US aircraft component specialist Nordam is this month moving its European sales office from Amsterdam to Toulouse as part of a strategy to target more direct sales to Airbus and other manufacturers.
The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company wants to increase revenues from original equipment manufacturers (OEM) from 35% to 50% of its business within five years. The majority of its sales currently come from overhaul and maintenance contracts with airlines, where it specialises in nacelles, transparencies and components.
Alain Poupin, Nordam Group vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says the company wants to build on recent successes with the European airframer: it is the sole supplier of windows on the Airbus A380.
“Our initial strategy was to be close to the airlines, but now we are strategically looking at locating offices close to the OEMs as well, possibly including production if there were a good enough business case,” says Poupin.
Nordam has a joint venture with General Electric for nacelle overhaul in Wales, UK and a transparent part repair station in Altrincham, UK, but Poupin says the company has considered investing in facilities in Toulouse to produce original parts for Airbus. “In the past we had a very MRO-focused culture, but we have to create an OEM culture to grow the business,” he says.
Nordam has a new leadership team in place following the death earlier this month, after a long illness, of founder and chairman Ray Siegfried. Chief executive Ken Lackey and chief operating officer John Uczekaj have taken on the additional roles of vice chairman and president, respectively.
Source: Flight International
