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Seeing clearlyTwigger on the half-year

Smart thinkingEveryone has a role to

play says Rienecker

Looking aheadDivisional strategies explained

Price performerJoesbury on buying shrewdly

Settling inHow FATS fits

Getting togetherABSC and Dunlop merge

Strate

gy

specia

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Seeing clearly 03Terry Twigger on the half-year results and a momentous acquisition

No silver bullets needed 04Strategy & Marketing Director Lorraine Rienecker on group strategy development

Strategy at a glance 08How the Meggitt group is pursuing its goals

one.meggitt@meggitt.com 09The group migrates to one global e-mail service

Extra sensory perception 10Meggitt Sensing Systems’ MD explains where one of the world’s largest sensor groups is headed

One plus one equals three 18Meggitt Aerospace Equipment’s President explains his division’s approach to creating value

Big freeze in the Lone Star state 24How the vapour cycle air con integrator is boosting Meggitt’s thermal systems group

Braking power 28Introducing Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems

No man’s land 32Another UAV braking systems programme win

Smart moves 34What Meggitt Defence Systems did next

In the line of fire 42FATS adds simulation to the training mix

Price performer 51Group Director of Operational Excellence Ian Joesbury on buying shrewdly

Meggitt networks at Powergen 56What the group does in energy

Show time for Meggitt 58Terry Twigger works the Meggitt booth

Apprentices fly high at Coventry 60Top trainers have their say

The ethics line in action 62When you call, who’s at the end of the line?

Spacewoman rockets into Meggitt 63Export compliance manager Natasha Allen on why export compliance is out of this world

Winning ways 64Honours for Meggitt businesses

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IN THIS ISSUECover image: Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems takes off

The Embraer 170, for which ABSC, Meggitt’s latest acquisition, provides wheels and brakes. The businessjet typifies the market in which ABSC and established Meggitt business, Dunlop Aircraft Braking Systemsexcel. Now merging, these businesses will become known as Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems. Photograph courtesy of Embraer SA

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SEEING CLEARLYChief Executive, Terry Twigger, reflects on the half-year results and introduces this strategy-dedicated edition of the Meggitt Review.

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Iam delighted to say that when weannounced our interim figures inAugust, Meggitt delivered another

set of great results. What’s more,we’re on track to deliver what wehave promised for 2007.

Thanks to the hard work of all ouremployees, we reported a 10 percent increase in sales to £358million and an 11 per cent increasein profit before tax to £62 million. Bycontinuing to invest in our peopleand infrastructure and successfullyacquiring and integratingcompanies, we have ensured thatMeggitt continues to grow andcreates value in the long term.

A clear strategy

This edition of the Meggitt Review focuseson strategy and how we are aligning ourbusinesses around a clear vision forMeggitt. Lorraine Rienecker, Meggitt’sstrategy and marketing director explainswhat drives our group and our divisionaldirectors—Richard Greaves, KenSchwartz, Terry Timms and John Stobie—explain the part their businesses play insupporting it.

The right building blocks

It’s important we continue to take steps tohelp our businesses connect with eachother and put in place the practicesrequired to facilitate communications andimprove our performance.

You can read about people pullingtogether within businesses; acrossdivisions; and across the group, allshowing how we can increase the value ofour talents and technologies by combiningthem. Katherine Kost, the group’s head ofinformation services, highlights the adventof global Meggitt e-mail and other ITdevelopments that break down

boundaries; Ian Joesbury, Meggitt’sdirector of operations excellence explainshow we are equipping our businesses withthe tools and opportunities to exerciseflair and creativity in the pursuit ofoperational excellence, sophisticatedsupply chain management and effective manufacturing strategies.

A commitment to growth

We remain committed to growing ourbusinesses. Last year, we invested nineper cent of sales in exciting newtechnologies and continued to acquirecompanies that strengthen our marketand leadership positions. You can readabout Keith Products boosting Meggitt’sthermal systems capability and FirearmsTraining Systems—FATS—which isenabling Meggitt Defence Systems to

deliver the world’s first integrated live andvirtual weapons training programmes.

A world-class supplier

Last, but by no means least, we completedthe K & F Industries Holdings transactionat the end of June and welcomed market-leading businesses Aircraft BrakingSystems Corporation and EngineeredFabrics Corporation to the group.

In the past few months, we have beenworking very hard to integrate theseexciting new businesses into Meggitt.After visiting their facilities andparticipating in our first integrationworkshop, I am confident that thecombination of K & F and Meggitt will bean outstanding one and a major step inachieving our ambition to become aworld-class supplier.

03

NO SILVER BUL

04

“If everyone makes astrategic business decision

every day, then that's atleast 8,000 decisions all

going in the right direction.Getting the whole group to think smart, every day,

whatever they do—that's mypersonal vision

for Meggitt.”

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LETS NEEDEDLorraine Rienecker, Meggitt’s first Strategy & Marketing Director, explains how shebecame a strategy professional and how strategic thinking has subtly repositionedMeggitt for its next growth phase.

Lorraine Rienecker is in the problem-solving business. As a young girl—whenshe wasn’t pestering her father to set

logic problems—she loved solving jigsawpuzzles. The bigger and more complicated theywere, the more she liked them. She still does,whether poring over 1000-piece images with herchildren or looking at the challenge of devisingand executing strategy in large corporations.

