On the few occasions that BHA general manager Ian Chang speaks Mandarin Chinese, he speaks it in a distinctly American accent. BHA may look like a Chinese company, because it is located in Beijing's port city of Tianjin, but once inside it becomes clear this factory has more in common with its American counterparts.
Chang was previously director of the electronics responsibility centre at Boeing Commercial in Seattle and Boeing owns 40% of BHA. Another 40% stake is held by US firm Hexcel, which makes composites, and China's AVIC I has the remaining 20% stake.
The factory makes composite panels and parts for Boeing's commercial aircraft programmes, namely the 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787 programmes. For the 737, for example, BHA makes the dorsal fin, close-out panels, wing-to-body-fairing, over panels, fixed-wing trailing edge, tail cone and interior panels, as well as parts and panels for the flight deck.
Chang says BHA was also the first supplier in China to secure work on the 777 programme. It produces the 777's flightdeck interior panels. In addition, BHA makes composite parts and panels for third-party customers such as BAE Systems, Goodrich and Korea Aerospace Industries.
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BHA's Ian Chang says his youthful workforce is eager to learn and can adapt to change |
There is a general perception in the West that Chinese factories are dark, dingy places staffed by unhappy workers wearing blue Mao suits. But a walk through BHA's 240,000ft2 building reveals a shop floor that is bright, clean, efficient and modern - all the things one would associate with the best manufacturing plants in the West.
Under Chang's unashamedly American style of management, BHA has sought to adopt the best work practices from the USA and then improve on them. Staff are encouraged to talk to management and raise issues: Chang says he meets regularly with workers in an effort to create better dialogue.
BHA also encourages workers to come forward and admit to mistakes so problems can be quickly rectified and others can avoid making the same slip-up. This may sound like common sense to a Westerner, but is no easy feat in a country where it is important to "save face".
BHA currently has around 520 employees and has grown rapidly since it started operations in 2002 with a workforce of around 150. People applying to work on BHA's shop floor are first required to do three months of vocational training at a nearby college. "We only choose the top 10%" of graduates, says Chang. Those selected then do an additional 5-6 weeks of training before getting to work on the shop floor and, during the first six months, each new worker has a mentor.
Chang says one of the things he likes about BHA is that the workforce is relatively young. Most are in their 20s and early 30s, whereas at some US aerospace factories the workers are mostly in their 50s. Chang says that one advantage of having a younger workforce is they are eager to learn and adept at adjusting to change.
The only drawback with having a youthful workforce is that there are more instances of maternity leave, he quips. But that is a relatively a small price for a vast country like China to pay, with its nearly unlimited supply of labour.
Source: Flight International
