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FINAL APPROACH I
Strengthening the chain
From the supplier to the end customer, HEGAN’s deputy director, Martín Fernández Loizaga explains why every link in the value chain is essential in order to build an aircraft effectively.
Martín Fernández Loizaga, HEGAN’s deputy director T
he HEGAN cluster association was set up in 1997 in line with the ‘competitive cluster’ concept of Michael Porter, an aerospace engineer who later became an expert in
competitive strategies and Harvard professor. Just a few years before its formation, Rolls-Royce had contracted the services of ITP, a founding member of the cluster association, and Embraer had entrusted Aernnova with the manufacture of some of its aerostructures. The decisions taken by these companies were no leap in the
dark. The Basque Country possessed a compact industrial fabric specialised in established sectors, manufacturing expertise and an extensive network of suppliers located within a radius of little more than 30 miles. Metal transformation was the strong point of this ‘natural’ cluster. This long industrial heritage, the good work of the people in
this region, their long-term strategic vision and the commitment of the public and private sectors, led large clients and integrators from around the world to choose our companies not only as suppliers, but as strategic partners, and all this happened within a very short timeframe – much quicker than what might have been expected in this very demanding sector. Companies that make up the value chain in which every link is essential in order to build an aircraft and both clients (naturally!) and suppliers are equally important. It is within this context that Aerotrends 2013 in Bilbao from
October 1-4 is to be held. We want to provide a space for all the different cogs in the wheel. We seek a space that focuses on suppliers and clients in equal measure, a space in which priority is given to the quality of the participation rather than to the number of participants, in which business opportunities can be explored efficiently and without hassle. Aerotrends 2013 sets out to enable contractors to find solutions to their subcontracting requirements and to develop an optimum value chain with suppliers and proactive professionals who can supply high value processes, products and services. For suppliers, it is a way of reaching out to new clients. For
everyone involved it is another opportunity to tackle the ever present challenge of increasing the competitiveness of the ‘local’ European value chain to make it more competitive globally, because this sector is worldwide and there are no boundaries. European competitiveness is currently suffering from the handicap of an overvalued Euro-Dollar exchange rate, and we are not alone in saying this, the IMF and Airbus itself are also saying the same. So it is our aim to be even more efficient, if possible.
“We have the opportunity to break the mould and strengthen the value chain through competition and collaboration among all our members to build safer and more efficient aircraft.”
Cooperation is a key issue in all of this and lies at the heart of the HEGAN cluster association and its members. This has become one of the main principles on which companies base their strategy of competitive improvement. Cooperation between companies in one cluster and between these and their counterparts in other countries represents the route map to achieve greater value. In short, we have the opportunity to break the mould and strengthen the value chain through competition and collaboration among all its members to build safer and more efficient aircraft and to ensure the future of thousands of highly qualified workers who are aware of the quality and innovation
demanded by the aerospace sector. ❙
www.hegan.com
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