ubloquity and PING Group transform aerospace supply chain traceability through digital twin technology

Through the UK Digital Twin Centre’s Digital Twin Adoption Accelerator, ubloquity and PING Group collaborated to develop and demonstrate an asset-level digital twin solution designed to improve traceability, provenance and compliance across aerospace and defence supply chains. 

ubloquity, a Northern Ireland supply chain intelligence company backed by Boeing Ventures, has previously delivered trusted trade and border technology solutions, including supporting the first frictionless trusted-trade border under the Windsor Framework. The Framework seeks to make trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland smoother by reducing unnecessary checks and paperwork while maintaining appropriate regulatory controls. Through this project, ubloquity explored how its expertise in verifiable digital identities could be combined with digital twin technologies to address growing traceability and regulatory challenges facing aerospace manufacturers.  

Working alongside third party contributor Thompson Aero Seating and supported by Digital Catapult’s, UK Digital Twin Centre, the project explored how digital twins can help manufacturers replace fragmented, manual processes with trusted, real-time asset management. By combining verified digital identities, IoT data, distributed ledger technology and AI-powered automation, the project demonstrated how digital twins can support more efficient operations while preparing organisations for evolving regulatory requirements. 

The challenge 

Aerospace and defence supply chains are inherently complex, with components passing through multiple suppliers, manufacturers and logistics providers before reaching their final destination. Information is often held across disconnected systems, making it difficult to establish a single, trusted view of an asset’s provenance, custody and compliance status. The challenge is becoming increasingly urgent as manufacturers prepare for new requirements including the EU Digital Product Passport, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), while original equipment manufacturers (OEMs​)​ increasingly cascade traceability requirements through their supply chains. ​With fewer than one in ten organisations able to see beyond their immediate tier-one suppliers (Deloitte CPO), many face growing compliance and operational risks. 

For Thompson Aero Seating, the project’s third-party contributor, these challenges are significant. The company manufactures premium aircraft seating with an order backlog exceeding £1.3 billion and works with around 200 suppliers worldwide. A single business-class seat can contain hundreds of components sourced across multiple countries, making provenance and compliance increasingly difficult to verify through manual processes alone. Manual auditing and document verification create delays, increase the risk of rework and regulatory exposure, and make it difficult to respond quickly to customer and auditor requests. The project explored whether digital twin technology could embed compliance directly into operational workflows and create a trusted digital record for every asset. 

Developing the solution 

Through the Digital Twin Adoption Accelerator, Digital Catapult and the UK Digital Twin Centre supported ubloquity and PING Group to work alongside third party contributor Thompson Aero Seating and infrastructure partner AWS to develop and validate a digital twin asset management capability within a live logistics environment. The project assigned verified digital identities to aerospace components, enabling them to be tracked through custody transitions while capturing real-time location, condition and compliance information.    

The solution was built around four capabilities: 

• Digital Twin Creation: assigning each asset a verified digital identity anchored to sensor and operational data. 

• Single Pane of Glass: creating a unified operational view across multiple systems and stakeholders. 

• AI-Powered Automation: automating compliance checks, anomaly detection and workflows. 

• Compliance by Design: embedding auditability and alignment with frameworks such as Digital Product Passport, CSRD and CBAM into operational processes. 

Together, these capabilities combine digital twins, IoT-enabled data capture, distributed ledger technology, AI-powered automation, and Enterprise resource planning/maintenance, repair and maintenance and overhaul integration to create a trusted digital representation of each asset throughout its lifecycle. 

Rather than relying on disconnected records and manual document checks, the digital twin provides a trusted digital representation of each physical asset, carrying its provenance, custody history and compliance evidence throughout its lifecycle. 

Collaboration through the UK Digital Twin Centre 

A key outcome of the programme was the opportunity to collaborate in a real operational environment. ubloquity’s expertise in digital trust and asset traceability was combined with PING Group’s logistics knowledge and operational environment, while Thompson Aero Seating ensured the project remained grounded in real manufacturing requirements.  

Support from the UK Digital Twin Centre helped align the solution with recognised digital twin frameworks, influencing both the technical architecture and commercial approach. The collaboration also highlighted an important lesson: while digital twin technology is now sufficiently mature, data quality remains one of the biggest barriers to adoption. Securing consistent, standardised data from multiple supply chain partners proved more challenging than implementing the technology itself. 

Outcomes and impact 

Over the course of seven-months, the project progressed from an early concept to a validated proof of concept demonstrated within a working logistics operation. 

The collaboration successfully: 

• Developed an asset-level digital twin capability for aerospace and defence supply chains.  

• Demonstrated live tracking of aerospace components through custody transitions.  

• Created verified digital identities capable of supporting trusted provenance and compliance.  

• Validated integration with ERP and MRO systems.  

• Demonstrated automated compliance workflows aligned with aerospace audit requirements and regulatory frameworks including Digital Product Passport, CSRD and CBAM.  

• Established a reusable digital twin architecture that now underpins ubloquity’s commercial product offering.  

Participation in the programme accelerated ubloquity’s transition from bespoke project delivery towards a scalable subscription-based product, while strengthening relationships across the aerospace and defence ecosystem. The project also demonstrated the value of collaboration between ubloquity, PING Group and Thompson Aero Seating, bringing together digital twin technology, logistics expertise and manufacturing insight to move from early concept to a validated proof of concept within seven months. This collaborative approach has created a strong foundation for future commercial opportunities across aerospace, defence and MRO operations. 

Within the proof of concept, ubloquity modelled the potential customer benefits using synthetic data calibrated to PING Group’s operational throughput. The modelling indicated the potential for a 35% reduction in operational risk, 25% reduction in costs and 40% improvement in operational efficiency. These figures are modelled projections and will be validated through future production deployments. 

Looking ahead 

Following completion of the Digital Twin Adoption Accelerator, ubloquity and PING Group are focused on supporting wider adoption of digital twin technologies across aerospace and defence supply chains. Future development will extend capabilities into maintenance, repair and overhaul​,​ defence asset management​,​ and Digital Product Passport compliance services.  

 Building on the collaboration established through the programme, the partners will continue exploring opportunities across logistics and manufacturing environments while validating the proof-of-concept performance metrics in live production deployments. ubloquity is also advancing its go-to-market strategy through strategic partnerships and cloud-based delivery channels, positioning digital twin asset management as a key growth area. The company intends to continue working with the UK Digital Twin Centre and Digital Catapult to accelerate digital twin adoption across regulated industries.   

Beyond the immediate project outcomes, the work demonstrates the wider potential of digital twins within aerospace. As organisations face increasing pressure to provide trusted, auditable information across complex global supply chains, digital twins offer a practical route to continuous compliance, improved visibility and more proactive decision-making. The project illustrates how trusted digital identities and real-time operational data can help manufacturers move from reactive auditing towards verified, data-driven operations. 

 Ready to explore what digital twins could do for your organisation?