“Is difficult that a company sacrifice aims of profitability in the short term for feeding a technological vision on a long-term basis”

The Basque company DMP is positioned in niches of the aeronautical sector component manufacturing sector component manufacturing market, where contributes solutions to control the risks in processes of externalización of components and critical systems by part of the big OEM. The company, that develops systems of suspension for trains of landing, rotary presses pieces and of transmission, systems of complex performance and pieces with alloys of basic nickel for the hot parts of engine, integrates the particular technologies that require the manufacture of these products, but especially, explains Philippe Roulet, commercial director of the company, contributes the systematic of management that allows to guarantee the quality and the punctuality in deliveries along agreements plurianuales. “Increasingly, DMP participates in the definition of the products in concurrent engineering and contributes value through processes of setting and testado of complete modules”, adds.

The Group Egile, which belongs WMD, has spent years through the company Zehatz, as a leader in the manufacture of components and mechanical assemblies of very high precision for the sectors of container, the industry of science, metrology, among others, where the tolerances achieved can be downloaded from the micra. Not in vain the segments of activity covered by DMP in the world have to do with systems where greater precision is needed: movement and power transmission, management of displacement and mechanical, hydraulic or electromechanical positioning.

Rotating parts of the turbine helicopter manufacturing WMD attain a speed greater than the 60,000 rpm and work at 900 ° C. In these conditions there is no room for inaccuracies or failures of quality.

Our commitment stems from the observation of the aeronautical market: large users of engines or helicopter transmission systems consider the know-how of gears as its principal technological asset. All manufactured internally much of their transmission systems. It is not because of cost but because imperatives of managing risks. DMP aims to provide the industry with a level of technology and organization to this level of criticality, allowing OEMs have a dual-source for your most sensitive internal productions, or a partner to be able to outsource products for which they are not competitive.

This bet is still correct, because all developers addressed in the bosom of this technological project have established with DMP foundations for a long-term cooperation.

Exists for other sectors like defense, automotive or the wind, but not specifically for the aeronautical world, where the scope goes far beyond the manufacture of gears. DMP is a contributor of global solutions, from the conceptual design to the optimization of contacts - for the improvement of performance, service life or noise reduction systems of transmission, capable of producing very high revolutions or large information systems or the Assembly of modules and complete functions, all with respect for the aeronautical for the upper classes of safety quality standards.

Spain has just national builders and therefore does not have tradition of aeronautical product, even if it already has a few system of high level, such as stops or ITP.

The difficulty is to design products that can be mounted in engines or helicopters of major multinational manufacturers, which is all a way to earn their trust and build a product strategy on the difficult catchment of its own culture of design and project management.

Travel industry Spanish aeronautics has been initiated by the world of the airframe, and transmission systems is the last thing a builder delegates because of the high level of the barriers of entry and the criticality of these systems. Therefore, we know not that there was no aeronautical transmissions specialist in Spain.

A transmission main turbine or accessories always works in very severe conditions by their high speed or intensity of efforts to transmit. Between vibrations and heat, design requirements mean for manufacturing very complex processes, the use of materials of high properties, coatings with very severe specifications and drastic controls. A simple gear may behave more than 60 operations in its range of manufacturing. Mounting precision mean tolerance extremes in all components and profiles of teeth not only perfect but with perfectly dominated micro-structural characteristics to prevent premature wear or risks of breakage.

Helicopter turbines rotating parts. The project

The French company Turbomeca is the world leader in the sector, with nearly 50% of the market share of the civilian turbines. "In 2006 we started to manufacture exclusively for them trees and discs from curvic coupling, family of components of class 1 which, until then, they could only produce internally," explains Philippe Roulet. They are elemental in the rotating part of the turbine, attachable by a special teeth that allows to transmit the power of the motor without loss of performance and without recourse to each piece welding processes, and can be easily removed.

"From 2009 we started with them on a project to 10 years through which WMD factory, following redesign before, some 280 references gear bound for 'mature' engines, for the replacement market". This project has provided the opportunity to gain access to a deep knowledge of the most severe problems of the technological leader of the sector in a project where teams from both companies have collaborated closely to DMP. From 2012, Turbomeca relies DMP manufacture of critical references with significant production volumes to gradually move from a phase of technological training to a more industrial phase.

As explained by the commercial director of WMD, on the basis of a productive activity in expansion, the idea is to lead towards manufacturing 'sprint to build' (a mix in spec and print) transmission modules, which would be a novelty for Turbomeca, which to date had always maintained internally all the designs and specifications.

DMP currently has a team of 12 people engineering dedicated to Turbomeca. This equipment will be gradually reversing the acquired knowledge to other clients and projects.

I do not know the sector as a whole, but it seems to me that the difficulty from Spain is entering the private hunting grounds of major foreign manufacturers, not for lack of technology and investment, quality of the means of production or staff training, but because we have not matured enough to be able to access the specific knowledge of these bastions, or presented to those who have credible strategies to gain the legitimacy to ride these trains. Turbomeca carries more than 70 years manufacturing turbines and this knowledge is not bought with money or with short-term business plans.

All the technology related to management of fuels, the combustion chambers, the air veins can be niches of difficult access yet to achieve, at least at the level of full benefit (everything can be manufactured in Spain).

