Emma Kelly/TOULOUSE
The UK-based aerospace arm of US conglomerate TRW is initiating talks with fellow European companies to form an Internet trading exchange to combat what it sees as US-dominated aerospace web initiatives.
"The e-business revolution is US-led. Europe must galvanise its activities, otherwise it will be left behind," Arabella Bijlana, business improvement director at the company told delegates at the e-Commerce for Aerospace conference held in Toulouse, France, from 12-14 April.
The two biggest aerospace Internet exchanges announced to date - the unnamed Boeing, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon initiative, and Honeywell/United Technologies' myAircraft.com - are dominated by US companies.
UK-based flight control, power, engine and cargo systems supplier TRW Aeronautical Systems- Lucas Aerospace has talked to firms which have already launched e-commerce aerospace industry ventures.
"If we can bring some of the other players together it will give us power. The existing portals have a limited equity stake that's still vacant [for other companies] and there are a lot of companies keen to bid for it. If we [European companies] get integrated and leverage our collective power, we will have considerably more muscle," says Bijlana.
"We might decide that we have established enough critical mass to go it alone and not join one of the other e-commerce groupings," she adds.
The European dotcom alliance is part of TRW's wider e-commerce strategy, which is aimed at workflow simplification, improved supplier management and increased customer satisfaction.
Source: Flight International
