Posted by: Amiee Category: Company news,NWAA news Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012

In a guest article, Dr Andrew Mair, CEO of Midlands Aerospace Alliance, writes of the competitive advantage for aerospace suppliers investing in new technologies.

As global competition in aerospace intensifies, supply chain companies know they have to respond to keep up with the pace. Investing to develop new product and process technologies becomes a key weapon in the face of competitors across the world which have the advantage in labour costs and government aid. And any policy to promote economic growth and jobs via manufacturing exports has to invest deep into the supply chain if it is to stop the heart of UK aerospace being hollowed out and the country losing its place in one of its few remaining leading industries.

That’s why the Midlands Aerospace Alliance has been running its Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (ATEP) since 2006.

ATEP has given partnerships of suppliers, mentored by customers, the funding and vital project management help they need to take 12 new technologies through the risky middle technology readiness levels and get them that much closer to market.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has worked in partnership with the University of Birmingham and Airbus to improve key computer aided design capabilities that the company intends will help it re-enter the large commercial aircraft market.  Aeromet has run multiple tests of a new aluminium alloy that promises critical benefits over current materials, supported by Aero Engine Controls and working closely with automotive casting house Grainger and Worrall. And Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems has drawn on the expertise of small ceramic materials expert company James Kent to test new ways to extend the life of aircraft brakes.

Supported by MAA expertise, small companies have led projects as well as participated in them. Indestructible Paint has collaborated with two other SMEs and technology experts Ceram to trial new coatings that eliminate chrome as demanded by REACH regulations, mentored by Rolls-Royce and Messier Dowty.

G&O Springs has led a project with two SMEs and the Institute of Spring Technology to create computer models of how different metal alloys behave when made into springs for the first time, giving customers like Goodrich Actuation Systems and BAE Systems unique data that is fed into the design of aircraft control systems.

These projects all give aerospace suppliers new intellectual property and know-how and thus competitive advantage in the eyes of UK and global customers. But what sets ATEP apart? Why is it so successful? The funding is certainly vital. Yet the critical edge comes from project management help injected by MAA experts and the senior industry engineers who make up the MAA’s innovation and technology working group, as well as the mentoring of each project by customers.

New manufacturing technologies for heat exchangers developed by the small Advanced Chemical Etchings alongside HS Marston are already finding their way onto the Airbus A320 neo. We fully expect more new export business to follow as these new technologies are exploited to help keep a bigger proportion of the aerospace supply chain and its high value jobs here in the UK.

ATEP has been funded by the participating companies, the European Regional Development Fund and Advantage West Midlands.