QuEST Global Manufacturing Pvt Ltd and Saab ABtoday inaugurated their new facility dedicated to the manufacture and supply of aerostructure assemblies for the commercial aerospace market. Aerostructures Assemblies India Private Limited (“AAIPL”) is a joint venture between QuEST Global Manufacturing and Saab AB with each company holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. AAI currently has 23 employees and will be looking to scale up over the coming months.
Aerostructures Assemblies India Private Limited (AAIPL) is located in Belgaum, Karnataka, India where QuEST Global has developed a fully operational Special Economic Zone, which also houses QuEST Global Manufacturing.
The new entity is established with a vision to develop a robust aerospace business and AAIPL is focused on build to-print assemblies for emerging markets and to harness growing defence offset opportunities in the country.
Speaking at the launch Aravind Melligeri, Chairman and CEO of QuEST Global adds, “We are happy to inaugurate this new joint venture facility between QuEST Global Manufacturing and Saab AB, which has come to fruition, with customer approvals, in less than a year of inking the agreement. QuEST Global Manufacturing has taken the lead in developing the expertise in the aerospace sector while adopting a holistic approach ranging from detail parts to full assemblies. With this milestone, QuEST Global further reinforces its position as a preferred provider in the aerospace assembly market.”
AAI will begin delivering the first assemblies from this new facility in Oct 2013. This facility has been established from concept to full operations in a record time of less than 11 months from the day the Joint Venture was signed.
· JV Agreement signed – Nov 2012
· Project Activities initiated – Dec 2012
· Building Activity initiated – Feb 2013
· Workshop ready for operations – Aug 2013
· Customer approvals secured – Sep 2013
Strengths of the JV:
· Ability to leverage Saab AB’s expertise in the manufacturing of aerostructures assemblies. Saab AB manufactures complex airframe assemblies for the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers, including Airbus and Boeing, thus ensuring required expertise to prosper in the aerostructures assemblies market.
· Provide cost efficient and reliable solutions by virtue of it being established in the QuEST Global SEZ – a self-sustaining aerospace ecosystem, which includes aerospace forgings, machining, sheet metal fabrication and surface treatment capabilities.
· QuEST’s strong positioning in the Indian aerospace manufacturing sector will enable the JV to leverage the existing customer base and grow rapidly
The new entity has been established with a vision to develop a robust aerospace business that is focused on build-to-print assemblies for the emerging market and defense offset opportunities available currently in India. Its long term goal is to emerge as a low cost provider of choice in the aerostructures assemblies market.
This partnership between the two companies enjoys technology transfer from Saab to develop capability building for Assembly, Tooling, Material and Supply Chain as well as technical training for aircraft assemblies and sub-assemblies.
“We’re experiencing increased production rates during the coming years. This partnership will provide a cost-efficient and reliable source of assemblies acting as a complement to Saab’s in-house manufacturing. This is a long-term commitment in a strategically important market for Saab and it further establishes Saab as a global player in the commercial aerostructures market”, says Kjell Johnsson, Managing Director, within the aerostructures unit of Saab’s business area Aeronautics.
The growing demand for aerospace services and products globally has propelled the markets to explore partnerships that can offer joint capabilities that are advanced and competitive to its customers. QuEST with its global delivery best practices along with Saab’s strong technology lineage is well poised to be among the few partnerships that will create a lasting impression in the aerospace industry in the years to come.
About QuEST Global SEZ
QuEST Global SEZ is India’s first ever notified precision engineering Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Belgaum, Karnataka providing the best-in-class facilities and infrastructure for Aerospace, Automotive and Industrial engineering industries. The development is spread over 300 acres and is currently focused on developing the Aerospace supply chain ecosystem for OEMs, suppliers, ancillary and related end user industries. This enables complete offerings of design to build services, right from the concept to the finished product that can be used to build an aircraft. This is a unique offering from QuEST Global that is set to gain widespread appeal in the aerospace industry, as companies consolidate their supply chain and look for more value-add from their suppliers. Along with a facility for QuEST Global Engineering and QuEST Global Manufacturing, API (Aerospace Processing India Pvt. Ltd.) – a joint venture between QuEST Global Manufacturing & Magellan Aerospace for surface treatment, SQuAD Forging India Pvt Ltd – a joint venture with Aubert & Duval and Setforge for aerospace forgings and Aerostructure Assemblies India Pvt Ltd – a joint venture with Saab AB for aerostructure assemblies have been set up within the SEZ.
KUDOS BELGAUM.
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