Rienecker’s top marks in school were in pureand applied sciences. Reading engineering atuniversity in her native Canada was a naturalprogression and she started as a projectengineer at Canadian aircraft manufacturerBombardier. Problem-solving roles came herway and the more she succeeded, the morehands-on engineering retreated. Rienecker haddiscovered her passion for complexity and aftersix years she was at the top of her game, solvingmultiple problems on very large programmes.

Unsurprisingly, Bombardier was keen tosponsor Rienecker through a local Masters inBusiness Administration but she had otherideas. Unfinished business in Europe after agraduation backpacking trip had expanded herworld view and she had a hankering. “All myeducation was in North America and I wanted toexperience a different school of thought.” Ahopeful Bombardier granted Rienecker a leaveof absence.

Armed with a scholarship from the CanadianFoundation for International Management,Rienecker was free to take up a place atINSEAD, a French business school espousingthe global perspective and cultural diversity shecraved. A year later, with an MBA in hand, shespent another year working on a project tosupport research and training at aerospace anddefence company Aérospatiale, later EADS.

Her post-MBA goal had been to work for a largeEuropean aerospace outfit but UK consultancywork intervened. Booz Allen Hamilton was one ofthe few consultancies that wanted specialists soRienecker was able to continue working in theindustry she had grown to love. “I couldn’t think

of anything more exciting than working in thekind of industry where every time a primecontractor launched a programme, it bet thecompany,” she says. “And where else do you findcomplexity on such a huge scale? Success inaerospace is based on how you manage verylarge investments, balancing commercialpressures on the one hand while pushing backthe boundaries of technology on the other. On topof that, it’s all played out on an internationalpolitical stage.”

At Booz, a number of cost reduction andbusiness process reengineering projects cameand went but the high point was a majoraerospace strategy project involving complexwar-gaming theory to help senior executivesmake informed decisions about the way thebusiness needed to shape up over the long-term.“On our side, we undertook weeks of immenselydetailed preparation involving information-gathering and analysis. For the client, theprocess appeared to be just three days unitingseemingly unconnected pieces.” Rienecker paystribute to a mentor’s maxim: you know you havefound the answer when you have found simplicity.“There’s that wonderful moment when a solutionbecomes so obvious that everyone forgets therewas a problem in the first place.”

Later, Rienecker was exposed to GEC’s MarconiElectronic Systems, a client who liked what shewas doing and persuaded her to go in-house.“Here was a classic British conglomerate, acompletely financially-managed company. Therewas no integration.“ Rienecker’s brief was tobring strategic thinking to the company, put in anew planning process and make sense of acomplex portfolio. Two years later she repeatedthe exercise when Marconi Electronic Systemswas bought by British Aerospace.

Rienecker joined Meggitt in October 2005, after acareer break in which she established a familywith husband, Allan. “I would have found it veryhard to turn my back on aerospace,” she admitsbut her interest in the group goes beyond love ofthe industry. Meggitt gives her the opportunity toapply hard-won strategic skills in what shedescribes as “one of the few growth companiesin a mature industry.” >

“Every time a prime contractorlaunched a programme, it bet

the company”

“Meggitt is one of the few growthcompanies in a mature industry”

05

RIENECKER IS KEEN TO ESTABLISH A PRINCIPLE ABOUT

strategic thinking. “There are rarely goldenanswers or silver bullets,” she says, “youhave to advance toward the right solutionpatiently and keep figuring things out. This is especially apt for Meggitt. What’s needed is a common-sense evolution, not a radical transformation.”

When Rienecker was first interviewed forMeggitt’s strategy role, she met what shedescribes as “people who had built a strongcompany but wanted to keep growing it andmake a difference.” Eighteen months later,Rienecker continues to be impressed by anaspirational culture that crosses continentsand hierarchies. “Meggitt people want toclimb mountains, not just skirt around thefoothills. For many there is a sense they arein the presence of real opportunity. My job isto make sure that strategic direction helpsthem make the most of it.”

For Rienecker, strategy work isstraightforward. “It’s about making betterdecisions based on good information. That’show you will know where you are going andhow to get there using the right managementtools and processes.” There is some horizon-gazing, too, of course. “It’s very different frommanaging from financial year to financialyear. You won’t miss opportunities and youcan avoid the crevasses.”

Rienecker started at Meggitt by digesting andmaking sense of the group’s formidablecollection of business units and technologies.2006 and early 2007 was about ‘base-lining’the businesses, achieving a commonunderstanding of what each one is, thecharacteristics that drive them, theconstraints that limit them and the directionthey need to take. This has resulted in a newsimplicity to the way that Meggitt presentsitself to customers and investors. “We containits diversity rather than allow it to overwhelmwith its richness,“ says Rienecker. “Meggitthas four promising markets—aerospaceequipment, aircraft braking systems, sensingsystems and defence systems—all linked bythe requirement for operational excellence,while the technologies they are pushing andthe market forces that drive them differ.”

Unsurprisingly, Rienecker found that eachMeggitt business commands a different levelof investment and must be manageddifferently. “You drive different things out of each business to achieve differentobjectives. Success comes in many forms.Some businesses should be growing fast,others less so depending on where they arein the market cycle. Targets and priorities differ accordingly.”

