Strategic Assessment of Agile Manufacturing Capabilities in the Aerospace Sector
by HAVADER Editör Ekibi
A restaurant can change its menu and rearrange its ingredient supply in a week; an aerospace factory changing its production line can take months. That gap in "agility" is one of the aerospace sector's biggest structural challenges. This study investigates what actually drives that agility in Türkiye's aerospace manufacturing sector.
The goal was to provide a clear framework for which agile capability to prioritize when facing technological change, supply-chain disruption, pressure for customization, and strict regulation. To do this, the researchers used an Intuitionistic Fuzzy DEMATEL approach based on expert evaluations from the OSTİM Defense and Aviation Cluster (OSSA) — a method that distinguishes which capabilities act as "causes" (triggering others) versus "effects" (shaped by others).
The results showed multi-skilled workforce, leadership support, and cross-functional collaboration as the main driver (cause) capabilities, shaping downstream capabilities like modular design, supplier responsiveness, and real-time data integration. In other words, before investing in technology, you need to invest in people and organization.
What this study contributes is showing that the things that usually come to mind first when people say "agility" — new software, automation, robotics — actually come second. An everyday analogy: it's similar to a football team investing in how players communicate with each other and in the coach's leadership style before buying the most expensive ball or the most modern stadium — the best equipment only works in the hands of a cohesive, well-managed team; otherwise it's just expensive decoration.
In the end, this research gives aerospace managers a concrete order of priorities: start agile transformation with leadership-enabled, human-centered elements; let technical and process-oriented initiatives build on that foundation. That's a particularly valuable roadmap for sequencing investment decisions in a rapidly growing aerospace industry like Türkiye's.
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The goal was to provide a clear framework for which agile capability to prioritize when facing technological change, supply-chain disruption, pressure for customization, and strict regulation. To do this, the researchers used an Intuitionistic Fuzzy DEMATEL approach based on expert evaluations from the OSTİM Defense and Aviation Cluster (OSSA) — a method that distinguishes which capabilities act as "causes" (triggering others) versus "effects" (shaped by others).
The results showed multi-skilled workforce, leadership support, and cross-functional collaboration as the main driver (cause) capabilities, shaping downstream capabilities like modular design, supplier responsiveness, and real-time data integration. In other words, before investing in technology, you need to invest in people and organization.
What this study contributes is showing that the things that usually come to mind first when people say "agility" — new software, automation, robotics — actually come second. An everyday analogy: it's similar to a football team investing in how players communicate with each other and in the coach's leadership style before buying the most expensive ball or the most modern stadium — the best equipment only works in the hands of a cohesive, well-managed team; otherwise it's just expensive decoration.
In the end, this research gives aerospace managers a concrete order of priorities: start agile transformation with leadership-enabled, human-centered elements; let technical and process-oriented initiatives build on that foundation. That's a particularly valuable roadmap for sequencing investment decisions in a rapidly growing aerospace industry like Türkiye's.