Swiss maintenance provider SR Technics plans to set up a component repair shop in Malaysia to take over labour-intensive work from its main site in Zurich.
The new facility will be opened in Kuala Lumpur in the fourth quarter of 2013 in order to create additional capacity, cut costs and provide better access to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
SR Technics, which forms part of Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Aerospace MRO network, will transfer labour-intensive repairs from its main component shop in Zurich to the low-cost location.
However, the maintenance provider says that the vacated capacity in Zurich will be utilised to develop new component capabilities for current- and next-generation aircraft, as well as to expand in-house capacity for "know-how intensive, high-tech repairs".
Pre-empting concerns that the move could threaten operations at home, André Wall, SR Technics' president, says: "Zurich is, and will remain, an important cornerstone of our component business."
The Zurich facility provides component support in conjunction with a similar repair shop at sister MRO network member Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT).
SR Technics has another repair facility in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, which concentrates on servicing wheels and brakes, safety and galley equipment.
The facility in Kuala Lumpur will mainly be staffed with locally recruited employees, though a senior management team will also be seconded from Zurich.
SR Technics hopes that the Asian site will help it win more regional business for its full-support 'Integrated Component Services' (ICS) packages.
James Stewart, group chief executive for Mubadala's MRO network, says that "Asia-Pacific is predicted to be the region with the greatest ICS customer demand increase" in the mid- to long-term.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
