GCS has broken ground for a new facility at New Castle Airport in Wilmington, Del. By this year’s second quarter, it plans to begin operations there, supporting Hawker Beechcraft aircraft that primarily operate in the northeast U.S. “Our customers have been requesting a facility in the region,” says Tannahill. In response to their requests, Hawker Beechcraft is building in Wilmington a 40,000-square foot (3,700- m2
) hangar and some 18,500 square feet (1,720 m2
) of enclosed space for back shops and offices.
GCS will also open this spring a new service center in Monterrey, Mexico. This facility will comprise a 24,111-square- foot (2,240-m2
) maintenance hangar, 8,073-square-foot (750-m2 ) paint facility and 10,700 square feet (990-m2 ) of space
allotted for offices and back shops. Hawker Beechcraft’s presence in Mexico has been growing steadily. GCS has an authorized service center in Toluca, near Mexico City, and HBC recently opened a new sheet-metal assembly plant in Chihauahua, Mexico. “We have a high concentration of Hawkers and King Airs in Mexico,” says Turner, offering one reason for his company’s growth “south of the border.” In 2009, GCS constructed a new, larger service center in Indianapolis, replacing an old facility. It was built to “accommodate volume requirements,” according to Turner, and to allow the introduction in June 2010 of a new paint facility that is large enough to accommodate all Hawker Beechcraft models. In addition, GCS has moved its service center in Van Nuys, Calif., to Mesa Phoenix Gateway Airport in Arizona, where it is virtually next door to service centers for Cessna Aircraft and Embraer. The new Mesa, Indianapolis and Wilmington facilities represent a $32-million GCS investment and bring the HBS network’s total hangar space to more than 500,000 square feet (46,500 m2
). HBS
has a workforce with more than 1,000 maintenance technicians that collectively make available 1.8 million maintenance man-hours. The new facilities will add about 200 employees to HBS’ service center personnel in 2012, according to Tannahill. By 2013, with the new service centers up and running, GCS officials project a 27-percent boost in capacity. The HBS network’s European facility, in
Chester, England, expanded in late 2011 its maintenance capability to support King Air 200s and 300s and Premier I/ IA jets. With an increasing number of aircraft owned and operated outside North America, GCS officials say they are eyeing possible new service center locations in
London Beijing Dallas Dubai
Asia and Brazil but are not yet ready to make an announcement.
Expansion Abroad
GCS has also enhanced its field support. It now has 39 field service representatives in North and South America, a 16 percent increase over the number available in 2010, and it has 25 FSRs in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, an impressive 62-percent increase. Hawker Beechcraft’s network of authorized service centers has expanded, too—again, with the most recent additions appointed outside North America. For instance, the company recently has authorized Air Works at Mumbai (India) International Airport to support King Airs and Premier bizjets, and it has signed an agreement to have Hawker Pacific at Ardmore (New Zealand) Airport support Bonanzas, Barons and King Airs in the region. Hawker Pacific supports HBC aircraft in Shanghai, China, as well. Like most business aircraft manufacturers, Hawker Beechcraft foresees significant growth potential in Asia, where it therefore recently expanded its product-support footprint. In August 2011, HBC opened a regional headquarters in Beijing, China, and several months later, introduced sales and support offices in Dubai. To strengthen its parts distribution, GCS
partnered with Berlin, Germany-based Schenker Logistics in late 2011 to establish two new parts and distribution centers, in Dubai and Singapore. These facilities join GCS’ major non-U.S. parts center, in
London, as well as stocking locations in Beijing and Johannesburg, South Africa. Strategically located distribution centers plus DB Schenker’s express shipping service are meant to assure that Hawker Beechcraft customers receive “quick dispatching of parts, real-time tracking and round-the-clock availability from a source that isn’t half a world away,” says Tannahill. “We can dispatch a part in 37 minutes
from the time we receive a call,” Turner adds. GCS has its main distribution hub in Dallas, Texas, where parts can be shipped on more than 1,900 commercial flights daily, and 10 additional North American sites with parts inventories. GCS’ goal is to have parts hold times down to a speedy 45 seconds. The company’s total parts inventory, valued at $375 million, is now closely monitored by Hawker Beechcraft’s new SAP enterprise software, which consolidates data companywide. The software also allows customers to order parts on line and determine parts availability at all distribution sites.
New Trucks and Apps About 18 months ago, GCS rolled out two specially equipped ground vehicles to facilitate parts and services availability to aircraft that are AOG or have unique service requirements. Both vehicles are based in the United States and strategically located where most Hawker Beechcraft aircraft are flown. One vehicle is on the West Coast, in Los Angeles, and the other serves East Coast operators from the new Wilmington service center.
HB PARTS & DISTRIBUTION Footprint
$375M of Inventory Available
Singapore
Johannesburg
Distribution Hub ($300M) Distribution Center ($22M) HBS Ð 10 Sites ($50M)
Remote Stocking Location ($3M) Strategically located distribution centers are key to HBS’s rapid parts dispatch. 18 Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | February / March 2012
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