EDITORIAL A new social currency


As China continues to flex its manufacturing muscles – primarily through the development of COMAC’s ARJ21 and C919 aircraft programmes, the opportunities for Western companies to engage in these burgeoning supply chains grows increasingly hard to ignore. When you consider that China is fast becoming an industrial superpower by gearing itself up to be the biggest player in commercial aerospace for years to come, then a trip to the land of Eastern promise is one flight you cannot afford to miss. Whilst it’s vital that Western aerospace SMEs establish a foothold in China’s aerospace market, anyone hoping to take advantage of its insatiable appetite for engineering skills by setting up in the region must first understand how China’s Guanxi relations work. What are Guanxi relations? Well, according to business experts in Chinese commerce, the product – or service – represents 50%; the other 50% concerns Guanxi relations. In the past, Guanxi formed the basis of social structure in terms of ‘exchanging favours’ whereas nowadays it’s become an essential business enabler in the Chinese market economy. As usual, rival products compete on features and prices, but it is Guanxi that directs the selection – often via personal recommendations based on trust. To succeed in today’s China, the product must be right, the price must be competitive, and Guanxi must be in place. Anyone looking for business in China can no longer simply enter the market and run through their sales pitch: they now need to find Guanxi ‘middlemen’ to open doors. Maybe the West should have a word for the phrase: it’s not what you know, it’s who you know?


CONTENTS I


4 9


10


12 14


News Event Preview


A meeting place for aviation and space – Airtec 2010 Aircraft Programmes


Information building blocks – The Asian aerospace sector


Supply chain Airframe obsolescence: fit to fly? – Obsolescence


The economics of obsolescence – The Components Obsolescence Group (COG)


Special Supplement


15-26 European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2010


Metallics


27 28 31 32 34 38


Less lubricant, more productivity – Tooling Composites


It’s thermo-dynamic! – Manufacturing processes Special report


Software ready for lift-off! – Spaceflight Design


The holistic approach – Simulation & visualisation Electronics


Make the right connections – Interconnect Final Approach


A celebration of quality – Arshad Hafeez, PRI’s executive director of global business operations and corporate strategies


MIKE RICHARDSON | EDITOR newsdesk@aero-mag.com


EDITORIAL Editor | Mike Richardson | newsdesk@aero-mag.com Associate Editor | Simon Lott | slott@mitpublishing.co.uk Technical Editor | Dr Neil Calder | neil@engineeredcapabilities.co.uk Editorial | newsdesk@aero-mag.com


Volume 5 Issue 40


Circulation Manager | John Slayman | circulation@aero-mag.com Database Research | The Jamieson Consultancy | www.jamieson-consultancy.net


Financial Controller | Valerie Prentice Business Development Director | Liam McCauley Publisher | David Rose


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EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Art Editor | Judy Kenny | judykenny@mac.com Production Editor | Denise Simmons | production@aero-mag.com


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Next issue: Aero Engineering, Airtec & JEC Composites Show Asia previews, Airbus A350XWB aircraft programme, Wings, Design for environment, Metallics testing, Composites tooling, Supply chain selection, Italy cluster report


CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTIONS AEROSPACEMANUFACTURING | JULY 2010 3


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