Aerospace Manufacturing and BCI Aerospace together profile world-class aerospace industry suppliers of note.

BCI Aerospace has just announced a new event in the aerospace calendar: Aerospace Meetings Guadalajara 2010 running from 4-8 October. Aerospace Manufacturing’s Mike Richardson discovers what significance this event will have in helping to make Mexico’s aerospace dream a reality.

In recent years, Mexico has developed significant engineering and design capabilities to serve an aerospace industry which generates approximately 4,000 millions of US dollars in exports and provides 27,000 direct jobs for its economy each year. Its dream for the development of a Mexican revolution in aerospace involves consolidating its current capabilities, manufacturing more complex components and structures and, most importantly, achieving full assembly of an indigenous aircraft within the next four years.

Calling upon its existing strengths in automotive, electronics and ICT applications, Mexico is now positioned to design and manufacture a variety of aerospace avionics systems, including crucial safety critical hardware and software products. Although the country is yet to build its first aircraft, Jalisco-based Hydra Technologies designs and manufactures three types of drone UAV for the international market place.

The movement of large aerospace OEM companies like Safran, Eaton Corporation, and Bombardier has seen the emergence of small, high-tech companies that continue to support Mexico’s supplier base and help make it internationally competitive. The focus for the country is no longer primarily concerned with low cost labour, but now also offers strong engineering skills and tariff-free access - not only to the EU, but also the USA, Canada Japan and Brazil too.

The Mexican state of Jalisco specialises in aerospace design and engineering capabilities through partnerships with leading companies that help create a technological talent base devoted to engineering electronics, testing, systems integration, prototypes development and software development service. The state capital, Guadalajara, already employs more than 80,000 people working for an electronics industry that comprises design, manufacturing and MRO operations.

The strategy for aerospace growth

One of the key strategies of Jalisco’s electronics industry is to increase its growth in the aerospace arena. To help make this dream a reality, Canieti, Mexico’s national chamber for electronics, telecommunication, and IT industries has collaborated with the Jalisco government to facilitate the technology transfer of the region’s electronics skills into Mexico’s burgeoning aerospace capabilities.

“The state of Jalisco has built close relationships with the government, academia and the electronics sector,” begins Federico Lepe, deputy secretary of strategic projects, Government of Jalisco. “Between them, the region has identified that the main area for growth for Jalisco is in establishing an aerospace cluster. Our aim is to develop and strengthen relationships with large subcontract manufacturers and its supply chain like Sanmina SCI, Jabil, Benchmark Electronics and Flextronics: companies that are already involved in the aerospace industry, that possess AS9100 approvals and are looking to move into the region along with current aerospace companies located in Guadalajara, such as Global Vantage and CGM, focused on engineering services.”

Lepe adds that this move represents a great opportunity for the Jalisco region’s growth. Guadalajara has many software development companies and generates 75% of the embedded software products for the whole of Mexico. With strong software capabilities in other industries, he says that the plan is to transfer these capabilities into the aerospace industry.

“At present, we have 16 Jalisco-based companies involved in aerospace,” he explains. “We want to continue this growth and become a reliable supply chain partner to the aerospace industry. With $3billion already invested in aerospace manufacturing, Mexico has the largest number of industry related projects in place outside North America.”

Attending BCI Aerospace’s 2008 Aeromart Toulouse event, Lepe says the Jalisco consortium was very impressed by the business convention organiser’s role in providing the platform for a networking event between customers and suppliers.

“We realised that in order to forge links with some of the leading aerospace companies, we would need to create our own event in Guadalajara,” he maintains. “BCI’s consistent track record clearly demonstrates that it can offer us a great opportunity to become part of its organised events calendar in order to develop the type of supply chain we need. We want the Guadalajara event to be the first of many for years to come.”

Jalisco will show the way

Lepe refers to the recent announcement of the Jalisco region’s Aerospace Meetings Guadalajara 2010 taking place from 4-8 October. In a joint venture with the Jalisco state government, Canieti and, BCI Aerospace, Aerospace Meetings Guadalajara is a supply chain oriented business forum for Mexican and international contract manufacturers to meet through pre-planned B2B meetings, discuss partnership opportunities and enable the entire aerospace industry to explore Mexico, discover opportunities and develop local aerospace supply chains.

“This event will undoubtedly be a very important event for BCI Aerospace,” begins the company’s area manager for North America, Alain Ngoie. “Although Mexico is chiefly a subcontract manufacturer area, there are increasingly more primes like Eaton Corporation, Safran, and Bombardier investing in the country’s competitive cost labour environment in order to develop a supplier base. The state of Jalisco has been working with BCI for some time: this partnership presents a fantastic opportunity to establish an event that will help Jalisco achieve its goal of developing a supplier base in Mexico and attract foreign suppliers.

“As the host of this event, all the benefits will go to Mexico. Many companies will be travelling from overseas, and for many it will be their first visit to this country. The best way Jalisco can attract more aerospace business is to welcome these international companies and show them the kinds of aerospace design and manufacturing capabilities they can obtain from the region.”
Ngoie adds that it’s also a great opportunity for the SMEs in North America and Europe already working with these major international companies. Developing supplier bases in countries like Mexico can, in his view, be problematic as the primes can’t easily always find the manufacturing capabilities they desire.

“In order to overcome this issue, we need to diffuse more technology, experience and knowledge by attracting those companies that actually know how to work efficiently with the primes,” he explains. “This will help local Mexican suppliers to acquire more capabilities, expertise and technology in order to produce high specialised products and services.”

As a truly international event, Aerospace Meetings Guadalajara 2010 will extend a warm welcome to its Mexican neighbour states so that they too can join as one to help service the entire Mexican aerospace industry and ensure that everyone benefits from this event’s dynamic at the same time.

“Aerospace Meetings Guadalajara 2010 will be the premier aerospace event for the region,” Ngoie concludes. “Gaining strong industrial support from the likes of Eaton, Safran and Bombardier means we’ve secured important credibility for this event already. For three days, this event will bring together 100 Mexican companies, 150 foreign companies representing 20 countries and involve 5,000 pre-planned face to face meetings - all with the hope of fulfilling everyone’s expectations!”

Organiser of leading industry events, BCI Aerospace is the advanced business meetings – abe’s specialised division for the aeronautics, space and defence sectors.

www.bciaerospace.com