JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #48 - May 2009 - 61

AN INTERVIEW WITH MR HANS LONSINGER, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF PREMIUM AEROTEC JEC Composites Magazine: Premium Aerotec was created four months ago – how would you describe its situation now? HANS LONSINGER: Augsburg’s plant, as a part of our new company, has been a tierone supplier for the aviation industry ever before our inauguration on the 1st of January 2009. First, I’d like to emphasize the human aspect. Our teams are proud to work on aerostructures for prestigious customers like Airbus, Boeing, and Eurofighter, among others. The complexity of the projects we work on requires highly motivated and qualified personnel. In terms of organization, our three plants now work as a single operation financially, management-wise, and engineering-wise. We have made the necessary adjustments to become a stable, long-living company. Our thoughts are also on our development, and we are looking for good engineers from the defence, space, and aviation industries to develop our aerostructures. From now on, it will take a year and a half of development to setup fine tuning of our segments for the A350XWB. We have a large, mostly composite work package in this new programme, where we have done the most predevelopment together with our customer for this new fascinating aircraft. But now we are looking for the finalization of these aerostructures in development and in the manufacturing engineering - phase. Therefore we are recruiting some more engineers, and we are open to international recruits. JCM: As Premium Aerotec makes parts for both Airbus and Boeing, how do you handle working for these two rivals? H. L.: We have different teams assigned to each aircraft manufacturer, even for production, so that we can meet the different requirements and handle the different cultural practices more efficiently. JCM: What benefit will you gain from winning a JEC Award? H. L.: It takes three to four years to develop such a large part using infusion technology. Theoretically, the know-how is already available and used on small parts, but it still was a big challenge for our teams. Producing high-tech parts is very gratifying. Being recognized by professionals outside the company proves to us that we are on the right track. Integrated structures allow using the advantages of composite materials to a maximum, and the infusion process allows reducing tooling costs and replacing prepregs – and thus eliminating the storage issues and (to a lesser extent) the problems linked to humidity and dust that come with prepregs. JCM: What is your next challenge? H. L.: The next challenge for Premium Aerotec is to apply the VAP® technology that won us the JEC Award to the A350XWB’s structural parts and the next generation of single aisle aircraft. The fact that we have already successfully applied it to parts as large as the A400M cargo door and the pressure bulkhead for the Boeing B787 Dreamliner is a good sign that reduces the risk for our customer. We believe that the VAP® technology is unique worldwide and will not only set new standards in aircraft construction, but also prove successful in other industrial sectors. JCM: The A400M programme is now nearly three years behind schedule. What is the impact on Premium Aerotec? H. L.: We are involved in a number of other programmes therefore the turnover generated by the A400M is not enough to destabilize us. Once the A400M goes into series production, we will need only 12 months to reach full production capacity. More information Premium Aerotec GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS N.V., started its operations as an independentlymanaged company on 1 January 2009. The business of the EADS Deutschland GmbH plant in Augsburg and the Airbus Deutschland GmbH plants in Nordenham and Varel was transferred to the new company as of 1 January 2009. The company has a workforce of over 6,000 and its annual revenues for 2009 are expected to be over €1 billion. Structures and manufacturing systems for aircraft fuselages are the core business of Premium Aerotec, whose aim is to become the leading tier 1 supplier for civil and military aircraft structures over the next few years. Even in its starting phase, the company has taken on a leading position in its industry. Market potential This cost-effective construction method can be used for a variety of applications in aircraft primary structures (e.g. pressure bulkheads, fuselage shells) but also in the industrial and transport sectors, where it can help to establish composites as an alternative to existing lightweight materials like aluminium. Airbus was not the only customer impressed by the new technology. Apart from the A400M cargo door, Premium Aerotec also uses the VAP® technology to manufacture the pressure bulkhead for the B787 Dreamliner. Hans Lonsinger, CEO of Premium Aerotec, plans to extend this technology to other industrial sectors such as transportation, machine construction or power engineering. More information: www.premium-aerotec.com No48 May 2009 / jec composites magazine 61

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #48 - May 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #48 - May 2009