Magchain, a start-up specialising in the quality certification of aircraft components, has been launched

MagChain, a start-up specialising in the management of quality certification for aeronautical components, has been launched. The company is majority-owned by the Magnaghi Group, alongside a group of Italy’s leading blockchain experts, including D4k – a technology firm – and a minority stake held by SMT Technologies.

The new company, which operates in the blockchain sector – a new area of activity for the Magnaghi Group – has a clear mission: to ensure that quality documentation for an aeronautical component is no longer based on mere word of mouth, but can be substantiated. The company’s first product, Industrial Trust Layer (ITL), has already been applied to structural components of a civil transport aircraft, manufactured by Salver – another company within the Magnaghi Group – complete with authentic production documentation, and was unveiled in July at the Farnborough International Airshow.

“In the aerospace industry,” explains Filippo Trigilio, Chief Executive of MagChain, “no component flies on its own: it is accompanied by a dossier of documents, comprising production orders, inspection plans, measurement reports and certificates of conformity, which certify how it was manufactured and tested. That file is what enables a customer, an auditor or a regulatory body to trust the component: quality, in fact, exists only on paper.”

Today, however, those documents are held in different archives; they are not definitively linked to the hardware and, above all, no one can prove that they have not been altered since they were issued. Every verification becomes a cross-check that takes days of work, and ultimately trust still rests on the word of whoever submits the documents. For components that remain in service for decades, whilst companies, systems and people change, this is a vulnerability that the entire supply chain has always had to contend with. ‘MagChain,’ continues Trigilio, ‘addresses this very need. With ITL, the data already printed on each component’s nameplate links to the entire quality dossier. The platform seals the file on the blockchain, a ledger that nobody – not even MagChain – can alter or delete. From that moment on, anyone can scan a QR code – even directly in the workshop or on the assembly line – to verify within seconds that those documents belong to that particular part and are the very same ones approved by the manufacturer.” Only the proof is recorded on the blockchain; the documents themselves remain within the company’s systems and are accessible only to authorised personnel.

Since 1936, Magnaghi Aerospace Group – headed by Paolo Graziano in the role of Executive Chairman – has been a leading supplier to world-class customers of landing systems and advanced composite aerostructures. It operates 11 production facilities in Italia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Türkiye and Brazil. Its major customers include Boeing, Collins, Airbus, Leonardo, Safran, Lockheed Martin and Embraer. The company has participated in numerous major aerospace programmes, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth multi-role fighter, the Embraer KC390 military transport aircraft, the Airbus A220 airliner, the Boeing 767 and various other types of aircraft. The group has also recently launched a division dedicated to the development of its own Sky Arrow aircraft, intended for flight training, private use and special aerial missions.