Strata, the UAE aerostructures manufacturer based in Al Ain and owned by Mubadala Investment Company, is considering a move up the value chain with the manufacture of engine parts, to add to the portfolio of major wing and empennage projects it carries out today.
“We are looking at manufacturing engine parts. We have plans for this facility to be up and running by 2020,” Ismail Abdulla, CEO of Strata, told AIN. “There are a handful of OEMs, and we are in discussion with a number of them. We need to ensure that there is a business case for us to establish such a venture. If we need to work with the OEMs to get the required expertise, we will do that.”
Appointed Strata CEO in April, Abdulla said that the company is a Tier 1 supplier to Airbus, Boeing and Leonardo. “Strata is a supplier to the Airbus A330, A350 and A380 programs, as well as to the Boeing 777 and 787. For Leonardo, [we] supply rudders to the ATR 72 and ATR 42,” he said. “Our concentration is on the manufacture of parts in aircraft wings and empennage. The size of our order book is $7.5 billion.”
Strata runs 10 production lines, employing 750 people from 30 countries. "Diversification is very important," said Abdulla. "The Emiratization rate is 51 percent, of which 86 percent are female. This is a remarkable achievement. Today we have around 300 female technicians and engineers."
Strata also established a joint venture, announced November 12, with Belgian international materials and chemicals company Solvay to supply Boeing with advanced composite materials. “This will support carbon-fiber as a raw material on the production line [using a new facility] located next to Strata in Al Ain.”
“Solvay will bring its technical expertise in advanced composite materials into this partnership and build on its longstanding business relationship with Boeing to turn this partnership into a success,” said Carmelo Lo Faro, president of Solvay’s Composite Materials Global Business Unit.