The Airbus supply chain may span the globe, but pure logistics mean many of the companies producing large sections or components of Airbus aircraft are near its factories. Airia makes the forward structure of the A350’s pylon in Mazères in the southwest of France. “The section is six to seven metres long,” says Nick Sanders, executive chairman of Airia parent Gardner Aerospace Holdings. “It’s not something you want to be doing a long way from the final assembly line.”
Gardner Aerospace bought its subsidiary in 2012, and Sanders makes the point to emphasise why it makes sense to have production in relatively high-wage France, as well as low-cost regions such as Poland and India, where UK-based Gardner also has factories. “We will make components in our low-cost centres, but it makes sense to have final assembly near the customer,” says Sanders, an engineer who previously worked for Rolls-Royce and Lucas Aerospace.
Derby-based Gardner, which claims to be the UK’s biggest independent build-to-print manufacturer of detailed metallic aerospace parts and sub-assemblies, acquired Airia to gain access to its Airbus first-tier contracts and move more into aerostructures – much of its UK business is engine components. It had been looking to establish a footprint in France for some time. “One of the biggest benefits was that it greatly strengthened our relationship with Airbus,” says Sanders. “It positioned us as a pan-European supplier.”
Sanders, whose Better Capital investment vehicle bought Gardner in 2010, has taken the group from a turnover of around $80 million to around $185 million through organic growth and acquisitions such as Airia, a joint venture in India and a UK firm that came with a factory in Poland. It has just under 1,500 employees, around one-third of whom work at its low-cost locations. Sanders expects to add another 50% to its revenues, mainly through organic expansion, “in the next few years”.
Although Gardner does not do its own design engineering, Sanders says its engineers work with customers to improve manufacturing techniques. “They ask us for ways to make the product cheaper and more reliable. We don’t design but we can help them improve design,” he says. The group has invested heavily in technology across its sites to meet Toulouse’s sharp planned production ramp-up. “Airbus is doing well and we are growing with them,” says Sanders.
Source: Flight International
