Airbus selects Malaysian company as one of its global component suppliers

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SHAH ALAM: Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has selected a Malaysian company, SDMK Sdn Bhd as one of its global suppliers of jigs for composite repair of aircraft rudder and elevator for A320 and A330 programmes.

Its Head of Airbus International Cooperation Malaysia and Singapore, Francois De-Bortoli said Malaysia is an important industrial partner for Airbus, with suppliers working on various aircraft programmes in composite structures, design and analysis, maintenance, repair and overhaul, as well as aircraft engineering and repair services.

“This new contract is a key contributor in broadening the capacity and capability of the local aerospace industry and we are thankful to have full support from key Malaysian institutions like the Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre, Majlis Amanah Rakyat, and the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference after conformity inspection review for the first tool event today, De-Bortoli said SDMK had been awarded the job after a selection process managed by Airbus from a list of potential suppliers and final decision was done last year with the signing of a contract between the two parties.

He said the selection of SDMK was in line with Airbus overall strategy of developing a broader industrial and services footprint, particularly in Asia and to increase its proximity to its customers in Southeast Asia, enabling it to provide seamless repair and services support.

Meanwhile, SDMK Managing Director Yew Seik Wai said the company was awarded four packages with one jig for each package and the work involved engineering management project to produce a repair station.

“This is not a manufacturing project and each package is highly likely not repeatable and each project has different contract value.

“We hope we will get more packages from Airbus based on the production results that had been delivered,” he said.

Yew said SDMK would take a year to deliver all the four packages which started from October last year. — Bernama

He said manufacturing the jigs was not like those in oil and gas or automotive, which was higher in tolerance, as the jigs for aerospace industry required a lot of fine-tuning involving setting, which was a high-engineering related task.

He said the raw materials for the jigs were mixed from overseas and locals, with 20 per cent purchased overseas while the balance manufactured locally. — Bernama