Q How does GKN Aerospace contribute to GKN as a whole? What percentage of Group turnover does aerospace represent?
Group revenues last year were $7.5 billion and aerospace contributed $1.7bn towards this.
Q How are you performing against your broad competitors?
Our three major markets are engines and propulsion, special products and integrated aerospace structures. I believe we are on par with our competitors. We are no worse but we are striving to be better in the key segments.
Q How do you expect that to evolve?
We are implementing more lean manufacturing processes, and certainly the knowledge gained from GKN’s automotive activities is a great help. The automotive industry is at the forefront of industrial techniques keeping costs down and creating lean manufacturing. We started implementing our strategy about 18 months ago and it is gathering speed as we look at lean processes on both the shop floor and in our back-room offices. A key aspect for us is looking at manufacturing in countries that have the same capability but offer lower cost manufacturing.
Q What is the strategy to continue business growth for GKN Aerospace?
Our focus for growth is in our aerospace structures, and engines and propulsion markets. We aim to position ourselves to be in the right place with the right technology for each platform, as it becomes known.
We are looking at what we need to do today so that we can be ready for the next generation of single-aisle airliners from Boeing and Airbus.
Q We’ve seen some acquisitions lately, including Stellex and the imminent confirmation of Teleflex. What is your acquisition strategy and do you have funding to pursue the acquisitions you want?
The board is very supportive and if I find the right target I will get all the support I need. GKN is looking to balance its portfolio so that automotive and aerospace represent a 50/50 split of revenue. We are not looking for acquisitions outside our sphere of current market segments and only consider companies with synergies to ourselves. For example with the acquisition of Teleflex we already produced turbine exhaust cases, composite and metal fan blades as well as fan cases. Teleflex adds engine core cases, fan and compressor blades and blisks. Aerospace is the focus for growth of GKN. We expect $4.2bn sales by 2016 through both organic and acquisition growth.
Q What is the focus for the Paris Airshow 2007
The Teleflex acquisition will be complete as the show opens. For us Paris will be a busy time to position ourselves with current and new customers for new platforms. However, I don’t expect to see any surprises. We’re already on the A350, A400M, A380 and the 787, but we are expecting to become busier if Airbus goes ahead with its planned production ramp-up to 40 single-aisle airliners a month. We are always looking for other opportunities to promote GKN as a major aerospace business. Aside from Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems we are the largest independent UK aerospace company. We want to promote the company and increase awareness of our abilities.
Q What percentage value of an A380 does GKN Aerospace supply?
An A380 with GP7000 engines represents about $4m worth of GKN-supplied parts, including metallic and composites.
Q GKN Aerospace is supplying the Boeing 787 with Electro-thermal ice protection technology. Do you envisage gaining a bigger workshare in the 787 project? What would you like to get?
The die is cast on the 787. Any new contracts will be for weight saving and we’d like to take some of that, but the die is cast. It is not just the electro-thermal ice protection that we are supplying but also floor systems, passenger cabin windows, thrust reverser components as well as parts for both the Trent and GEnx engines.
Q You are currently in partnership with BAE Systems on the JSF – what is GKN Aerospace responsible for and do you see this as an element of growth?
Our main activities on the JSF are directly through Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney. We have been heavily involved with Lockheed and Northrop with our engineering expertise and had around 150 engineers working in Australia specifically looking at weight optimisation. We have won some work for the F135 engine but mainly we are design and development. The electrical de-icing from the 787 is going to be present on the engine inlet for the JSF. When the aircraft goes into production in five or six years time we envisage more work for our composites. Currently we are supplying around $2m of shipsets for the JSF but want to grow this. We are machining hard steel and titanium bulkheads, as well as the complicated canopy. On the F22 Raptor we supply $5m shipsets of both titanium and composites, and we want to replicate this on the JSF.
Q When the A400M enters service, it will feature composite wing spars. Do you see this as the way forward? What sort of complications were there with the development of the spar? Did the F22 experience help?
There was no synergy between the development of the F22 spar and the A400M spar. It certainly proved tricky, and the tolerances for this very thin piece of composite are very low. We knew we would face some problems with the development, but nothing unexpected hindered it. And we are very proud of the product we have developed. To date the A400M composite spar is the largest ever made. The biggest problem with development was that the A400M is a turboprop and the engines hang off the spar. With the F22 this was never an issue. There was a very steep learning curve but with what we’ve learnt on the A400M we can incorporate this into new programmes. Each A400M shipset represents about $1.4m of GKN supplied parts.
Q What does the future hold for GKN Aerospace, what’s coming next?
The focus for the future is very much on growth, both through investment in our capabilities and winning new programme contracts. And through selective acquisitions. The portfolio of capabilities will change; we are also starting to look at service and aftermarket. We have a reputation as a leader in composite technologies, and really are at the forefront of some of this technology. Niche markets are something we want to explore some more, especially with our transparencies. Teleflex helps us move into engines some more, and certainly the future of engine development will become much less vertically integrated and focus on to modular developments. We’re certainly ready for that change and are trying to position ourselves with our technology to do this.
Q There is a current industry focus on ‘going green’. How does GKN measure up?
The industry, and certainly in Europe, is at a critical phase right now with legislation on the environment and the impact this will have on the air transport industry. We are focused on lightweight solutions for the future, to help build more efficient aircraft. The 787 is an all-electric aircraft and provides significant increases in fuel efficiency. Certainly some of our technologies play into this and lightweight composites can never hurt. Another step towards being ‘green’ is smart structures, and with fibre optics, it outdates the wiring loom. Certainly the contract from Aviation Partners to design and build the 767 winglet as well as produce the 737 winglet are all ‘green’-focused.
Source: Flight Daily News
