ADAPTATION
THEMARKETSETSTHEPACE
Economicenvironment
Accelerationof production rates,modernizationof fleets,development of engines
of the future, etc.Themarket requires substantial transformationof the industrial
apparatus.Achallengemet byLISIAEROSPACE.
LISI 2014
50
The year 2014 was a new record year for commercial aviation.
Equally dynamic, business aviation saw anet change in its fortu-
nesthatyear.Onlythemilitarymarkets, regionalaircraftandrotary
wingaircraft (helicopters,gyrocopters,etc.)arestillexperiencinga
difficultmarketenvironment.
Consolidationofmargins
Traffic remainedstrongand theaviationsectorwasable toconso-
lidate itsmargins thanks to fallingoil prices. This environment al-
lowed companies to speedup the restructuringof their fleets, to
prepare for the future and topursue their efforts indrivingdown
their operating costs. This dynamic is to the benefit of the Asian
sector – where demand remains sustained – but also to that of
westerncompanies, thatareequipping themselveswithmorepo-
werful,morecomfortableaircraft.
Increase inorders forAirbusandBoeing
2,900 orders and over 1,350 deliveries for Boeing and Airbus
confirm the sector’sdynamism. Orders for theB787Dreamliner
are increasing, and could reach 12 or even 14 deliveries per
month in 2015. Success, too, for Airbus, which has managed
to deliver its A350 on time, in spite of the complexity of the
program. Both aircraft manufacturers have also maintained
highly sustained production schedules for single aisle aircraft.
Finally, inChina, COMACnow looks likeacompetitor capableof
capturingasignificantpartof theAsianmarketwith itsC919.
Speedingupof themajorprograms
These order upturns come at a time when the LEAP (CFM Inter-
national) and GTF Purepower (Pratt &Whitney) new generation
engineprograms are rampingup. Lastly, they arehappening ina
context of profound adjustment of product ranges tomeet new
economicandenvironmentalchallenges,as illustratedbytheevo-
lutionof theA320andB737aircraft to theNEOandMAXversions,
and the development of the B777X and A330 NEO, inwhich LISI
AEROSPACE ishighlyactive.
Changing the industrialapparatus
These challenges demand a radical overhaul of the industrial
apparatus, which must adapt from a unitary system to series
production. They require proven organization, accelerated
automation, reduced cycle times, near “zero defect” quality and
global program supervision. Highly pressured, the supply chains
must adapt in terms of technology and management in order
tomeet these new constraints. These objectives are among the
prioritiesofLISIAEROSPACE.
LISI AEROSPACE
©AirbusS.A.S. 2014 -A.MCLAUGHLIN
