Method of fabricating a composite item

A method of fabricating an aircraft component, the method comprising:

• drawing tows of a first material from spools disposed circumferentially about a compaction device of a first integrated creel comprising part of a first end effector;
• applying the tows to a form;
• determining whether a sufficient amount of the tows have been applied to the form;
• and
• exchanging the first integrated creel for a second integrated creel in response to the determination that a sufficient amount of the first material has been applied to the form, the second integrated creel being configured to dispense a second material.

A method of reducing downtime during fabrication an aircraft component, the method comprising:

• drawing tows of a first material from spools disposed circumferentially about a compaction device of a first integrated creel comprising part of a first end effector;
• applying the tows to a form;
• determining whether a sufficient amount of first material remains on the spools;
• and
• exchanging the first integrated creel for a second integrated creel in response to the determination that an insufficient amount of the first material remains in the first integrated creel, the second integrated creel being configured to dispense the first material.