Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 15, 2008 - (Page 62) FA R N B O R O U G H 2 0 0 8 ON THE RECORD— Ken Lackey, Chairman and CEO, The NORDAM Group NORDAM Nears Billion-Dollar Mark The billion-dollar barrier should be broken by The NORDAM Group in the next couple of years as one of the world’s largest privately held aerospace companies rides the boom in business jets and commercial airliners. “We’re getting there,” says NORDAM chairman & CEO Ken Lackey. “This year we’ll end up at about $750 million in revenues; we had about 19% growth last year and through the first five months of this year we were up about 17%, so we feel like we’re well on our way.” This performance has encouraged NORDAM will supply wing-to-body fairings and main landing gear doors for the G650. NORDAM’s investors to free up ply chains and deliver on time whatever adds to the value proposition with your funds for further growth in its three is critical, Lackey noted. “Any customer,” said Lackey. “It becomes more than main businesses: design, engineering glitch in the supply chain any- just the absolute lowest price because there’s not and manufacture of composite strucwhere is a major problem, so a person in this business that doesn’t want to build tures for business jets (including bizjet we’ve worked hard on capac- a better airplane. That opportunity comes about thrust reversers, integrated propulity, made investments that once every ten years, so you have to take advansion systems, and interior cabinetry); repair and overhaul of airline thrust NORDAM CEO Ken Lackey. i m p r o v e o u r t e c h n o l o g y, tage of it. Everybody’s got a new platform, at least reversers and nacelles; and composite airframe automation, high speed machining—all of these one, and many of them have multiple platforms, things that will give us the needed edge as a good so we have to be able not only to develop new structures for military aircraft. technology and sell it to them but also show them NORDAM is providing at least two integrated reliable supplier in the business jet industry.” That’s in stark contrast to the collapse in busi- that it’s worthwhile. propulsion systems for business jets that it can“That’s why engineering is so critical to us. It not yet announce, and recently won cabinetry or ness following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the structural work on the Cessna CJ4, Gulfstream U.S. when NORDAM’s business plunged by creates value, and it creates our competitive advantage.” 50% and many suppliers failed to survive. G650, and at Piaggio. —John Morris Today all the discussions inevitably return to “The whole business jet focus for us has been building the engineering capability to bring solu- engineering. “There’s always somebody somewhere in the tions to the table. A new generation of aircraft is coming out to fly higher or faster, with less fuel world that can manufacture cheaper than you, and noise, and we’re trying to participate in every so you need to go to the table with the ability to deliver a solution, whether it’s better acoustics, aspect of that.” NORDAM will be the latest aerospace At the same time the ability to manage sup- better materials, knowledge of certification or NORDAM to Open a Plant in Mexico Boeing 787 Weight Reduction Too Anybody can manufacture things, but design and engineering capabilities are what keep the leaders in front, says Ken Lackey, chairman & CEO of The NORDAM Group. He is proud of his company’s ability to engineer solutions for others’ problems, and he cites the Boeing 787 as an example. “Two years ago Boeing needed to take 5,000 lbs out of the airplane and they re-examined everything, including an all-composite window frame instead of the traditional aluminum. They thought that could save 500 to 600 lbs,” said Lackey. Composites supplier Hexcel had a new material, HexMC, which used compression molding instead of an autoclave, but they had no manufacturing expertise with it. “Within a year we had engineered the window frames and developed the manufacturing with HexMC, and we did, in fact, save 500 to 600 lbs, or 10% of the weight savings Boeing was looking for. “For us, it’s going to give us full production of a product line of probably $25-30 million and we’re the sole source for that. We’re very pleased because it’s something that we developed. We put all our own money into developing it, somewhere between $5-10 million, and we were able to provide a solution to Boeing. “Other than the fact that we’re not delivering any right now, we’re very happy with it.” company to open a manufacturing center in Mexico, according to chairman & CEO Ken Lackey. It’s chosen the state of Chihuahua, where Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna, and Honeywell Aerospace all have manufacturing plants. “It’s starting to be somewhat of a hub. Since we do business with all three of those it’s a good location for us,” said Lackey. “What we’re seeing there is a skilled workforce and a very favorable cost structure.” The new center, which will support all NORDAM’s business, is currently undergoing opening and will be operational soon, he added. NORDAM’s other international locations include a jv in Brazil manufacturing interior cabinetry for Embraer, and a rapidly growing nacelle and thrust reverser MRO operation in Singapore. 62 July 15, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
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