IPC Mouldings, a leading provider of injection moulded parts and assemblies for aircraft interior applications reveals how it is playing a key role in Northern Ireland’s aerospace sector.
Our appetite for air travel shows no signs of slowing down, which is welcomed by everyone working in the aerospace industry as companies work to meet demand and experience exponential growth, quite the turnaround for an industry that two years ago was dependent on government grants and loans for survival.
With the demand comes the requirement for more aircraft and when you begin to think just what is involved in its production, especially in relation to the aircraft interior, it is remarkable to think that every major commercial aircraft programme depends on structures, components, and expert services from Northern Ireland.
Standing just over one sixth in size of the whole of the island of Ireland and with less than 3% of the population of the UK, Northern Ireland is a global leader in aerospace technology. There are more than one hundred aerospace companies in the region within a two-hour radius of each other and it is home to over 50% of the UK’s SC21 Aerospace and Defence Supply Chain Excellence Gold Awards.
With a ready-made supply chain, founded on the region’s strong engineering heritage, aerospace companies in Northern Ireland are inextricably intertwined, rich in knowledge, skills, and experience.
A ‘go to’ location
One such company is SC21 Gold award winner, Carrickfergus-based IPC Mouldings, a leading provider of injection moulded parts and assemblies. It provides key aircraft interior products including food trays and latch assemblies, armcaps and IFE bezels.
Operating from its 27,000ft2 premises, the company offers a wide range of skills and services across the sector, from early input on design for manufacture, tooling solutions, new product introduction, production and assembly using advanced engineering polymers and processing techniques through to quality assurance and product whole life, managing aftermarket requirements.
IPC Mouldings’ dedicated team of engineers understands the customers’ needs and is committed to working in partnership with OEMs, delivering solutions by creating highly cosmetic, lightweight and durable products, which are visible to the end user and certainly play their part to enhance passenger’s experience onboard the aircraft.
With a high-quality service and performance at all times, IPC Mouldings has achieved 99.84% average on quality and 99.63% average on delivery from 2017 to 2022 delivering 12 million parts and assemblies to the aerospace sector. The company’s key objective is to demonstrate competence, reliability, and the ability to deliver results to its customers through operational excellence within the supply chain.
Joanne Liddle, managing director at IPC Mouldings comments: “The aerospace sector in Northern Ireland is continuing to strengthen and illustrates the region’s commitment as the ‘go to’ for global companies looking for supply chain providers. At IPC Mouldings, we continually invest in our future with new equipment, redefining our approach in this post covid world by optimising our productivity, extending our capability and offering flexible solutions to our customers.
“We are quality driven, and people focused, our culture is continuous improvement, and we place a firm focus on our dedication to quality, precision, perfection and ultimately, best practice. Our goal at IPC Mouldings is to be our customer’s best supplier. Our ethos is to evolve and our ambition is to be at the forefront of change, bringing a fresh approach, and encouraging our people, who are the backbone of our success to step up and be part of something great.”
Over the next few years, Northern Ireland will benefit from a package of investment from four City and Growth Deals, with combined funding of £1.3 billion, which will be complemented by private sector and other sources of funding. The aerospace industry is certainly looking sky high for Northern Ireland’s economy.
