Geoff Thomas
What's the secret of increasing sales in the aircraft components industry?
Mike Stacey, chief executive of British aviation company Meggitt (Hall 3, A15), says it is simple: Ask a major player like Boeing what its worst supplied product is, then enter that marketplace, offering 100% reliability on deliveries and excellent customer service.
"We did it- it works- and the orders are flooding in," he says.
In Meggitt's case, the solution was to offer polymer-based seals and sealants to the major airframe manufacturers.
To do this it acquired US company Elastomeric Silicone Products, invested in R&D, people and machinery, and transformed both the product range and the level of customer service to the extent that Boeing now enjoys full on-time deliveries, an improvement of at least a third.
Meggitt is now structured into five divisions - Aerospace Components, Avionics, Armour Systems, Defence Systems and Electronic Components.The company now has its products on all Boeing's range and most of Airbus's, and turnover has increased by more than 100% over the past four years.
One of the biggest recent contracts awarded to the Group (worth $100 million) was won by Meggitt Avionics when it was appointed by Boeing to supply the secondary flight display system (SFDS) across its range of aircraft.
The company has also supplied its integrated suite of avoinics to New Piper Aircraft for the Malibu Meridian.
Source: Flight Daily News
