IN Brief:
- Sensolus says lost and untracked physical assets remain an overlooked drag on aerospace supply chains.
- The company has tracked more than 40,000 containers and tools across more than 100 Airbus sites over a decade-long partnership.
- The work has delivered an 80% reduction in lost assets and 100% tool visibility on the production floor.
Sensolus has warned that aerospace supply chains remain exposed to a physical visibility gap, with critical containers, tools, ground support equipment, and engine stands often becoming invisible once they leave a controlled warehouse, hangar, or production area.
The European IoT tracking specialist has marked ten years as Airbus’s asset tracking partner, during which it has tracked more than 40,000 containers and tools across more than 100 Airbus sites. The programme has delivered an 80% reduction in lost assets and 100% tool visibility on the production floor, while eliminating Foreign Object Debris risk through full tool traceability.
The aerospace industry has invested heavily in enterprise resource planning, digital twins, and AI forecasting, yet many physical assets still sit outside those systems once they move across plants, suppliers, maintenance sites, storage areas, and production lines. That blind spot becomes more expensive as aircraft backlogs grow and production pressure intensifies.
The global commercial aircraft backlog reached 16,683 aircraft in April 2026, representing about 12 years of production at current rates. That volume places pressure on every tier of the aerospace supply chain, from OEM assembly and Tier 1 systems providers to aerostructures, wiring, landing gear, maintenance, repair, and overhaul.
Across the Airbus partnership, Sensolus has used asset tracking to keep containers, tools, and specialist equipment visible across a complex operating footprint. A second use case involving Bluetooth Low Energy tracking of specialist tooling has created digital twins of tools as they move through the production flow. Misplaced items can be found within minutes, reducing search time and removing the FOD risk associated with lost tooling in aircraft manufacturing environments.
The same visibility problem appears in other parts of the supply chain. A Tier 1 provider of onboard aerospace and transport solutions has deployed more than 600 trackers to monitor trolley flows between plants. A major aircraft maintenance provider in Europe tracks ground support equipment in real time across Schiphol, reducing search time that previously affected aircraft turnaround. A Tier 2 provider of aerostructures, wiring, and landing gear components uses more than 2,500 trackers for component logistics.
Asset tracking does not solve aerospace supply chain pressure on its own, but production systems cannot manage what they cannot see. An ERP record may show that a tool, container, or stand exists. It may not show where it is, whether it is available, whether it has been delayed between sites, or whether a team is about to lose hours searching for it.
The same identity problem exists in freight. The visibility analysis at freight visibility and digital identity in logistics explored the limits of location data when custody, status, and responsibility remain unclear. Aerospace assets create a parallel version of the issue: location helps, but operational control depends on identity, status, custody, and system integration.
Aerospace is particularly exposed because delays compound quickly. A missing tool can halt work, trigger safety checks, or create FOD risk. A missing engine stand can delay maintenance. A misplaced container can disrupt component flow between sites. In a sector facing long aircraft backlogs and constrained production ramp-up, the cost of small asset failures accumulates across production schedules.
IATA and Oliver Wyman have placed a wider figure on the aerospace supply chain challenge, estimating that supply chain failures could cost airlines more than $11bn in 2025 through excess fuel, maintenance, engine leasing, and surplus inventory holding costs. That figure relates to airline impact rather than manufacturing asset loss alone, but it shows the financial pressure created when production and parts availability cannot keep pace with demand.
Security and compliance also carry weight. Aerospace procurement includes demanding data protection and assurance requirements. Sensolus says its platform includes end-to-end encryption, EU-hosted infrastructure, and annual independent penetration testing, shaped by a decade of working to Airbus specifications. In aerospace, tracking systems must be trusted operationally and through a cybersecurity and supplier governance lens.
Physical visibility is becoming part of supplier readiness. Aerospace OEMs and Tier 1 manufacturers need evidence that suppliers can scale reliably, maintain process control, and provide credible throughput data. Asset tracking supports that by turning containers, tools, trolleys, and equipment into visible parts of the production system rather than assumed resources.
New aircraft programmes, higher production rates, and tighter sustainability targets will increase the requirement. A supplier that cannot show where its tools, transport assets, or critical containers are may struggle to prove it can scale reliably.
Sensolus’s decade with Airbus shows that the visibility gap can be narrowed without rebuilding every system from scratch. The next stage is treating physical asset tracking as core production infrastructure rather than a local improvement project.