In the past, Meggitt has tended to evaluate agiven investment on purely financial merit.“Now we are also looking at the strategicvalue of an investment to the group.”Rienecker cites investments in condition-monitoring in the newly-formed MeggittSensing Systems and Meggitt AerospaceEquipment’s recent successful bid for furtherinvestment in “enabling” motor controltechnologies. “We must allocate resourceswisely, ensuring we invest in technologiesand businesses that can deliver today’sresults and realise tomorrow’s ambitions.”

Rienecker and Meggitt’s divisional leaders’vision for Meggitt’s future is multi-faceted inline with the diverse nature of the group’sactivity. “We’re not like Honda, for example,who said they were going to make one singlething—an engine—really well. That’s whythere is no one-size-fits-all strategy,” sheconfirms. However, there are commonthemes when it comes to execution. “Meggittis a strong group, made up of a number ofdifferent elements. We’re going to becomeeven stronger, working together and givingour customers what they want in terms ofcritical mass, moving with the times anddeveloping timely technology. We will deliverthat technology on time and at the right priceand make sure that our operations fromseries production to sourcing materials isslicker than slick.”

This resonates with the managementphilosophy espoused by Rienecker which

views organisations as organisms. Like thehuman body, they cannot be treated asseparate parts. It is how those parts worktogether that’s important. “You can have thebest legs in the world but you will never be agreat runner without a great heart, lungs andbrain,” she says. “Meggitt is just the same.Great strategies alone are not enough. Wemust also have the right organisation, peopleand processes to be successful.“

Over the last eighteen months, Meggitt’soperating companies have enjoyed more thana purely transactional relationship with thecentre as they increasingly access a range ofservices underpinning Meggitt’s continuinggrowth. Strategy and marketing is joined by acomplement of organisational development,information services, communications,operations excellence and ethics and exportcompliance professionals, all driving commonprocesses throughout Meggitt. A cadre ofdedicated key customer relationshipmanagers and Brussels and Washington DCrepresentatives are helping to promoteMeggitt’s profile as an integrated group.

What Rienecker is here to do

No silver bullets

“Meggitt people want to climbmountains, not just skirt around

the foothills”

06

“The group’s ambitions go beyond being a set of better

component companies”

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Rienecker explains: “we need to standardiseperformance and find the synergies in groups

such as our fluid controls, polymers andthermal management businesses to serveour customers better and meet ourobligations to shareholders.”

Rienecker is clear that Meggitt will continueto offer its tried-and-tested extremeenvironment components to establishedmarkets but emphasises that the group’sambitions go beyond being a set of bettercomponent companies. “We can generatesignificant organic growth if we pull all ourcomplementary capabilities together andmove up the food chain.“

When asked about the risk factors associatedwith sub-systems integration and so-called“product bundling,” Rienecker is firm: “Theold way of doing things is not without risk. Weall know about supplier consolidation. It’svery real and we have got to make sure wearen’t left behind. I strongly believe that thereis great value in combining our in-housetalents and technologies where possible.”

Rienecker notes that Meggitt’s growthambitions go beyond delivering its individualbusinesses strategies. “We must continue tointegrate large acquisitions such as K&Fsuccessfully. The market expects it and ourindustry requires us to have the scale tomanage the increasing demands placed on usby our customers and regulators.”

Strategy development is continuous as far asRienecker is concerned. Clearly, overarchingstrategies do not change overnight but can bemodified and the axes around which theyrevolve shifted depending on where anorganisation is at a given point in itsdevelopment. “Today, our strategy is market-

led. The company is growing and we need tore-establish who our key customers are, howwe can serve them best and what businesswe should be winning. In tandem with marketdevelopment thinking, we are alsoformalising our approach as a group tooperational excellence, materials sourcingand shared services.“

Rienecker is excited about the current phase—growing Meggitt and executing each businessunit’s strategy. “There are going to be somedifficult trade-offs to make when it comes toinvestment but our greatest difficulty isdeciding which opportunities to pursue. I can’tthink of a better problem to have.”

Rienecker is emphatic about the opportunityfor everyone to play their role in strategyexecution. “Strategy is not something thatsits way out there—an academic disciplinefrom which bolts of lightning strike from timeto time,” she says. “Strategy must be integralto the way we all think and act. If everyonemakes a business decision every day in thelight of its strategy, no matter how small,then that’s at least 8,000 decisions all goingin the right direction. How could the group doanything other than move forward? Justbecause you are not the Chief Executivedoesn’t mean you don’t have your own veryvaluable contribution to make.” For Rienecker and her divisional directors,“strategy is the way Meggitt does businessround here.” She concludes. “Getting thewhole group to think smart, every day,whatever they do—that’s my personal vision for Meggitt.”

See overleaf for Meggitt’s strategy at a glance.

Richard Greaves, Ken Schwartz, John Stobie and

Terry Timms have their say on pages 10, 28, 18

and 34 respectively.

needed

“There’s a new simplicity to the waythe group presents itself”

“Strategy is not something that sitsway out there … it must be integral

to the way we all think”

Lorraine Rienecker

2005 Meggitt PLC

Group Strategy & Marketing Director

2000 - 2002 BAE SYSTEMS

Director of Strategy & Planning

1998 - 1999 Marconi Electronic Systems

Director of Strategy & Planning

1994 - 1998 Booz Allen & Hamilton

Senior Associate

1993 - 1994 INSEAD/Aérospatiale

Research Associate, Strategy & Management

1992 – 1993 INSEAD, MBA Programme

Canadian Foundation forInternational Managementscholarship

1986 - 1992 Bombardier Inc

Project Engineer &Programme Manager, Regional Jet

Project Engineer, Challenger Aircraft

1982 - 1986 Concordia University, Canada

Bachelor of MechanicalEngineering, specialising inindustrial engineering

“We’re going to become even stronger,working together and giving our

customers what they want”

07

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> We invest in technology

We take care to maintaininvestment in highly engineered,specialist products, protecting ourposition on current programmesand equipping ourselves with thetechnologies to secure our placeon new ones.

