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LETTER FROM THE MANAGEMENT
The Group pursued its progress
and qualitative efforts across
all its areas of development
and mainly on the two pillars
of strategic differentiation,
namely innovation and
operational performance.
Both in the aerospace and automoti ve sector s ,
developments in new innovative and technical products
have never been so numerous and represent a significant
future volume of business. These product developments
are market-specific: 28 patents filed in 2018 for the
entire Group, as well as all the joint developments of new
products completed with customers in the aeronautical
fastener and automotive segments, which amount to a
very significant sales revenue. In the shorter term, the
Group has focused on the following aspects:
• A host of innovative assembly systems on the Boeing
777X in connection with composite applications;
• Newmetal leading edges for the GE9X;
• Innovative products for the Electrical Parking Brake
(EPB) applications at leading global automotive OEMs;
• Cross-synergies resulting from the sale of concepts and
technology between Termax in the United States and the
rest of Clipped Solutions Business Group in Europe;
• New products incorporating original technologies in the
segment of minimally invasive surgery for the medical
sector.
Some of these examples of specific products created,
developed and industrialized by the Group should generate
business as of 2019.
Process innovation is also a major differentiator. On the
one hand, thanks to its recent acquisitions, the Group
offers its customers an efficient global production
infrastructure across its divisions. On the other hand,
the level of investment again reached a peak in 2018 at
€131 million, after an all-time high in 2017 (€140 million).
A new movement is turning to the exploration of digital
manufacturing with a dedicated team and clearly
identified projects. In this respect, we must salute and
applaud the appointment of the Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône
plant as “Showcase Industry of the Future” and other
initiatives that represent as many pilot workshops in
different geographical areas as France, the United States
or Germany.
INNOVATION
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