A light touch
David Putterill of South Africa-based composite materials specialist AAT Composites (Pty) Ltd talks to Gay Sutton about the vital importance of investing in skills and preparing the company to take quick advantage of the upturn.
When cyclist Chris Boardman shattered the one-hour record in 1993, he did so on a revolutionary carbon composite cycle frame that caused a profound stir around the world and changed the face of the sport. Manufactured by Aerodyne Technology of Cape Town, South Africa, the frame combined the inspired design of Mike Burrows with the cutting-edge technology of ultra-lightweight carbon composite material.
 
Since then, Aerodyne has evolved into specialist carbon composite manufacturer AAT Composites, a world leader in the manufacture of high-tech, high-specification composite carbon and glass fibre seating components for the airline industry. Owned by German-based Keiper Recaro group, AAT manufactures exclusively for export, supplying the composite seat structures to the likes of Contour Seating in Wales, Sicma in France, BE Aerospace in the US, and Recaro Aircraft Seating in Germany. The seats then undergo final assembly and are supplied to either Boeing or Airbus, or directly to the airlines.
AATÔÇÖs role is to work with the original seat concept, to design and manufacture the tooling, and then manufacture the composite parts. ÔÇ£But we are getting more and more involved in the design of the seating itself, because of our high level of expertise,ÔÇØ explains operations manager David Putterill.
Composite seats have a huge advantage over the traditional aluminium seats. Composite materials are much lighter and can be moulded and shaped into configurations that simply would not be possible with aluminium. The material is, however, more expensive to work with. ÔÇ£So the benefits are not as obvious for the standard economy-class seat with its straightforward structure,ÔÇØ Putterill says. ÔÇ£But when youÔÇÖre manufacturing the lie-flat beds and the complex shape configurations required for premier-class tilting seats and beds, for example, this can be done much more lightly and easily in composite material.ÔÇØ
The shaped and curved nature of the seating means that the finishing process is very labour intensive, a factor that provides AAT with a distinct competitive advantage. The company can combine a very high level of technical capability with labour costs that are considerably lower than its European competitors. ÔÇ£Meanwhile, our competitors in China, where the labour costs are lower than ours, are not as high-tech as we are.ÔÇØ
The location in South Africa does, however, present some challenges. One of the most compelling is that with very few companies working in the field of composite materials, there are no colleges of technology providing the very specific training the company needs. Neither are workers likely to have been able to gain any relevant experience elsewhere. ÔÇ£So we need to train our workforce from scratch,ÔÇØ Putterill says. To address this problem, the company has set up its own in-house training academy. ÔÇ£The academy takes our workforce through all the practicalities of working with different carbon and glass fibre materials.ÔÇØ
Over the past year the in-house academy has also been providing training in lean manufacturing techniques and world-class manufacturing methodologies. ÔÇ£In todayÔÇÖs competitive marketplace, flexibility is crucial. It is essential that we are able to react quickly to customer changes and to urgent orders, and we pride ourselves on being able to do the design work, make the tooling, manufacture the parts and get the first set to the customer within a matter of weeks,ÔÇØ Putterill explains.The introduction of lean manufacturing just over two years ago has resulted in an impressive improvement in shop-floor efficiency and in quality. Scrap rates have fallen from 2.2 per cent to an impressive 0.3 per cent, and customer-related issues have also dropped drastically. ÔÇ£Some of our European customers have been really impressed with how weÔÇÖve done this and have said that weÔÇÖre now on a par with many of their European suppliers,ÔÇØ says Putterill. ÔÇ£But itÔÇÖs an ongoing process, and each day weÔÇÖre discovering more issues that need refining.ÔÇØ
In the factory itself, the lean training has had a profound effect on some of the workforce. ÔÇ£Some of our guys have really seen the light and begun to understand the potential of why things happen,ÔÇØ he explains. Where previously workers would simply have done as they were told, they are now engaging with the process. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve set up a career path for some of our good candidates and have seen them blossom in a way that I never saw during seven years working in England.ÔÇØ
With the degree of investment the company is making in its staff, employees are a very valuable resourceÔÇöa resource that has come under considerable heat and pressure in this economic downturn. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve certainly had to downscale; weÔÇÖre running some short time, and weÔÇÖve reduced our workforce accordingly,ÔÇØ Putterill says. ÔÇ£But we see this not only as a threat but also as an opportunity.ÔÇØ
The company has, for example, been able to see the members of the workforce who have taken more easily to the lean way of thinking and who have shown the necessary willingness to work during the difficult times. There has been an increased focus on multi-skilling, more time is being dedicated to the improvement process, and there is more freedom to explore new market opportunities. And in todayÔÇÖs volatile economic climate, it is important to plan for the future.
ÔÇ£This is a live, vibrant industry to be in, with lots of research still going on,ÔÇØ Putterill says. The world economy may be in a downward cycle, but the global effort to reduce carbon emissions is picking up and can only become more imperative with time. Reducing the weight of all items that are being transported or are part of the transport vehicle will be essential to fuel economy, and this is where composite materials will come into their own. With that in mind, AAT is looking at opportunities to produce other components of the air cabin from composites and may eventually look further afield.
ÔÇ£Companies that are strong are going to come out of this downturn better prepared, leaner and ready for when the economy picks up,ÔÇØ Putterill says. The future looks bright for AAT, with its focus on improvement, training and quality, and with a technology that will be increasingly in demand.
