Officials of aircraft manufacturer Airbus meet with Ohio companies to promote business

International aircraft manufacturer Airbus spent $14.4 billion last year on aircraft-related procurement in the U.S., including $6.1 billion in Ohio, the company’s No. 1 supplier state. Airbus intends to nearly double that spending amount in the U.S. by 2020 to meet growing global demand for more fuel-efficient jets.

Today, Airbus officials will meet with representatives from nearly 100 Ohio companies at a procurement conference at the National Composite Center in Kettering to promote and facilitate increased business between the state’s aerospace manufacturers and Airbus.

Increased contractor relationships with Airbus could lead to more jobs and entrepreneurial activity for the Dayton region, local officials said.

“To bring a global company like Airbus into the community with the National Composite Center will mean that local companies will have the opportunity to hire people,” said Montgomery County Commission Dan Foley.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, are both scheduled to attend the event.

Airbus’ procurement spending in Ohio increased more than 19 percent last year to $6.1 billion from $5.1 billion in 2012.

In the Dayton region, Airbus accounted for about $11.5 million in direct spending last year with suppliers such as UTC Aerospace Systems in Troy, as well as the National Composite Center, said Dave Williams, Airbus Americas vice president of procurement. The company also spends “billions of dollars” annually with Cincinnati-area aircraft engine manufacturers GE Aviation and CFM International, he said.

“The downflow of that to the Dayton region is huge,” with “hundreds of millions, if not billions” benefiting those companies’ area suppliers, Williams said.

France-based Airbus forecasts air traffic will grow 4.7 percent annually over the next 20 years. That will require 29,200 new passenger and freighter aircraft to be built, including 10,400 to replace existing planes with more efficient ones, at a total value of nearly $4.4 trillion.

American rival Boeing Co. forecasts long-term demand for 36,770 new aircraft, valued at $5.2 trillion, including 15,500 to replace older, less efficient models.

Williams, who is headquartered in Herndon, Va., said U.S. aerospace manufacturers offer a mature and capable industry that can provide the technology to make new aircraft more fuel efficient, cost effective and a better experience for passengers.

In addition, Airbus has an “exchange rate challenge” because the company sells the vast majority of its products in U.S. dollars, but still buys about 50 percent of components in higher value euros, he said.

“There is an exposure to the exchange rate movements and part of Airbus’ strategy to mitigate that risk is to buy more and more in U.S. dollarized zones,” Williams said.

Those elements combine to make the U.S. a strategic procurement country for Airbus, with Ohio being a key region because of its manufacturing and innovation capabilities, he said.

Ohio has more than 1,200 private companies in the aerospace and defense industry, and directly employs over 130,000 full-time aerospace and aviation workers, according to JobsOhio, the state’s private non-profit economic development firm.

Today’s conference in Kettering is intended to reinforce and advance Airbus’ existing contractor relationships, as well as connect the company with new businesses in the industry.

Officials from Airbus and top suppliers including GE Aviation and Parker Aerospace will address representatives from 96 registered companies about what is required to become part of Airbus’ supply chain, said Lisa Novelli, president and chief executive of the National Composite Center.

“They will have a better understanding of what they have to do, whether it is compliance or do they have to invest in new technology,” Novelli said.

Airbus held three previous supplier summits in 2009 and 2010 in Cleveland, Columbus and Kettering. This year, the company is hosting one statewide conference at the National Composite Center. “That is really good for this region and the visibility for us,” Novelli said.

The non-profit NCC has been developing a relationship with Airbus in recent years, researching composite manufacturing materials, and recruiting both U.S. and Ohio suppliers for the company.

In June, the Ohio Edison Advanced Manufacturing Program awarded a $500,000 grant to the NCC for the development of an aerospace manufacturing technology hub with Airbus. The hub program would offer lower-tier suppliers access to training, certification and innovative technology in Computer Numeric Control-based manufacturing in the aerospace industry.

Novelli said the Ohio Third Frontier Commission is expected to vote Wednesday on the NCC’s $2.7 million grant proposal to its Innovative Platform Program to establish the physical technology hub. The NCC proposal includes $2.7 million in matching funds from Airbus and other industry partners, she said.

Williams said the NCC is a “key partnership” for Airbus. “It is a very capable technical house that uses its connections to really add value to the business,” he said.

- Source:   http://www.mydaytondailynews.com