On the Record with EMERIC D'ARCIMOLES, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, TURBOMECA
A multi-million dollar investment in customer support is already
beginning to pay off for Turbomeca, the world's leading manufacturer
of turboshaft engines for light, medium and heavy helicopters.
And the start of production of its Arriel 1D1 and 2C2 engines
in the U.S., part of a move to globalize and 'de-Frenchify' the
Snecma subsidiary, should also help to support sales, especially
on that side of the Atlantic.
"We are in good shape to resist the current crisis,"
says chairman and CEO Emeric d'Arcimoles of the worldwide downturn
in commercial aviation sales.
Turbomeca plans to manufacture 100 Arriel engines this year at
its TEC (Turbomeca Engine Corp) subsidiary in Grand Prairie, Texas,
ramping up later to 200 a year, or half of its worldwide production
of those engines.
At the same time, its MORE initiative (it is a contraction of
'more responsive') launched at the end of 2002, aims to bring people
and technical resources as close to operators as possible by increasing
staff and resources in the field. For the North America market,
this meant adding support centers and field reps, and the opening
of a new facility in Canada.
Together the moves go some way to defusing the current reaction
to anything French in Turbomeca's single most important market,
the U.S.
"We were just a little afraid of the political situation
between France and the U.S., but we remained pragmatic. We are finding
our customers are very pragmatic, too, and it has been business
as usual over the last few months," d'Arcimoles told Show
News.
That is despite political moves in Washington to thwart Turbomeca's
bid to displace Honeywell and re-engine the U.S. Coast Guard's 94
HH-65 Dolphin helicopters with the Arriel 2C1 engine. That battle
is still raging.
Meanwhile Turbomeca is telling its North American customers that
engines will no longer be shipped to France for repair when its
newly opened US$6.5 million facility at Montreal's Mirabel International
Airport is fully up and running.
Turbomeca shipped 635 helicopter engines last year, 13 more than
in 2001. Including the Larzac engine for jet trainers and other
engines, it delivered 818 units last year, down from 860, while
seeing revenues rise 17%. So far this year it is a little behind
budget "though not so far down," says d'Arcimoles due
to its broad reach across markets around the world.
Investment in research and development is running at 15% of revenues,
with no fewer than eight helicopter engine projects under way. Six
of them are more powerful or customer-specific developments of existing
engines, while the other two differ so much from their predecessors
they have been given new names-the Makila 2A (which powers Eurocopters
EC 225 and 725 Super Puma) and the Ardiden, which will be co-developed
by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for use in its Dhruv helicopter.
The Ardiden will also be offered for future versions of Bell/Agusta's
AB139 and Eurocopter's Dolphin.
Turbomeca's Arrius and Arriel engine families power a wide range
of civil helicopters by Eurocopter, Agusta and Sikorsky, as well
as military helicopters such as the Eurocopter Panther and Agusta
A109 Power.
In the medium helicopter segment, from five to seven tons, Turbomeca
provides the MTR 390 for the Eurocopter Tiger combat helicopter,
and the TM 333 for Hindustan Aeronautics' Dhruv.
In the heavy helicopter market, primarily comprising military
transports, the Makila and RTM 322 have been chosen by Eurocopter
and AgustaWestland.
The new Arriel 2S2 was chosen by Sikorsky to power future Sikorsky
S-76 helicopters, and certification is scheduled for the first half
2005. The Arriel 2S2 provides 6% more power than its predecessor
the Arriel 2S1, and is equipped with a double-channel electronic
engine control unit (EECU).