> We invest in strongaftermarket businesses

We invest in products that operate in extreme environmentsand require support throughouttheir service lives—up to 35 yearsfor aircraft. This means we are well-placed to achieveconsistent, predictable andlong-term revenues.

> We balance our interests

Meggitt offsets variation in marketdemand by spreading risk. Webalance our exposure to civilmarkets with military business;and sales to original equipmentmanufacturers with sales ofaftermarket services. We are on awide range of aircraft types toavoid dependence on singlecustomers and programmes; andour interests are evenly balancedbetween North America andEurope and Asia.

> We develop leadership positions

Our extensive aerospaceequipment interests cover a widerange of electromechanicalcomponents and systems andpolymers for all segments of theaviation business. We are onvirtually every aircraft in service,with strong aftermarket positionsproviding long-term stablerevenue. We focus our investmenton wheels and brakes and motor-control technologies for all-electric aircraft and land vehicles.

Our sensing systems can measurevirtually every critical parameter.Our primary focus is on thegrowing market for condition-based monitoring and maintenanceof high value assets such asindustrial gas turbines and aero-engines driven by safety,environmental regulation and theneed for fuel economy. Meggitt hasthe leading technologies—highperformance sensors andadvanced processing electronics—and is investing in developing them.

Our defence systems business hastwo streams—training and combatsystems. We are the only companyworldwide to offer integrated liveand virtual training for the armedservices and law enforcementagencies and our specialistelectronics cooling, ammunition-handling and countermeasurelaunch and recovery systemsrespond to the requirements ofmodern conflict.

> We work together

We are investing in a groupwideinfrastructure to improvecommunications and standardisethe processes, practices andstructures that will lead to simplerand more nimble operations, withsenior customer relationshipmanagers and Brussels andWashington DC representationstrengthening our positions asstrategic suppliers to thecustomers who count.

> Operational excellence isimportant to us

Our central operations excellence team is drivinginternational procurement andstrategic sourcing initiativesthroughout the group, settingoperational standards andspreading best practice.

We invest heavily in factoryextensions, refurbishments andrelocations, consolidation andprocess re-engineering to improvedelivery and reduce cost.

> We maintain a highperformance culture

At Meggitt, we believe in keepingour promises. That’s why we equipour people—managers, salespeople, engineers, craftsmen andall those who support them—tofulfil the needs of our fast-growingbusiness by developing andrewarding them.

> We grow organically and by acquisition

We grow existing businesses andbuy new ones to boost leadingpositions in our chosen marketsand enhance our technologies.

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MEGGITT’S STRATEGY AT A GLANCEMeggitt’s goal is to outperform its competitors in specialist areas within its primary aerospace, defence and energymarkets. Here’s how the group is going about it.

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By November of this year, all Meggittemployees using e-mail will have thesimple address that many have been

seeking—firstname.lastname@meggitt.com.This development flows from the group’s IT strategy, which is designed to equip Meggitt companies to compete effectivelyin the 21st century.

Katherine Kost observes: “It goes withoutsaying that common e-mail addresses willmake life easier for all of us to go about ourbusiness more efficiently.” At the same time,Meggitt is giving its customers a very powerfulvisual cue about critical mass and integration,she explains: “They will see that whatever wemake, wherever we make it, we are a group ofconnected companies who can work togetherefficiently. Whether we are providing integratedthermal management systems or bundlingsensor and ignition packages, this initiativepromises a whole new experience of Meggittfor its customers.”

Managed externally by NaviSite, Meggitt’s newglobal e-mail service will enable Meggittpeople to talk to each other securely acrossthe world. They will be able to find each otherquickly through an up-to-date global addresslist. Archives will be better, more accessibleand more compliant and security andupgrades will be much more efficient.

Standard bearersWhile the global e-mail project team (DerekAitken, Ann Hughes, Adrian Knight, KatherineKost and Mike Toole) migrates its way throughthe Meggitt universe, there are moreinformation service initiatives in the pipeline.The group’s IT steering committee continuesto work hard, standardising IT controls andestablishing criteria for buying key softwareand PCs. “In 2006, we saved over a quarter ofa million dollars,” confirms Katherine. “Thisyear, with more standards, we expect to savethe group over half a million.”

Meggitt’s enterprise resource planning (ERP)systems—the series of software modulessupporting company processes such as stockmanagement and sales—are being simplifiedtoo. Meggitt’s management board has agreedthat all Meggitt businesses should movetowards one standard, retaining existing ITwhere it makes sense, so all members of thegroup can enjoy common best practice, sharesoftware and develop more skills.

When WAN?Earlier this year, Meggitt’s management boardauthorised migration to a wide area network tofacilitate communications and improvesecurity. Katherine and team are nowexamining the kind of information each

business wants to share and sourcing theappropriate software tools. When this missionis complete, the team will be in a position totimetable the WAN network launch.

If you have any questions about Meggitt’s IT strategy and these initiatives, please contact Katherine or any of the IT SteeringCommittee members.

