More than one hundred experts from AERTEC Solutions develop activities related to this strategic project operated by the European aeronautical consortium.
The A400M, a next-generation military transport aircraft from Airbus Military, received its Initial Operating Clearance (IOC) during July, the last step required before its delivery to the French Air Force, which took place in Seville on September 1st. This action represents an important milestone for European military air transport.
This delivery represents the culmination of 10 years of development by Airbus Military and more than 5,000 flight-test hours, involving engineers, technicians and specialists joining forces from all over the European Union.
The delivery, recently authorised by the French procurement agency DGA, enables the aircraft, MSN7 (name given to aircraft), to join tomorrow the French airbase of Orleans-Bricy where it will be based with the French Air Force.
It is, without doubt, an historic day for the European aerospace industry – marking the moment at which it becomes the new global leader in the military transport sector with an entirely new and innovative aircraft.
This first aircraft delivered to France will initially be used for the continuing training of aircrew before becoming part of the French Air Force operational transport fleet.
AERTEC Solutions joined the A400M programme in 2004, and since then has been developing engineering services in the industrial and manufacturing cycles of the project.
Among these services, the following can be highlighted:
Industrial Engineering
- Industrial and logistical organisation of the A400M FAL
- Industrial organisation and specifications for the LTK Logistics Centre for the A400M (among others). Building design (infrastructure)
- Production planning and control of all work stations
- Planning of internal programmes such as FSF
- Various Flight Test Centre Activities
Manufacturing Engineering
- Systems engineering (stations 35, 30, 20 and 15)
- Specifications and monitoring of test means
- Tooling engineering
- Process industrialisation (stations 35, 30 and 20) and workshop support
- Manufacturing engineering in electrical workshop
- Material revision engineering
- Industrialisation and technical support for REC (Rework Electrical Centre)
- Standardisation and improvement of processes (all stations)
Watch the video of the ceremony… http://videos.airbus.com/video/b7e307e9129s.html
Opinion.
David Doral – Product & Manufacturing Engineering Director
For AERTEC Solutions the A400M forms an important part of our aerospace business, not only has it allowed us to develop almost all of our principal capabilities, but it has also allowed us to develop new skills. We have participated in the programme since its outset and we hope to continue doing so throughout its entire life cycle.
We began almost 10 years ago, starting out with some concurrent engineering activities, mostly related to systems integration, allowing the design to be aligned with the subsequent manufacturing process. We also worked on the design and construction of the Final Assembly Line (FAL), along with the definition and optimisation of the assembly line and the industrial and logistics processes.
Once production commenced, we continued working in systems engineering, we began providing support during the test process and also to the systems installation and assembly processes. We also helped AIRBUS Military with production control and planning of the manufacturing activities on almost all of the stations.
Currently, with the gradual increase in production and with the acquisition of GLENSER Aerospace, we continue to work hard in all the aforementioned areas. Also, due to the advances in production and subsequent rate of growth of AIRBUS, we are starting to adapt and develop new activities in order to grow ourselves, as must all the different AIRBUS suppliers today. Our engineering teams, our test systems, our industrial, structural and systems installation resources, along with our electrical manufacturing support professionals and all other manufacturing support personnel have all been intensively put to the test during the last year. They represent our company name and the solutions we provide, demonstrating that we rise to each challenge and build on our experience.
In general, it has, and will continue to be an interesting journey for AERTEC Solutions, having begun by dedicating a few engineers to this programme almost a decade ago, today we have more than 100 staff carrying out activities based around the A400M. Many of the professionals that joined us as young, recently graduated engineers have grown with the company, becoming professionals with recognised experience. Thanks to AERTEC Solutions’ continued backing of new talent and its steady support in projects such as the A400M, in just over 15 years we have gone from a small local firm to an aeronautical engineering multinational with a workforce of over 350.
