ATR ON BOARD - AIRFRAME TOOLING FOR THE WORLD LEADER IN REGIONAL AIRCRAFT
Turboprop aircraft manufacturer ATR, which is headquartered in the southern French city of Toulouse, is the world’s industry and technological leader in regional aircraft with up to 90 seats. The company was founded in 1981 as a joint venture between two major players in the European aviation industry: Airbus and Leonardo. And even though the first models were developed over thirty years ago, ATR propeller aircraft remains the perfect solution for airlines that wish to operate short-haul flights at very low operating costs thanks to its perfected turboprop technology. This is particularly important for airlines that service smaller markets, as they are in desperate need of more fuel-efficient aircraft that will enable them to continue operating regular flights between regional airports and connections to major airports and hubs. It should come as no surprise then that the world’s fleet includes approximately 500 ATR 42 units and over 1,100 ATR 72 units.
Like most OEMs, ATR is the sole distributor of its own airframe tools, which is usually referred to as “proprietary tooling.” For the aircraft manufacturer, this comes with the advantage of being able to control the market better, and prevent a gray market to the greatest extent possible. On top of this, ATR had an exclusive agreement with a single supplier for all airframe tools until recently, but the company started an open request for bids for its complete airframe tool portfolio in early 2019.
For over 30 years, HYDRO has been active in the airframe tooling sector, and the company’s experience with major customers such as Airbus spans a long period. Services go far beyond traditional drawing-based manufacturing, and include, for example, the development of tools with an approach in which HYDRO sees itself not only as a supplier, but as a partner as well.
Drawing optimization as added value for customers
The older the aircraft model, the more likely it is that existing drawings of tools are outdated in terms of best practices. Some drawings are hand-drawn and sometimes important production details such as material specifications or metric dimensions are missing. This is where HYDRO proactively suggests changes intended to optimize these drawings and makes sure that tools are improved per se. The final decision always rests with the OEM, as they have the ultimate say on what happens to the drawing and own the corresponding intellectual property.
After entering into an agreement, ATR conducted extensive manufacturing and service audits at HYDRO’s locations and service-centers worldwide. The result: ATR was more than happy, with all expectations having been surpassed. This means that HYDRO started supplying the full range of airframe tools for the 70-seat ATR 72 and the 50-seat ATR 42 on January 1st, 2020. This relationship with HYDRO means that ATR is now benefitting from an unmatched global supply chain, unrivaled lead times, and comprehensive service.
Quality check with first article inspection
The first 100 tools have already been ordered for a first article inspection, or FAI for short, and the feedback for the initial deliveries has been great to date. The HYDRO service locations in Singapore and Washington D.C. are enormously important for ATR, as a large number of the end users and airlines that use the turboprop aircraft are located in the USA and Asia.
Towards “all OEM certified” with ATR
Part of HYDRO’s global airframe tooling strategy is to become “all OEM certified,” and with Airbus, Boeing, Sukhoi, and Irkut, the company already covers most of the aircraft manufacturers worldwide. With ATR as a new customer, the company has taken a huge step in the direction of its overarching “all OEM certified” goal. Moreover, every single OEM will benefit from the synergistic effects that will result from an increasingly broad range of customers.
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