Your IT steering committeeKatherine Kost Group Head of ISkatherine.kost@meggitt.com

Ann Hughes Group Manager of IT Procurement

ann.hughes@meggitt.com

Tina Haines Aerospace Equipmenttina.haines@meggitt.com

Martin Hallford Aircraft Braking Systemsmartin.hallford@meggitt.com

Charles Ho Defence Systemscharles.ho@meggitt.com

Adrian Knight Defence Systemsadrian.knight@meggitt.com

In the last edition of the Meggitt Review, Katherine Kost, Meggitt’s Group Head of Information Services, explained hermission to provide Meggitt with the simple, nimble, compliant and secure systems needed to enable Meggitt businesses to work with each other across geographic, commercial and corporate boundaries. In July, Meggitt started migrating to asingle global e-mail service—a long-held ambition. And there are more transformational IT initiatives in the pipeline.

CONCENTRATING ON CRITICAL MASS AND INTEGRATION:from the left: Katherine Kost, Ann Hughes, Charles Ho, Martin Hallford, Adrian Knight. The IT Steering Committee also includes Tina Haines.

one.meggitt@meggitt.com

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To say that Dr Greaves, a physicist, iszealous about the myriad possibilities ofhis division’s market-leading, condition-

monitoring technology is an understatement.He is a scientist who believes in the power oftechnology to make the world a better placeand is in a perfect position to put these beliefsinto practice. His division can offer a broadportfolio of the high performance sensors andadvanced processing electronics needed tomonitor the behaviour of high value criticalmachinery and deliver the diagnostic dataneeded to run them more efficiently.“Condition-based maintenance of aircraftengines and industrial gas turbines helps cutpollution, save fuel, avert catastrophic failuresand deliver what’s required reliably and ontime, such as electricity from power stationsand people from planes.”

As a businessman, he sees the market formonitoring airplanes, helicopters, spacevehicles and industrial plant growing strongly.The condition monitoring market in total isworth about $1.4 billion. That’s lots ofmachinery, all needing the tender loving carethat comes from effective condition-

monitoring. “The notion of hard-lifing anengine is anathema to me,” he declares.“Buying one is expensive enough. You don’tneed to make the cost of owning it greater bytaking engines out of service because you

think they might need some attention, ratherthan when you know they need it. Because ourequipment measures and monitors mechanical condition, we bring certainty andcontrol. Owners can plan maintenanceaccording to the condition of a piece ofequipment rather than replacing it at a givenpoint as a standard operating procedurewhether it needs it or not.” Global angst about consuming less energy and emittingless pollution is making his division’s productsespecially popular. Greaves is objective: “If a machine is running properly and cleanlybecause it is well-maintained—and whenoperators have the data they need to ensurethat they aren’t abusing their equipmentthrough faulty usage—the fuel bills go downand the regulators are happy.”

Success is based on the pioneering work ofSwiss-based Vibro-Meter more than 50 yearsago. Its vibration monitoring systems, whichare on nearly all commercial gas turbines

launched in the last decade, have proved anevolutionary stage in the development oftoday’s state-of-the-art engine monitoringunits. Vibro-Meter’s integrated systems, whichprovide clear and unambiguous images of theTrent 900 engine for the Airbus A380 and theTrent 1000 and GEnx engines for the Boeing787, contain diagnostic and prognosticelements that have turned data intomaintenance actions and migrated monitoringinto active management of system condition.“We can put our systems on the airframe forthe airline operator or on the engine for thepower-by-the-hour providers. They havecommon requirements. Both can use them toavoid unscheduled maintenance, unnecessaryinspection and expensive man hours todiagnose problems,” says Greaves.

Having secured a place for the sophisticatedhealth monitoring systems on the industry’sfuture large jets, Meggitt is starting to retrofitolder aircraft and targeting the next single-aisle generation that will form the core ofcommercial aviation.

Meggitt Sensing Systems has struck animaginative licensing agreement with >

EXTRA SENSORY PERCEPTION

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lots of machinery, all needing thetender loving care that comes from

effective condition-monitoring

no need to wait for an aircraft toland and a human being to start a

data transfer process

If a machine is running properly andcleanly, the fuel bills go down and

the regulators are happy

Richard Greaves’ evolution of the group’s pioneering vibration monitoring tools for rotating machinery into a broaderhealth management capability demonstrates remarkable foresight. Demand for the equipment—that helps save fuel,reduces emissions and cuts the cost of maintenance—couldn’t be higher across aerospace, defence and energy, thenewly-formed Meggitt Sensing Systems’ primary markets. Here he explains how his division will remain top dog in thistechnology and, under the new organisation, build sales for what has become one of the world’s largest sensor groups.

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“An atmosphere of trust in which people can question things and be

creative is the foundation of grown-upbusinesses that achieve things”

12

Meggitt Sensing Systems is using a microwave-based radar technology from a Georgia Tech start-up to measure components moving at speed, starting with the hostile environments of gas turbine engines. Its rotor blades can turn at nearly the speed of sound, so the data needed for condition monitoring can be up to 300 megabytes a minute—like processing 300 FMradio stations simultaneously.

