breathing new life into the brand after Chapter 7 bankruptcy shut the company’s doors earlier this year. But the deal later fell through when MidTex encountered problems obtaining funding. Enstrom instead was purchased by Chuck Surack, founder
of musical instrument retailer Sweetwater Sound and Surack Enterprises, in May. Surack’s aim is to rebuild the Enstrom brand into one of the leading American-made helicopter manufacturers.
The industry’s
rebound was visible at the show. This year’s exhibitors
amounted to 90% of those who
participated in HAI
HELI-EXPO 2020 in Anaheim, California, while the number of
attendees was 91% of 2020’s total.
Pandemic Lessons for Better Business At the heart of the industry’s recovery, however, is the work that took place during the pandemic. Our industry is one forged from exceptional, outside-the-box engineering and business solutions. As the world changed suddenly, rotorcraft businesses went back to these basics, and many came out stronger and better prepared to support their customers as a result.
Te onset of the pandemic and the subsequent business
slowdown created an opportunity for vertical flight organi- zations to devise leaner processes and procedures as well as invest in more-efficient technology. Robinson Helicopter Co., facing increased labor and supplier shortages, invested in technology that both streamlined company processes and required less labor. “By switching to more CNC [computer numerical control]
machines, we were able to automate more processes,” says Robinson President Kurt Robinson. “Te CNC water jets, for example, have made a substantial difference.” When the pandemic hit, Rolls-Royce was already expe-
riencing a massive turbine-wheel backlog brought on by a perfect storm of issues involving tooling, the supply chain, management issues, and outdated equipment. After the business team began working from home in March 2020, the entire company went through a major reorganization that streamlined the reporting process and increased project accountability, which led to significant efficiency increases. “Tere is no perfect organizational strategy; each has
different strengths and weaknesses,” says Scott Cunningham, helicopter program director for Rolls-Royce Corp. “However, in our former organization, no one specifically owned an issue. Now, it’s an integrated program where there is project ownership.” Te new organizational structure removed roadblocks,
allowing the company to invest significantly in the latest manufacturing technology to produce turbine wheels and manage the supply chain. Rolls-Royce built up and now maintains a buffer of supply in case the supply chain breaks down again. By the beginning of 2022, the company had resolved all engine holds waiting on wheels, was reporting 97% uptime, and now enjoys the lowest number of back orders in the past five to six years, Cunningham says. Safran Helicopter Engines CEO Franck Saudo saw the pandemic as a chance to “adapt at the speed of flight” to head off supply chain issues. He says the company switched gears during the downturn by streamlining and reorganizing within the company. “Supply chain is more an art than a science,” Saudo says.
“I was convinced it was important to adapt fast. One way was to cut costs. We chose to organize ourselves differently to address a changing market. Rather than ask our people to do more with less, we looked at how to reorganize. Tis led to more than 30 internal adaptations. “Second was operational planning,” Saudo continues. “We
were paranoid about keeping our supply chain an accurate compass of what we expect in demand. Te earlier we could give that compass to our suppliers, the better we would be serviced. Tird, we erased and redid our ERP [enterprise resource planning] management.” In some ways, Saudo reflects, the pandemic was an
38 ROTOR JUNE 2022
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