The Asia-Pacific region is of major - and growing - importance to Pratt & Whitney Canada's after-sales service organisation, says Benoit Brossoit, the Canadian company's newly-appointed vice-president service centres.
With his predecessor, Gilbert Gaudette, retiring shortly after eight years with the company, Brossoit says that he is looking forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead. P&WC engines power more than 2,000 aircraft in the region and the company's extensive customer support organisation now has two major 'centres of excellence' (Singapore and Brisbane) as well as 14 field support representatives. This regional operation comprises around 20% of P&WC's international service support business which in turn totals more than half of the company's revenue.
One-stop-shop
Says Brossoit: "We have more than 1,000 customers in the region and the major growth area is China where P&WC is already manufacturing a substantial number of parts for the current engine range and where we are looking at the possibility of opening another service centre over the coming months and years.
"We like to think that we provide a one-stop-shop facility for our customers. The feedback we get from them shows that they appreciate our efforts.
"P&WC's turboprop and helicopter engines, as well as APUs, have always done well in terms of sales in Asia-Pacific so, as specialists in these fields, it's perhaps not surprising that our presence here is appreciated so much by our many customers."
Brossoit also says the after-sales organisation enables P&WC to keep tabs on how the engines are performing, as well as enabling the company to monitor opportunities for expansion and development.
"We are totally committed to our customers and have built a world-class team of specialists - all highly experienced technically and in terms of customer care - to look after them.
"Around the globe, we deal with customers in 34 countries who speak 20 languages, so it's essential that we operate locally with experienced mobile repair teams operating 24/7." The future is looking bright for P&WC, despite the traumas in the region caused by 9/11, SARS and economic downturn in some countries in Asia-Pacific. Unlike some others, the Canadian company is experiencing sales growth which, although slightly smaller than forecast, is still clearly positive with overall revenues doubling between 2001 and 2002.
GEOFF THOMAS
Source: Flight Daily News