Says Jon Geisheimer, Founder and Technology Lead, Radatec, USA now SeniorEngineer, Vibrometer, Switzerland, “with NASA’s original funding, wedemonstrated that we could pull more information out of a signal than anyoneelse, anywhere.” Today, with the backing of Meggitt Sensing Systems, Geisheimerand his fellow American Radatec founders (Scott Billington, Dave Burgess andTom Holst) have moved to Vibro-Meter Switzerland to bring this importanttechnology to commercial fruition—just when every aircraft engine manufacturerhas identified turbine tip clearance as critical to the prevention of costly andunnecessary hot-section overhauls, loose blades corncobbing engines,greenhouse gas emissions and wasted fuel.

The power generation industry has also woken up to the technology’s energysaving potential. “A mere ¼ millimetre reduction in the gap between the caseand the tip of a turbine blade means a one per cent improvement in efficiency,with less fuel burned and less carbon dioxide. If you look at these savingsacross large fleets of aircraft and industrial gas turbines, such gains will besignificant,” says Geisheimer.

> Green machines

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Aeromechanical Services (AMS), a Calgary-based start-up, to meet civil aviation’srequirement for additional features in realtime such as usage and exceedancemonitoring. AMS’s integrated air-to-ground-to-user satellite communications link andinternet distribution system offers these datacategories to airline operators but canprocess and transmit far more. “The value ofmonitoring information is increased when itreaches key users in a timely fashion,” saysGreaves. ”With the AMS system, the datafrom our monitoring systems is getting tothose who need it in seconds while theaircraft is still flying. Because there is noneed to wait for an aircraft to land and ahuman being to start a data transfer process,

maintenance problems can be solved in-flightor ground staff alerted quickly shouldunscheduled maintenance be needed.”

Military aviation is as receptive as the civilmarket to the benefits of engine healthmanagement tools but its priorities differ.“There is an obvious premium on thesupportability, reliability and combat readinessthat comes with maintenance regimes boostedby our products,” says Greaves.

Typically, Greaves’ horizons are broad. “Myteams are looking at applying our technology

beyond engines to monitoring completevehicles or, where our energy customers areconcerned, more plant. We’re also looking atways of linking intelligent data to control sothat improvements to a given operatingfunction can be executed without humanintervention.” He foresees a blurring of theboundaries between sensing, monitoring,diagnosis and control, elements whichMeggitt Sensing Systems is well placed tointegrate in next generation systems.Condition-monitoring has attractedsignificant investment from the Meggittgroup. “It is very important that we sustainour technological leadership, increase salesand maintain excellent customer service atthe same time.“ >

Extra sensory perception

Linking intelligent data to control

Meggitt Sensing Systems specialises in sensing data few others can, especiallyfrom environments that are vibrating, corrosive, oxidizing and hot—but thereremain some frontiers to pioneer.

Piezoresistive sensors don’t work above 300˚C today, which means the staticpressure measurements needed for control in the 500˚C plus compressor,combustion chamber and turbine areas of power generation systems andaerospace engines cannot be monitored effectively. As Dr Charles Smith ofEndevco, a Meggitt Sensing Systems centre in California, explains: “for staticpressure, monitoring devices have to reside in cooler areas with the consequentloss of detailed information or they have to be actively cooled in hotter areas withair or a liquid cooling medium pumped in from elsewhere, resulting in complexityand risk of breakdown.” The complexity arises from longer wires, more connectors,and cooling system plumbing, which adds the size, weight and part count thatdiminishes operational reliability, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.

This is why Meggitt Sensing Systems is increasing its use of active materials suchas silicon carbide (SiC) which has a wide band gap, superior mechanical strength,high thermal conductivity, high melting point and inertness to exposure incorrosive and oxidizing environments. Sensors using this material can measureboth static and dynamic pressures. Says Dr Smith: “in the right package, it willconfer longer life and reliability on our piezoresistive sensors and accelerometers,which means they can be placed, uncooled, in a wide range of very hightemperature environments.” Meggitt has licensed the SiC platform technology fromNASA and is using the specialist etching tools and skills of its micro-electronicmechanical systems facility in Sunnyvale, California to create new generationsensors that will find numerous applications in civil and military aerospace, oil andgas drilling, space exploration, missiles and fuses, land and marine vehicles andmany segments of the power generation industry.

> Closer to the centre of power

Meggitt Sensing Systems is also improving its integrated offerings. Engine sensorpackages are one of them. Gas turbineengines need a wider range of sensors than ever to hone performance and conform to environmental regulation. Engine

manufacturers are turning to suppliers whocan integrate these critical systemcomponents. “We have the mix of products,logistics and procurement expertise to givethe OEMs what they want without having toliaise with up to a dozen suppliers. We canbecome a tier one integrator in this field,”asserts Greaves. Rolls-Royce seems toagree. It has just awarded a contract for abusiness jet engine sensors and ignitionpackage that could yield over $30 million toMeggitt, depending on engine sales.

Typically, engine control and monitoringsystems include sensors measuring air andfluid temperature, shaft speed, vibration, oillevel, oil debris, actuator position, oil andfuel pressure and fuel flow. However,integrated system specifications can includeengine ignition. The Meggitt group is famousfor the range of high performance sensorsthat can measure virtually every physicalparameter. What is less well-known,perhaps, is that when the group acquiredECET—now Vibro-Meter France—in late2005, it acquired a first-class ignitioncapability. This complements Vibro-MeterUK’s ignition business, one of the world’stop three producers of igniters for theenergy industry, a sector which, withaerospace and defence, represents a keytarget in Meggitt Sensing Systems’ strategyfor growth.

