Diehl Aerosystems plans not to acquire further businesses and focus instead on integrating the recent additions into the company. Chief executive Rainer von Borstel says that the "expansion in terms of takeovers is complete at least for the time being".
He adds that the re-organisation of Hamburg-based lavatory manufacturer Dasell, which was bought in 2010 and has meanwhile been renamed Diehl Comfort Modules, was more difficult than expected. The amount of necessary rework on equipment after delivery was critical and would require "massive restructuring" over the next three to four months.
All in all, however, Diehl was "ideally prepared" for the planned production ramp up by Airbus and Boeing, and that there was no bottleneck in supplying the ordered equipment, he says. The company plans to deliver almost all its components for the Airbus A350 this year, which will be fitted to the second-built aircraft. Diehl is floor-to-floor supplier for the future long-haul twinjet, which makes the type the largest programme for the company.
A year ago, Diehl acquired galley manufacturer Mühlenberg just as Airbus revealed that it would hand the exclusive supply of A320-family galleys to Driessen-Zodiac Aerospace. Von Borstel says that this development had been clear to Diehl before the takeover and that the objective to tap into Mühlenberg's expertise remained valid. He adds that the Hamburg-based company still offered "enough growth potential", particularly as a supplier for buyer furnished equipment (BFE) during aircraft refurbishments and VIP completions at neighbouring Lufthansa Technik. A capacity increase around 50% above 2010 volumes would be feasible, he says.
Last year, Diehl opened a production plant in Hungary. The first site outside Germany currently employs around 20 staff members, but this is to grow to around 150 in 2012 and could thereafter almost double over the next four to five years, says von Borstel.
The plan is to produce components for the production facilities in Laupheim and Hamburg. The use of the new low-cost location would not lead to job cuts at home but be part of the strategy to expand production in future, he says.
Source: Flight Daily News
