On the Record With
John Uczekaj, President & Chief Operating Officer,
Nordam
The new-look Nordam appearing at this year's NBAA is leaner,
tighter and more focused than a year ago. In a bittersweet mix of success and
sadness it will announce $150 million worth of new business aviation contracts
here, while still mourning the death last month of its founder, Ray Siegfried
II, from Lou Gehrig's disease.
Siegfried built Nordam into a $500 million global leader in
maintenance, repair and overhaul after his family acquired the bankrupt
Northern Oklahoma Research, Development and Manufacturing Co, with just eight
employees, in 1969. It grew into the largest privately held FAA-approved repair
station in the world for composite aircraft structures, and set its sights on
becoming a $1 billion company.
The last year has been one of Nordam refocusing on its core
competencies and grooming Siegfried's successors, president and chief operating
office John Uczekaj told Show News. He joined Nordam about a year ago from Honeywell
avionics, and will work alongside chairman and CEO Ken Lackey. Another
Honeywell alumnus, former commercial aerospace general manager Lynn Brubaker,
recently joined the board.
"We were trying to do too much in too many markets, and with
too many people," said Uczekaj. "We have really focused on our core
competencies, and those customers we believe have the strongest alignment with
them — those that are big hitters for us."
The strategy has resulted in $500 million of new business
(including the $150 million to be announced here) in Nordam's three main
businesses: composites, thrust reversers, and transparencies.
"These competencies play well to our manufacturing strengths
as well as our repair businesses," said Uczekaj.
Nordam supplies almost every manufacturer of business
aircraft with components or systems. Its major programs include thrust
reversers on many models of Cessna Citation, Hawker 400XP and 800XP, thrust
reverser systems on the Gulfstream G150 and G450, and thrust reversers and
nacelles on the Gulfstream G200 and Falcon 2000EX; all the windows and
windshield on the Eclipse 500; and interiors shells for the Embraer Legacy. It
also has equipment on the Hawker Horizon and Cessna Sovereign.
The bigger picture includes windows for the Airbus A380, and
nacelles and flight control surfaces for the upgrade of the B-52 — two huge
programs, according to Uczekaj, that will help Nordam towards its $1 billion
goal.
The company has identified business aviation as an area with
significant opportunities to deploy its engineering and manufacturing skills
and technologies in composites, thrust reversers and interiors. For example, it
developed new thrust reversers from composite materials for the Gulfstream 450
(see accompanying story).
"Our new booth here at NBAA (5276) shows Nordam to be very
forward looking and innovative," said Uczekaj. "We are accelerating the future
and trying to move more quickly in the market."
