JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #58 - June - July 2010 - 24

FEATURE

“Aeronautics”

North West England:
an attractive region for composites and aerospace
With Europe’s 12th largest economy of almost £120 billion, England’s Northwest is home to 252,000 businesses. England’s Northwest is constituted of 5 sub-regions: Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria. It has become a prime business location due to its expertise and strengths in a number of key sectors. The region trusts composites to boost some of its industries which is why it has invested in various research tools.

mong the sectors interested in composite materials, aerospace has become predominant in the region. On the other end of the value chain, composites can find expertise in advanced flexible materials and chemicals.

The region also has a £12m funded Aerospace Supply Chain Excellence 2 programme. Its key aim is to provide the conditions and infrastructure for the Northwest aerospace supply chain to develop into a world-class integrated cluster capable of competing globally. This programme which is working with all the key Northwest Composites companies in the Composites Commodity Group. This group is working in a collective fashion to coordinate skills, innovation and shared services activity, whilst developing a composites strategy for the region.

Aerospace
Home to BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, the region offers world-class manufacturing facilities and has been responsible for developing over 100 types of aircraft. The Northwest also accounts for a staggering one third of the UK’s total aerospace turnover, with £6.3 billion in annual sales. The sector has 48,500 employees and 800 businesses. It is also a major force in the UK export market, with 75% of sales going overseas.

Advanced flexible materials
With 65% of the UK market, the Northwest has the largest cluster in advanced flexible materials (AFM) manufacturers in Europe. Over 350 Northwest companies employ 25,000 people across a sub-sector that generates £2.5 billion in sales, with 65% of output overseas. The AFM market serves much larger technologymanufacturing sectors including aerospace and defence, automotive, biomedical, environmental technologies and chemical processing. AFM is also in demand from the aerospace sector where advanced fabrics are used to enhance the latest generation of composite materials used in aviation technology. Close collaboration is also ongoing with the automotive sector where AFM manufactures are supplying engineering components woven from high-strength, ultralight carbon fibre in place of traditional steel or aluminium parts. The region’s AFM offering is supported by a strong academic infrastructure. In addition to materials science departments within leading universities, Northwest institutes are leading the research behind textile and material technology. Facilities such as the Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC)

Aerospace in Northwest’s England
Five key market drivers 1. BAE Systems: F-35 Lightning II and Eurofighter Typhoon 2. Rolls-Royce Engine Programmes Trent 900, 1000, XWB 3. Airbus NSR Single Aisle (A320 replacement) 4. Bombardier C-Series 5. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Lancashire, the industry’s heartland, employs more skilled people than any other region and has been crucial to innovations including “intelligent” unmanned aerial vehicles and fuel-efficient aircraft engines. Northwest universities are working closely with industry on numerous initiatives. One such project is the Northwest Composites Centre. This partnership between four of the region’s universities covers research and evaluation into highstrength composite materials. New composite technologies allow aerospace manufacturers to benefit from high-strength/lowweight materials at a viable production cost.

jec composites magazine / No58 June - July 2010

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #58 - June - July 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #58 - June - July 2010