Global aerospace growth presents Midlands supply chain with challenges and opportunities says MAA
THE global growth of the civil aerospace sector presents the Midlands supply chain with both opportunities and challenges, the Midlands Aerospace Alliance has said.
Dr Andrew Mair, MAA Chief Executive, said the opportunities were coming from the booming market in passenger aircraft.
OEMs such as Airbus and Boeing now have orders stretching back seven years with backlogs estimated at around 10,000 aircraft, worth a combined $1 trillion. This is enough to sustain the entire Midlands economy for three years.
Mair said the threat was that the big players increasingly wanted to buy their parts and components from large suppliers with similar global scaling.
“Our 300 or so smaller manufacturers still have huge experience and know-how to offer, but many need to up their game, and others need to find new market niches in the production system where their talents can excel”, he said.
The situation and the solutions required will form the basis of the second annual MAA conference, which takes place at the Rolls-Royce Learning and Development Centre in Derby between 8am and 4pm on March 18.
The conference is bringing together a wide range of industry leaders who have the expert insights to guide supply chain companies and help them with crucial business strategy decisions for the future.
They include some of the most senior names in the industry, as well as the Defence Minister responsible for procuring government’s defence aerospace needs, Philip Dunne:.
The speakers are: Colin Smith, Director – Engineering & Technology, Rolls-Royce, Andreas Schell, President, Actuation & Propeller Systems, UTC Aerospace Systems, based in Wolverhampton, Sir Brian Burridge, Vice President Strategic Marketing, Finmeccanica, the Italian aerospace company which owns AgustaWestland, Colin Sirett, Head of Research and Technology, Airbus in the UK and Robert Thomson, Partner, Roland Berger Aerospace & Defence Strategy Consultants, one of the leading sources of independent expertise on the world’s aerospace industry.
“If the whole Midlands manufacturing economy is going to continue to benefit from the growing demand for big civil airliners across the world, we have to make sure the work continues to flow into the heart of the supply chain,” added Mair.
“And there is a lot of competition out there not only from the emerging and low-cost economies but also from our European neighbours like Germany and France. Our supply chain companies need the best advice they can get about where their future lies – and that’s what this conference is all about.”
