregulated hands.
So, all of the products that we manufacture are approved by the relevant civil aviation regulatory bodies, the main ones being the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The scope of the testing and certification phase is as deep as it is wide:
It’s a tense time for the team because the inflatable AKE is a completely new product, and there are still some unanswered questions. The main risks facing the team are
The team’s aim is to do all the strength analysis and testing in the second half of 2020. If that goes according to plan, VRR can apply for certification in the course of the first quarter of 2021. After that, production of the pilot series of the inflatable AKE is underway.
It’s tempting to answer this question by saying, “Hey, taking two years to create a completely new and innovative product that will help solve an industry-wide problem is pretty darn quick.” But we understand that it must seem an awfully long time to our customers (and others) who are keen to see the Air7 come into production. After all, it’s a great concept.
So, let’s highlight the elements of the product development process that affect a project’s critical path:
As you can see, the product development process is neither quick nor simple, especially for a moving, engineered product like the Air7. Many challenges arise during the whole process, as you work from an abstract level down to a more detailed level. And there’s no telling how many cycles of iteration you’ll have to go through until you get a fully-functional prototype.
Arriving at a prototype that can be demonstrated to the world is not the end of the story, of course. A prototype is simply an early model of the final product. You still need to refine details, process user feedback, and overcome remaining challenges before you can start investing in production. And in the case of a Unit Load Device, there’s a rigorous testing and certification phase to complete as well.
All in all, developing an innovative air cargo container like the inflatable AKE is a complex, time-consuming project. When something goes right, it’s party time. When something goes wrong, it’s back to the drawing board. And some things we just don’t see coming at all…
Fortunately, the engineers and designers at VRR have buckets full of perseverance, ingenuity and industry knowledge, so we’re confident that all their hard work will be rewarded in just a few months’ time.
If you’d like to know more about the Air7 or any of our other products, feel free to contact us or stay updated via our LinkedIn page.