Here at Farnborough International celebrating expanded European activities, U.S. equipment manufacturer Lord Corporation (Chalet A33) has seen “40-percent total growth” over three years in the region. “[Our] European growth strategy, with an emphasis on acquisition and fixed-wing commercial [aircraft programs], is in full swing and showing success,” said Lord Aerospace and Defense (A&D) president Bill Cerami.
The company also has been successful in China, where it is involved in the Xi’an Aircraft MA700 twin-turboprop; and South Korea, where Lord supports two helicopter programs. It specializes in motion-, noise-, and vibration-control devices and develops adhesives and coatings for A&D and other industries.
Lord’s European business-growth strategy, announced just before Farnborough International two years ago, includes plans for significant investments in support of commercial-aircraft manufacture and focuses on acquisitions, technological innovation and further development of the aftermarket base. It also wants to reduce dependence on helicopter programs, said Cerami.
Slightly more than half of Lord’s A&D business is in helicopters, and the company wants to rebalance the business to “participate in the ‘golden age’ of civil aviation that people think is upon us.” Having previously claimed to be an established “solutions partner” in European rotary-wing manufacture, with several control technologies integral to various major programs, Lord recognizes the helicopter industry’s reduced fortunes.
Global business development, marketing, and strategy director Rachid Bendali noted that about 25 percent of such manufacture is in the “super-medium” category that supports the oil and gas industries, which are in a “down” cycle. Consequently, helicopter orders have dropped dramatically and will not recover for several years (until oil prices rise again), said Bendali.
In establishing its strategy, Lord considered requirements for “risk-sharing innovators” in the commercial fixed-wing supply chain. Initiatives to expedite an expansion into the sector include a focus on acquisitions to establish a manufacturing presence in Europe’s A&D industry and potentially to benefit from plans for increased production of single-aisle jetliners.
“[Our] product range for fixed-wing platforms includes engine-attachment systems, passive- and active-motion and -vibration control, noise-mitigation solutions and specialty chemicals, such as lightning-strike protection for composite aircraft,” said the company. “For European fixed-wing airframe [manufacturers] and their tiers, Lord offers system and sub-system capability, and innovative solutions, while managing development, program and cost risks.”
Last year, the company reported a “long-term vision [to] actively pursue targets” among small- and medium-size businesses involved in complementary technology that would permit Lord to accelerate its growth in the region. “We are aggressively targeting European entities that enable Lord to differentiate our legacy capabilities and work with customers in our traditional markets and new market adjacencies.”
A prime driver for the strategy has been industry demand in the region, said Lord. “We wouldn’t do it without customer requests,” noted Bendali.
Under a 2015 non-exclusive agreement, Copenhagen-based Satair Group performs aftermarket sales, distribution and support of many Lord isolation mounts and other Lord products fitted to Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier aircraft in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The wholly owned (but independent) Airbus subsidiary also provides sales, services and warehousing to customers and suppliers through centers in the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North America.
Other European activities see Lord working on an active vibration-control system for Leonardo-Finmeccanica, and it has collaborated with major manufacturers such as Airbus Group, Dassault, Pilatus, Saab and Safran Group.
An example of Lord’s European expansion-by-acquisition is that of SKF subsidiary Fly-by-Wire Systems France (FBW), which was signed earlier this year. The company described it as another “building block,” since the French supplier has worked with Airbus since the early 1980s and has products on all current Airbus production models. When completed, the move is expected to boost Lord’s aspirations to support the market trend toward increased electrification of aircraft.
FBW’s expertise in actuation, electronics, and sensing is seen as contributing $35-to-$40 million of annual revenues, while offering the U.S. company a substantial capability to “deliver” advanced systems for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. For Lord, this deal is a key growth engine for its aerospace business, with FBW cockpit controls, sensors, dampers and electromechanical actuators used primarily for commercial-aircraft fly-by-wire systems.
The company also has European engineering, manufacturing, and research and development interests, with regional headquarters and a European Technology Centre in Geneva (Switzerland) and other facilities in Germany and Italy. It is involved in pan-European environmental-research programs such as Clean Sky and Horizon 2020.
An engine-attachment system developed by Lord under Clean Sky 1 is being tested before ground trials for application on an open-rotor powerplant. The 2015-21 Clean Sky 2 program provides the company with contracts worth around €5 million (around $5.625 million) and Lord reports having created a European partner consortium to develop a “next stage” system for an ultra-high propulsive-efficiency engine. Partners include Germany’s Heggemann, the Politecnic di Milano and Italian engineering consultancy Vicoter.
Outside Europe, Lord has invested in the Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s (AVIC) Xi’an Aircraft MA700 twin-turboprop. The company has received a “signed letter of intent” for design and production of the engine and auxiliary-power unit vibration-isolation systems for theaircraft, its first program with Chinese partners, a deal that Lord describes as “a big win.” The company will design, develop, test, qualify and manufacture the components and provide in-service support.
Elsewhere in Asia, late last year Lord won a Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) active vibration-control system (AVCS) development contract for the manufacturer’s Light Civilian Helicopter (LCH) and its variants. It will provide technical support for AVCS development and will manufacture and supply components.
The AVCS technology uses accelerometers to measure airframe-vibration levels that are countered by “force generators” that create anti-vibration forces to damp progression of main-rotor vibration. “Our equipment is qualified and ready for use on this new KAI platform,” said Cerami. In 2014, KAI had selected Lord to provide AVCS for medevac variants of the KUH Surion utility helicopter expected to enter service in 2018.
Among military fixed-wing aircraft, Lord’s emphasis has been to provide technology such as in-flight propeller-balancing systems (IPBS) for mature designs like the Lockheed C-130H Hercules transport, initially for the U.S. Air National Guard. The company, whose first Hercules engineering drawings date from 1956, said this work is progressing steadily, with the IPBS due to enter service in 2018.