Experience captured in the aeronautical sector and through other companies in the Group Egile in sectors such as the doctor, container, science or air-bearing systems, we can provide global solutions for the transmission of movement and power, the problems of displacement and extreme precision positioning to other markets. Our offer is not so much sectoral but focused on severe applications: high speed, high precision, cryogenic or high temperature, compact environments, high security environments...

Our offer for the machine tool world goes more for the contribution of air-bearing systems focused on performance of ultra-precision (systems with air-cushion bearings authorizing up to 480,000 usable rpm rotational speeds to accelerate and increase the precision of the heads for example). Zehatz is a pioneer and leader in the manufacture of the most advanced, both Rotary and linear air-bearing systems.

In 2006, Messier Bugatti Dowty, world leader of systems of landing and also the Safran Group company, became the border to commit to WMD the industrialization of the front end of the new Boeing B787. It was the first time that Messier was working with Boeing and so needed work on a platform in network with Seattle and manufacture without drawings, directly from 3D models, something for which the panel's historic suppliers of Messier wasn't trained.

Yes, and we deliver in time the first prototypes, ensuring the success of Messier with its new Boeing customer. DMP was logically invited subsequently to offer manufacturing of the main landing gear of the new A350 project attributed in a very competitive environment for suppliers panel consulted was world.

In parallel, a critical Canadian supplier entered into a process of bankruptcy and Messier called on WMD that reindustrializarse urgent suspension of the main landing gear of the A330 and A340, manufacturing immediately 100% of kits suspension of these aircraft produced at a rate that is already consolidated, without ramp up prior to go mature production system.

In 2012, in the framework of a restructuring process among its different plants around the world, Messier regrouped their productions by technological families or functions and devised the concept of SWP (Super Work Package) in order to streamline your supply chain and become more competitive. Despite its lack of critical size - shortlisted candidates were all companies of more than 500 people, WMD was elected to support the family of the shock absorbers (hanging systems). DMP is responsible for the industrialization of all new systems, to then ensure 100% of deliveries until the planes 60 or 100, depending on the programs.

From there, Messier introduces a low-cost provider to gradually produce 50 to 70% of each system. DMP is present in all projects and their function is to accelerate its production in case of failure of a provider low cost. We provide reliability to new projects, support the immature stages of design when it comes to manage many changes of definition, and subsequently help Messier to look for sources of competitiveness and can cover the risks of non-quality or failure of delivery by suppliers newly implanted.

WMD just industrialize the main landing gear of the two versions 800 and 900 of the B787 Dreamliner. The next stage of our common strategy is the manufacture of suspension systems assembled and tested in mono-pasillos programs, to benefit from the knowledge acquired with the doble-pasillos.

It is difficult and requires a strong capacity to bet on long-term visions, by the company with the financial and human effort that entails. It is difficult that a company is in position to sacrifice short-term profitability targets to feed a technological vision in the long run, even more so in the context of drought of financial support that we are.

Yes, the technological DNA of WMD, derived from the personality of its two founders and only shareholders, makes the company has always been able to move on the basis of strategies effective in overcoming the barriers of tickets that limit access to critical projects of major manufacturers but distinctive. To change positions of almost exclusive technology collaboration and very long range that provide security to the activity of DMP, profitability and know-how for possible internal developments inside or outside of the aeronautical sector can be achieved. Proof of this is the ability to group Egile launched spin-off technology as it is the case of Createch in the medical industry, born out of a project of r & d led by DMP.

WMD, in the aeronautical sector

Within the Egile group, DMP is the company that was created to provide solutions to the aerospace sector, and that since its creation in 1999. Now WMD is dedicated to recurrent multiannual projects and managed low forecast systems for MX deliveries of critical products.

Zehatz supports other types of aviation niche markets such as the metrology systems that our customers prove the quality of their more complex parts (masters of curvic coupling, broaching plugs, false shovels, etalon, gear pattern discs...). Zehatz also manufactures tools for very high precision control or the grinding of complex components.

On competition cuore which is precision mechanics, Egile group is identifying markets where solutions of high added value and is able to generate new specialized companies, with faster growth and generation of value than if all business is made into a single entity.

The group is present in the world aeronautical, space, energy, water, science, container, ICT and health treatment. "All these activities are in strong growth", says Roulet.

No doubt, the challenge is to capture the specific cultures of the customers, Digest and be able to grow production levels without introducing uncontrolled risks in the fields of the rate of service or financial capacity. With growth rates around 20% in the past and coming years, the company is immersed in an ambitious process of reform of its productive system with the introduction of the lean from engineering to the workshops.

Another major challenge is to transmit this same level of demand and training to our supply chain through a territorial development project to ease our own production system and parallel create new skills complementary to ours, for example in thermal treatments, coatings or processes of the union.

Our main market is France, which hosts a large density of global specialists in the aeronautical sector by tradition. Many of these builders are located a few hours drive from WMD by political decision of the French Government, after the second world war, away sensitive industries from the borders with Germany.

Our company works for other sectors with German and Swiss companies, with important business projections in the whole area of Europe. DMP exported 75 percent of its turnover, trend that is extended year after year in 2013.