AVIATION | Aerosud
B
African Business Network
AEROSUD
Building relationships to stay ahead of the game
AVIATION | Aerosud
Formed in 1991 Aerosud has made a name for itself as the benchmark in South African commercial aviation engineering and manufacturing. While the majority of this complex manufacturing is located in the US or in Asia, Aerosud under the guidance of Johan Steyn has consistently embraced technology advances to remain as a key component supplier to some of the biggest names in commercial aviation and a vital member of the international air travel supply chain. However, Steyn is not happy to rest on his laurels, the Aerosud Aviation MD and his management team is entering new partnerships, harnessing new technologies and developing training facilities to ensure the company is at the forefront of future aviation manufacturing and engineering.
Advanced technologies A new area of technology Aerosud has been concentrating on since ABN last spoke to the
and is in the process of marketing
company a year ago is closed core technology the manufacturing technique to new (CCT).
opportunities.
The group has formed a new company
The technology involves using a rigid
Aerosud Technology Solutions to lead the
thermoplastic mould to form the desired
programme which is now fully operational
structure which is embrittled during the
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curing process and then can be easily broken
a reduction in part count, very preferential
out and removed to release the fully formed
in such complex designs, it offers a 20-50%
composition.
reduction in parts resulting in a potential 30% cost saving from less parts and a shorter
CCT enables the manufacturing of multiple
assembly time.
hollow composite structures, like a wingbox, in one single process. The primary benefit is
“You save on weight, costs and part count,
AVIATION | Aerosud
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it’s an all-round saving,” explains Steyn. “This
design these organically grown parts. You can
company is now fully operational as part
change the design and thinking philosophy
of the Aerosud group and we are trying to
completely when you talk about additive laser
market it and open new opportunities under
manufacturing. You start with no boundaries
the auspices of new technologies to secure
and you can create something completely
the future and grow the business.”
differently from what we see today.”
Another area Aerosud Innovation and
Steyn is driving the evolution into new
Training Centre has pioneered is additive
technologies to ensure that Aerosud retains
laser manufacturing, more commonly known
its position as the market leader in African
as 3D printing. While the company has
aviation engineering and manufacturing.
stepped back from 3D printing as a direct
He stresses that it is crucial to embrace
manufacturing process it is moving into the
technological and industry changes to stay
design and simulation stage and interfacing
at the top, that goes for South Africa as a
with original equipment manufacturers
country as well as his company.
(OEMs) to apply the technology. Steyn says it could unlock a new tranche of manufacturing
Aerosud is sponsoring a specific session on
possibilities.
advanced manufacturing at the Vision 2030 summit in Johannesburg in June. It will be
“We will be investing in the tools of how to
an opportunity to showcase the advanced
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manufacturing activities in South Africa,
and thoroughly strengthens its position in the
particularly promoting the importance
market today.
of industry 4.0 – the ‘smart factory’ phenomenon – and the internet of things.
In July last year Aerosud signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)
“The fact of the matter is if you are not part of
with Ethiopian Airlines, a mutually beneficial
it you will lose out big time, you will become
agreement to boost Ethiopia’s aerospace
irrelevant and become a subsistence farming
manufacturing industry and unlock a new
country only,” asserts Steyn. “You’ve got to
business stream for Aerosud.
drive advanced manufacturing and top of the range technologies otherwise you will lose
“The objective is fairly simple, it’s an
the top end people because they will head
opportunity for us to grow our medium to
overseas.”
long-term business and expand our footprint
Industry relationships
into Africa,” Steyn explains.
To retain its industry leading position Steyn
“They are certainly from our perspective the
has taken Aerosud into a number of new
most successful airline in the whole of Africa.
relationships. Building networks through
They are a progressively thinking airline
joint venture programmes and bilateral
and they are seen as a flagship organisation
industry bodies future proofs the company
within the Ethiopian domain, that gives them
AVIATION | Aerosud
some very special unique characteristics that
come in the shape of training and setting
one would not normally associate with an
up any business processes unique to the
airline.”
manufacturing world outside of commercial aviation.
