Paris Air Show: NWAA launches supply chain initiative
At the Paris Air Show today the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) launched a new supply chain initiative for the North West of England.
NWAA is joined in this new industry funded initiative, described as an Aerospace Cluster of Excellence, by ADS (the UK’s premier trade association for the aerospace, defence and security sectors) and key UK aerospace customers including BAE Systems (based in Warton and Samlesbury) and Safran (based in Burnley).
The North West of England’s aerospace sector is one of the largest and most capable in the world generating over £8 Billion in turnover and directly employing over 25,000 highly skilled workers and with the industry forecast to grow by 4.4% per year for the next 20 years, requiring the manufacture of over 35,000 new aircraft worth over $5.3 trillion, it is clear that global competition for this work is increasing.
NWAA is collaborating with 20 aerospace businesses from the North West to develop them into globally competitive companies through mentoring, training, coaching and the development of a new online learning and management system. These businesses will be some of the first in the UK to use the new national standard framework for improvement 'SC21 Competitiveness and Growth' developed by ADS.
The 20 North West Aerospace Businesses that will collaborate on this exciting new programme include; A&G Precision (based in Poulton Le Fylde), Addison (based in Thornton Cleveleys), Bodycote (based in Skelmersdale and Stockport), Kaman Composites (based in Darwen and Burnley), Hycrome Aerospace (based in Burnley), Silcoms (based in Bolton), T&R Precision (based in Foulridge), Teledyne CML (based in Bromborough), Velocity Composites (based in Burnley) and Wincanton (based in Samlesbury).
NWAA believes that membership of this exclusive club of organisations offers many potential benefits beyond supply chain improvement. The Aerospace Cluster of Excellence offers many opportunities for like-minded companies to share best-practise, to collaborate on problem solving, to co-invest in new technologies and ultimately to bid and win new work together.
Dr David Bailey, Chief Executive of the North West Aerospace Alliance, said: “The support we have received for the North West Aerospace Cluster of Excellence from our national aerospace and defence trade association - ADS, from key customers such as BAE Systems and Safran has been unprecedented. The global competition for work is fierce and I am delighted that so many aerospace businesses from the North West of England have decided to collaborate to ensure we sustain and grow the capability of one of the world’s most important aerospace regions.”