Aero Excellence at ILA Berlin 2026: strong progress in aerospace supply chain excellence
Since its operational launch in the second quarter of 2024, Aero Excellence has established itself as a significant force in the global aerospace supply chain within a remarkably short period of time.
Just two years after operations commenced, the programme has reached a series of milestones that demonstrate the strong and growing commitment of the international aerospace industry to harmonised supplier maturity assessment.
Almost 600 sites have registered with the programme, and 222 formal assessments have been completed. Of the assessed sites, 78 have achieved Bronze recognition and 2 have attained Silver status, reflecting a meaningful level of supply chain maturity. Particularly noteworthy is the engagement on the assessor side: more than 900 assessors belonging to over 25 different OEM and customer organisations are currently active in the assessor qualification path, highlighting the breadth of industry buy-in across the global aerospace ecosystem.
Against this backdrop of rapid growth and increasing industry adoption, Aero Excellence was prominently featured at ILA Berlin 2026 with two dedicated events bringing together key stakeholders from the international and German aerospace industry.
On Wednesday, June 10th, Aero Excellence International opened the floor with a high-calibre lineup with Airbus Chief Procurement Officer Benoît Schultz delivering the keynote, followed by insights from Diego Garcia Galan of Aciturri,Hugo Torres of Aero Excellence International on the programme's expanding international footprint and Johan Petry of Novelis rounding off the programme with first-hand perspectives on maturity development in practice.
The following morning, on Thursday, June 11th, BDLI and SCE A hosted the Aero Excellence Event for German Industry, with Nils Witt, Chief Procurement Officer at Airbus Aerostructures, sharing his strategic vision for the supply chain, alongside keynote remarks from Bernd Schröder of SCE A and Dr. Stefan Berndes of BDLI. Suppliers Diehl, Liebherr, and Novelis brought the voice of different supply chain tiers directly into the room.
About Aero Excellence
Aero Excellence is a industry initiative designed to replace the patchwork of parallel supplier assessments conducted by different OEMs with a single, harmonised maturity assessment framework. For SMEs in particular, the multiplication of overlapping audits represents a significant administrative burden. Aero Excellence addresses this directly by establishing common standardized criteria recognised across the industry.
The process follows a clear structure: suppliers complete a comprehensive self-assessment across a wide range of operational domains, followed by an independent assessment carried out by qualified assessors. Sites that meet or exceed defined expectations are awarded Bronze, Silver, or Gold recognition. Where gaps remain, suppliers get improvement suggestions to drive targeted, sustainable improvement.