Meggitt Sensing Systems’ sensors arealready present across the energy industrialsegments, in exploration, transportation,processing and power generation—whereverharsh environments and the need tomonitor critical machinery come together.In land-based condition-monitoring, Meggittis second only to General Electric. It hasforged strong relationships with keycustomers like Siemens, whose industrial

gas, steam and hydro turbine customers arereaping similar rewards to those enjoyed byVibro-Meter’s aerospace customers. Theseinclude improved efficiency, loweremissions, more reliability and reducedownership costs. General Electric is aformidable competitor but Greaves is surethere is much to play for in an expandingmarket. Meggitt will be widening itsapproach to a range of energy segments,with targets in oil and gas, petrochemicalprocessing and transmission. Further, in itstraditional power generation stampinggrounds, operators of smaller turbines willalso be able to benefit from new scaleableand modular derivatives of the class-leadingVM600 that is currently equipping theworld’s mega machines. The next generationVM600 will be configured for specificperformance monitoring, advanceddiagnostics and upgraded remote servicecapabilities. The division’s acoustic anddirection sensing used in marine defencemay be adapted for oil and gas exploration.Its optical combustion-monitoring products,another maritime-proven technology, isequally applicable to land-based turbinesand aero-engines.

Network and wireless sensing (see page 17),high temperature sensing and optical flamecharacterisation to quantify gas turbine

emissions remain key developmentinitiatives for all the division’s markets.“Breakthrough technologies like these arewhat make our business tick,” says Greaves.“When aspects of the sensing business arecommoditised, we’ve got to make sure weare ahead of the pack.” He highlights timedomain reflectometry used to create nextgeneration digital fluid gauging, ‘intelligent’fire fighting sensors [see Meggitt Review,Winter 2006) and developments in activesensing materials. With a licence fromNASA, Meggitt Sensing Systems will bemaking silicon carbide device fabrication andpackaging technologies (see page 13).“Silicon carbide is very strong and canwithstand extremely high temperatures >

Extra sensory perception

Breakthrough technologies arewhat make our business tick

Aiming to become a tier one integrator

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Somewhere in the Caribbean, a DHC8-300 regional aircraftaccelerates down the runway, rotates and becomes airborne.At the moment its wheels leave the ground, an onboard unitsends two small files. In less than 15 seconds these files aretransmitted from the aircraft to the ground, reformatted intocustomised reports and forwarded to the airline, dataanalysts and software providers, half a world away.

All this is the work of an automated flight informationreporting system, at the heart of which lies a 10lb smartbox—a data processor that sits in the aircraft with massmemory, flight data recorder, GPS receiver and Iridiumsatellite communications modem programmed to selectspecific messages chosen by end-users from aircraft databuses. It performs additional processing automatically andtransmits messages and selected information aboutscheduled and unexpected events to the secure ground-based server and user—on demand. Data and messagingcan be transmitted back to the aircrew or to the smart boxfrom end-users on the ground.

It is the smart box that senses the DHC8’s weight-off wheelssignal when it takes off, simultaneously recording the date,time, latitude and longitude and track over ground from theGPS. In that same second, the box records the torque,engine temperature, propeller rpm, high and low pressureturbine speed, fuel flow, outside air temperature, pressurealtitude and indicated airspeed for both engines. Thisinformation is then bundled into a file, sent to the Iridiumsatellite communications system and forwarded to a ground

application. Two reports are immediately generated: astandard aircraft movement message that alerts the operator’sfleet management software to the aircraft’s departure. Theother is a snapshot of the engines’ performance at the timeof lift-off so their performance can be monitored over time.

John McCaskill, Aeromechanical Services’ customer relationshipmanager explains: “Our unit is essentially a computer withone programme running on it. Every second, this programmeanalyses the information being recorded by the flight datarecorder and applies a set of business rules to determinewhat action to take when certain events are detected.”

Now that Aeromechanical Services has entered into alicensing agreement with Meggitt, Vibro-Meter’s conditionmonitoring equipment will be integrated with the AMSsystem, enriching its data sources. According to RichardHayden, Vice President, Strategic Programs: “The advantageof automatic data collection is that it is consistent, accurateand reliable and delivered quickly to someone who can usethe data. Our partnership will enable customers to receivevaluable information about aircraft operation and movementsand the engine monitoring and trend data needed to preventthe cost of unscheduled maintenance.”

Meggitt and its partner Aeromechanical Services are pursuinga two-pronged marketing strategy, working with the airlinemakers to embed systems in the overall design and withairline owners and operators on retrofit projects.Demonstrations start later this year.

> Real answers, real time

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Extra sensory perception

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and corrosive, oxidising environments. Weuse it to add extreme environment endurance to our small, light MEMS sensors.Pressure monitoring during combustion inaero and power generation engines would be a prime application for these powerfullittle packages.”

MEGGITT SENSING SYSTEMS IS A NEW DIVISION

formed in January from Meggitt AerospaceSystems and Meggitt Electronics. It bringstogether some of the world's best-knownnames in sensing—Endevco, Piher, Vibro-Meter, Sensorex and Wilcoxon Research.

