Story ID: 338gardnerFboro.doc
Gardner Grows Aerostructures Business
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Contracts announced here at Farnborough suggest OEMs such as Airbus are happy with Gardner Aerospace, which continues to expand.
Word Count: 282
Derby, UK-based Gardner Aerospace has announced a host of new contract wins here at Farnborough, as well as existing work package contract extensions from Airbus UK worth more than £110 million ($144.45 million). Gardner (Hall 1 Stand B50) supplies wing components and subassemblies for a number of civil and military aircraft.
  
Airbus UK has extended its contracts with Gardner for the A320, A330 and A380 for the next five years, as well as an A400M contract to a life-of-program duration. It has also assigned Gardner new work packages on the A320 and A400M for wing components and subassemblies.
  
Here in Farnborough, Gardner is celebrating a 130 percent increase in production activity, following a series of strategic investments and a £40 million ($52.5 million) plant modernization program across the UK, France, Poland and India. 
  
In the past year alone, Gardner has implanted sheet metal capabilities and machining capacity in India. In Poland, Gardner’s Mielec facility has installed robotic paint spraying while its Tczew plant continues to expand, as its latest building work increased the plant’s footprint to more than twice its original size. 
  
Meanwhile, Gardner’s UK facilities in Derby and Broughton have seen more high-productivity machinery installed, including a number of five-axis machines, while its Hull facility welcomed an additional £1 million ($1.31 million) MAG1 machining center.
  
Finally, in France, Gardner has upgraded its sheet metal operations at its Mazeres facility, including the installation of a €1.5 million ($1.67 million) fluid cell press and laser router. At Gardner’s other French facility in Belesta, the company just opened a completely refurbished site. 
  
Gardner recently achieved ISO 14001/OHSAS 18001 certification in all of its 10 facilities worldwide.