Ronald Donner - AVIATIONS PROS

In April I attended the Aerospace Innovation Forum 2016 organized by Aero Montreal in collaboration with the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec. Prior to this I’d been to Montreal and of course knew that many large aerospace companies were located there, but I knew less about the Quebec Aerospace Cluster and really nothing about the Aero Montreal organization. Needless to say, I learned a lot.

This year’s forum, held during the International Aerospace Week – Montreal, provided the area an opportunity to promote various issues related to the aerospace sector, not only innovation and research, but MRO and talent development.

Aero Montreal

Aero Montreal began in 2006 as a think tank of sorts that brought together the major decision makers in Quebec's aerospace sector. Member organizations also include educational and research institutions, related associations, and unions. The mission seems simple; mobilize Quebec’s aerospace cluster to support the area’s growth and influence on the global stage. The greater Montreal area employs an aerospace workforce of over 40,000.

On Tuesday morning a group from the aviation media had the opportunity to sit down with Aero Montreal’s president Suzanne M. Benoit. As she put it, “We have strong collaborations with the European aerospace industry but not so much with the U.S. On this 10th anniversary of Aero Montreal, we want to better connect with the U.S. aerospace industry.”

The MACH Initiative

Stemming from the work by Aero Montreal’s Supply Chain Working Group, the MACH initiative is designed to optimize the performance of Quebec’s aerospace supply chain and increase its global competitiveness. It is the result of joint discussions among members of the Quebec Aerospace Cluster and intends to be a unifying process to support the long-term strategic growth of the sector.

The MACH initiative began in 2011 under the mentorship of Bombardier Aerospace, and aims to strengthen the supply chain structure and companies involved in it by creating special collaboration links among customers and suppliers.

Centered on a program of developing supplier competitiveness, including a performance label, all the measures deployed as part of the MACH initiative will allow suppliers to evaluate their situation, identify opportunities for improvement, and take appropriate action.

The initiative will progressively make available to participating companies services, tools and methodologies to evaluate and improve their performance and market position and further develop business opportunities.

Montreal aerospace company visits

During the week, a group of us were also treated to a visit of six aerospace companies in the Great Montreal area where we were learned about each company along with facility tours.

Bombardier Global Completion Center, the final completion and delivery facility for the Global series of business jets.

Heroux Devtek, the third largest manufacturer of landing gear and also an MRO for landing gear. was recently selected as a landing gear system provider for the Boeing 777 and 777X.

Sonaca, where we saw firsthand the machining of large wing skins, wing spar sections, and other highly complex machined parts used to manufacture aircraft wings.

Pratt & Whitney Canada Mirabel where we had an up-close look and detailed explanation of a new PW800 just prior to being shipped to Gulfstream.

Bell Helicopter Textron Canada where we were treated to watch a demonstration flight of the new Bell 505.

CAE, the builder of aircraft flight simulators, also provided us a glimpse at itsdigital maintenance simulation platform being developed for the military segment.

Doing MRO in Canada

Thursday April 28 was the inaugural Doing MRO in Canada Conference where over 150 attendees were provided a number of sessions relating to the MRO business. The day began with an MRO industry update and continued with sessions on current trends, challenges, workforce training, supply chain, and new technologies in MRO.

I moderated a panel discussion with a group of leaders from the Montreal MRO community on trends and challenges in the MRO business today. The panelists were Giles Neron, senior director, Business Development & Administration from Air Canada; Jim Andrews, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Commercial Engines Solutions; and Robert Gogo, senior director Business Development – AJW Technique.

A few key points were made clear from the panelists regarding the MRO business today: the importance of collaboration between OEMs and MROs, between MROs, and the move toward MROs providing more than just the repair of engines, components, or aircraft, but total support programs for customers. Total support programs come in many shapes and sizes these days and based on comments from this panel of experts, clearly MRO customers are asking their maintenance provider partners to become an integral part of a customer’s maintenance organization.