On July 18th, Bert Stegkemper, Executive Vice-President Global Supply Chain, Eurocopter Group, together with Eurocopter Germany’s CEO Dr. Wolfgang Schoder officially re-opened Eurocopter’s completely modernized and enlarged blade facilities at the group’s German main industrial site in Donauwoerth.
During a ceremony in the presence of various representatives of political authorities, suppliers and programme managers, Bert Stegkemper pointed out the importance of this industrial investment, which marks a further milestone in Eurocopter’s global production process optimization for all helicopter programmes after the extension of the rotor blade shop in La Courneuve near Paris in 2006.
“Following Eurocopter’s enormous commercial success on a global scale, both the EC135 and EC145 programmes are subject to high increases in orders, as part of civil and military procurement. Therefore, we need to enlarge our capacities for serial production and maintenance in short-term up to 40 percent”, Stegkemper stated in his inauguration speech.
Besides increasing space and dedicated tooling, a complete re-engineering was performed in order to reduce lead times and optimize production process. After an overall extension by 1,000 square meters, the new shop now spreads on two levels and is divided into a blade series production and a separate blade repair storey.
By integrating an office section, Eurocopter could not only bundle all essential technological core competencies like design, engineering, production process and quality control in one building, but also create areas to welcome customer services employees and fulfil future staff requirements.
About Eurocopter
Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a Division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace, defence and related services. The Eurocopter Group employs approx. 14,000 people. In 2006, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world’s No. 1 helicopter manufacturer with a turnover of 3.8 billion euros, orders for 615 new helicopters, and a 52% percent market share in the civil and parapublic sectors. Overall, the Group’s products account for 30% percent of the total world helicopter fleet. Its strong worldwide presence is ensured by its 17 subsidiaries on five continents, along with a dense network of distributors, certified agents and maintenance centres. More than 9,800 Eurocopter helicopters are currently in service with over 2,500 customers in 140 countries. Eurocopter offers the largest civil and military helicopter range in the world.
