Defense Technology International - April 2008 - (Page 47) How much could an aerospace company save by working with Quest? Savings of 30-40% over two years are a reasonable expectation. The wage and build-rate di erences are higher, but the actual savings are not big in the initial stages because both companies need to learn each other’s way of doing things and it takes time to come up to speed. Do you see Quest playing a role in the development of India’s defense industry? The value we bring to the table is cost. There is so much opportunity for us using our value advantage to create global business—more so than focusing on Indian industry. The value addition is not there as much for the local companies. Most of our growth will be with companies in the U.S. and Europe, some of which may want to expand in India. replace GE’s F404 engine [in the Tejas fighter from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.]. All the things India has done [in aerospace and defense technology] are primarily due to the government taking the initiative for self-reliance. Industry hasn’t developed like in the U.S. Companies are primarily buyers rather than creators. This doesn’t mean that’s how it will always be. But I don’t see it changing now. Is India’s socialist style of business changing as it builds the defense industry and manufacturing infrastructure? Definitely. The government is promoting privatization of the defense industry. Offset obligations were once met by HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.), one of the largest defense and aerospace companies in India, which is owned by the government. The new offsets will military or commercial programs, we will support them. It’s easier for us to support commercial than military programs because military has wider restrictions and export controls. Sometimes we get permission from the U.S. State Dept. to work on technology in India. If we don’t get an export license, we execute locally in the country where we get the business. Our operation in East Hartford, Conn., for example, is sta ed by American citizens. So having offices in countries like the U.S. is an asset? It helps in three ways. One is that in India you find a lot of low-cost, young workers—you don’t find people with 20 years of experience because industry hasn’t been there that long. A local office helps us bring those talented people on board. Second, customers get a single window in terms of Quest’s ability to support export and non-export projects, instead of looking for a company that does only local or global work. Few companies do both. Third, customers don’t want to manage resources remotely. They want us to do program management sitting next to them. We take the burden of managing internally o of them. Does Quest play a role in India’s space program? No, and I’m not sure we want to. We work in areas where we have the skills. We don’t see this as a viable area. What is your outlook for aviation and defense work? I believe that because of our cost advantage, India’s economic growth and its appetite for defense and commercial aviation, these are going to be great opportunities. India will continue to invest in this area. The aerospace market will grow in India until at least 2014-15. We are uniquely positioned to capitalize on this growth due to our local and global approach and our strategy, which expands across design and manufacturing services. Aerospace companies will enter India to meet o sets, but the cost advantage will make them stay. OEMs like to work with firms that o er innovative design and build solutions. At the end of the day, when they have a complete package to design and build, we’ll be the first to pick up that package and o er a total solution. We’re very gung-ho for the future. I 47 AJIT PRABHU CEO, Quest LLC., East Hartford, Conn. Age: 37 Birthplace: Mangalore, Karnataka, India Education: B.S. in mechanical engineering, Karnataka University; M.S., mechanical engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.; M.S., biomechanical engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. Background: Joined GE Corporate R&D Center, Schenectady, N.Y., in 1995; co-founded Quest in 1997 in Bangalore with GE as first customer. Set up offices in six countries; moved headquarters to U.S. Launched joint venture to process metals with Magellan Aerospace in 2007; formed Quest SEZ Pvt. Ltd. the same year to run 300-acre economic zone in Belgaum, Karnataka. Married, with three daughters. How will India’s defense industry develop technology, through intellectual property transfer or from local companies developing proprietary technology? Indian companies are still some way from developing their own intellectual property (IP). Most of the IP development is happening through the government. You don’t see a lot of private companies in India developing technology. A lot of them are service organizations that support other companies and their IP. If you look at GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment, Bangalore), it spent $500 million on the Kaveri turbofan engine to AviationWeek.com/dti no longer be automatically fulfilled by HAL, so private companies can claim o set credits. What are your plans for getting work on European and U.S. defense aerospace projects? Most of the way we approach things is not based on programs but customers. We want to work with certain customers. We look at the top 50 companies in areas we want to be in. Our customers include Pratt & Whitney, GE, United Technologies, Hamilton Sundstrand, Rolls-Royce. We want to establish relationships, and once our customers win APRIL 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL http://AviationWeek.com/dti
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