CONTINUOUS GROWTH, stronger industrial ORGANIZATION

With the development and industrialization of numerous programs, and strong advances in spare parts and repairs, Zodiac AeroSafety has had a good year, boosted by the operational performance of its teams and the adaptation of its industrial organization in line with developments in its markets, leading to greater customer satisfaction.

Numerous developments to support future activities

2014 was a year of significant development, qualification and preparation for the commissioning of equipment for a number of previously won programs. These include evacuation slides and interconnect systems for the Airbus A350 XWB, slides for Irkut's MC21, slides and landing-gear harnesses for Bombardier's CSeries, and cable-protection harnesses for the UTAS nacelles on the Boeing B787 Work on helicopter programs was conducted in a collaborative way with order specifiers, notably the flexible tanks and emergency floatation for Airbus Helicopters’ Bell 429 and X4. Meanwhile, the development of cascades on the UTAS nacelles for the Airbus A320neo successfully passed its critical design review. In addition, Zodiac AeroSafety was selected by Sikorsky for the flexible tanks for its CH53K military helicopter and by Airbus for evacuation slides for its A321 neo. Another area of progress was the very high level of activity in spares and repairs across all product lines.

Operational performance

In conjunction with the deployment of Lean Management methods, operational performance has continued to improve. In particular there has been a notable recovery at the Saint-Crepin plant. The teams are motivated and processes are more efficient, and the same is true for Caudebec for flexible tanks, taking delivery punctuality to 93.6% for all sites. Customers appreciate the progress we have made. For example, Zodiac Interconnect was singled out in France by Snecma for having met all its delivery times without any compliance issues, and in the UK by Fokker-Elmo which crowned it Best Supplier 2013.

Organization in tune with market developments

We are continuing to rationalize production, transferring to Chihuahua the manufacture of slides for the Airbus A320 so that the Cognac site can specialize in helicopter rafts and emergency floatation. Increasing level of production of the Chihuahua plant for electrical interconnection and Soliman for elastomers and composites is also enabling us to be more competitive. Other beneficial initiatives include the use of simulation methods to reduce development costs, for example for slide deployment tests or emergency arrest simulations, and a determined focus on innovation such as new-generation deicers installed on Bombardier's Dash8, powder generators replacing pressurized gas for rafts and slides, and composite tubes integrated in fuel systems.

48 | TRAVEL JOURNAL 2013/2014