For Ethiopian Airlines the agreement is a step towards establishing a growing
“There is a clear commitment from both
manufacturing capability in-country and
sides, it may mean work moving between
Steyn indicates the airline could have some
companies or directly to OEMs, the options
leverage on the industrial content entering
are unlimited as far as that is concerned,”
the country on the back of future purchases.
outlines Steyn.
The flagship carrier will also be able to tap
The timing is convenient as the agreed
in to Aerosud’s longstanding relationship
perspective is that the African airline industry
with a number of global OEMs and the
will require more than 1,000 new aircrafts,
South African firm will act as a partner for
while at the same time the global airline
the new entry. Aerosud’s involvement would
industry will require over 30,000 aircrafts,
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over the next 20 years as the number of
In the interest of industry growth and
passengers flying on the continent will
protection, towards the end of last year
increase as wages rise and both business and
Aerosud Aviation put together an industry
leisure travel take hold.
gathering with representatives from over 50 companies as well as government
Steyn holds Ethiopian Airlines up as a good
stakeholders and associations to discuss and
example of a company preparing for the
formulate a unified body to represent and
growth by its position on the trajectory curve
promote the interests of the South African
and the preparatory work it has implemented
commercial aviation manufacturing industry.
to capitalise on the upswing – the agreement with Aerosud is just one example of that.
It was a bold step but after a day of debates
Aerosud’s manufacturing expertise and
it became clear the companies within the
reputation for delivering quality engineering
sector were all facing the same problems
stands it in good stead to act as the ‘gateway
and wanted the same solution. That was the
to Africa’ from a manufacturing perspective.
day the Commercial Aviation Manufacturing Association of South Africa (CAMASA) was
AVIATION | Aerosud
born to create a unified, relevant voice for the
played a part in pushing forward advanced
industry.
manufacturing, coming together with industry can create a much stronger force
“We are promoting a direction where we as
into the future.
a commercial aviation manufacturing sector would like to enter into a bilateral agreement
“The idea is to create a public-private
with government with one objective. In a five
partnership bilateral growth agreement. We
year period we believe it is possible to double
want to talk about an integrated industry
the commercial aviation manufacturing
growth plan, but it has to be developed with
output in this country,” remarks Steyn.
concrete measurable timescales and growth targets.
“By organising ourselves better and being more structured at a national, regional and
“Together with that we want to expand and
local level we can leverage all of the small
integrate all the other initiatives around
things we do that end up not being so small.”
advanced manufacturing and then to think about where we want to be in 10-15 years –
The Aerosud Aviation MD is the first to admit
that’s when you have to start to think about
that the industry could have done more
the internet of things and industry 4.0.”
in the past to drive towards this goal as a collective body. While the government has
Aerosud’s own industry relationships have
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played an important role in the company’s
is focused on securing more work with its
progression too. DSV is a major logistics
major clients, ramping up units on the A320
supply partner on inbound and outbound
and A350 with Spirit Aerosystems and Safran
logistics, ABSA provide financial services as
Electrical Power and a 10-12% increase
the company’s commercial bank and Dassault
on delivery to Boeing, as the B737 rates
Systems, CMI and Syspro all partner on the
increase.
technical and engineering side. With the new technology Aerosud has A new training facility was opened last year to
championed, the potentially fruitful new
continue the conveyor belt of South Africa’s
industry partnerships and the continued
best engineering minds coming through the
relationships with worldwide major OEMs
company and possibly to the wider industry.
such as Boeing and Airbus, Aerosud is in a
The company has localised parts of its
prime position to continue its growth and
overseas supply chain with existing facility
expand the African commercial aviation
expansions and establishing a structural
manufacturing industry for years to come.
composite facility in 2017.
CONTACT
All the new developments are in mind to not only grow the business but consolidate the work it undertakes with existing clients. Steyn
http://www.aerosud.co.za/ +27 (0) 12 662 5000 info@aerosud.co.za
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