Operating from centres of excellence inFrance, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, the UnitedStates and Spain it is now one of the world’slargest sensors groups, collectively capable ofmeasuring nearly every physical parameter.Says Greaves, "we have a combined sensingcapability covering the United States andEurope. We are putting in place clear saleschannels for it and we are refining ourmanagement structure to make the most ofthe talent and resources of nine sensingbusinesses with outstanding reputations.” Hebelieves that a number of creative synergiescan be realised from the grouping. “Somebusinesses understand miniaturisation.Some, extreme environment endurance.Others, processing electronics. We can play anumber of cards in a number of productivetechnology combinations,” says Greaves.

Within the new structure, Meggitt Avionicshas found a new sensing focus. Probablybetter known for its pioneering cockpitdisplays, it has just won $30 million order forsecondary flight repeaters on the Apache

helicopter and has the market-leadingmilitary jet threat warning indicator.However, the Fareham-based business has asignificant capability in air data measurementthat fits well with Greaves’ sensing centres ofexcellence concept. “Meggitt Avionics has avery solid grounding in mission-critical airdata sensing. Their sensors don’t drift, sounits are accurate for longer. This means

Making the most of the talent and resources of nine sensing businesses

Critical mass and strong leadershipto realise our ambitions

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high function and less maintenance cost.”He is equally enthusiastic about thecompany’s helicopter air data system. “It isastonishing. It can sense airspeed, direction,altitude and temperature staying accuratedown to zero knots in any direction—reverseand sideways. It’s on the Apache helicopter,giving it the accurate data it needs at very lowspeeds for sophisticated manoeuvres.”

With the Meggitt group’s sensing systemsencompassed in the new organisation,Greaves and his teams are developing aninfrastructure to support inter-companyactivity, new product introduction, continuousimprovement, programme management andsystem engineering. “Sensing Systems nowhas the critical mass and strong leadership torealise our ambitions and we’re making surethey have the tools they need to

commercialise innovation and sustain highlevels of customer service,” says Greaves.

As the business evolves, Greaves will be keento spread the culture of empowerment thatcharacterises many Meggitt Sensing Systems

businesses. He expects people to takeresponsibility for their jobs but not to labouralone on big issues. “Where we haveimportant problems, I like to hear the badnews and work as a team to find solutions.”He prizes open, honest communication. “Itgenerates an atmosphere of trust in which

people can question things and be creative.It’s the foundation of grown-up businessesthat really achieve things.”

Greaves plays a long game. In 1996, thegroup’s vibration monitoring specialistsneeded a vision. Ten years later, that vision—to become the world’s number one in enginecondition monitoring in aerospace—has beenrealised. “Strategy is about achieving a visionby winning a war. You do that by being single-minded yet flexible and opportunistic. Thetactics are the battles you have to win alongthe way but you must never get bogged downin them or you will lose sight of your ultimateobjective.” When it comes to moulding thenew division and equipping it to seize theopportunities that its new critical massmakes possible, it’s clear we can expect more of the same.

Strategy is about achieving a visionby winning a war

Meggitt promoted networked sensing systems at the Paris air show this year,focusing on freeing up the payload capacity currently taken up by somemonitoring systems.

“Helicopter users are especially conscious of the difference even a fewkilograms can make to the cost of their operations,” says Roger Knock, aMeggitt health and usage monitoring systems expert who has been workingwith Meggitt Sensing Systems’ divisional engineering innovation team on thetechnology. He is keen to spread the word amongst anyone monitoringvibration, temperature and structures who needs to connect multipletransducers to a central monitoring unit.

“Since networked sensors need fewer cables, they need fewer brackets, fixingand plug-breaks, which means less weight. And when you consider that cablebundles can be replaced with wireless links, it is possible that the channelsneeded for networked sensors could be reduced by up to 85 per cent overconventional sensor system architecture.” There’s a reliability factor, too, hesays. “There’s less to go wrong with fewer cables and connections. Installationwould be simpler than current systems, so there would be less labour.”

> Kilogram counting with network sensors

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The big thing about Meggitt AerospaceEquipment today, says John Stobie, isthat if some might have described this

Meggitt group division as a grab bag in thepast, they certainly can’t now. The acquisitionof the Dunlop Aerospace businesses a littleover three years ago was a watershedenabling him and his team to bring criticalmass and a new clarity to the way thebusinesses went to market. “Now that SerckAviation, Dunlop Equipment, DunlopBestobell, Stewart Warner South Wind andthe former Dunlop Ice Protection &Composites businesses have settled into ourgroup, we can really put our strategy to work,”Stobie explains.

Meggitt Aerospace Equipment has 14operating units, streamlined into fiveorganisations. “It’s a set of logical businessgroupings that show we really understandwhat we are and enable us to createstrategies that address our aerospace andenergy markets with clarity and conviction.” A key plank of the division’s strategy is to

increase the value of sales by providing parts for sub-systems or adding value byintegrating those products through thedivision’s focused business units. These“FBUs” are groups of companies withcomplementary product lines, managed and marketed together. “We’re moving upthe food chain, providing more solutions toour customer and getting more value fromour sales.”

Meggitt Thermal Systems is a case in point.The former Avica ducting businesses in theUK and US, Dunlop Ice Protection &Composites and the newly-acquired compactair-conditioner Keith Products were verysuccessful in their individual niches, Stobiereminds us. Collectively, however, they add upto a dynamic environmental controls systems(ECS) capability that’s already gaining ground.

“Buying Keith Products last year was adefining moment. You really need vapour cyclesystems to play in ECS”, says Stobie. Today,with the contracts to prove it from Cessna,Javelin, Eclipse, Embraer and others, Meggitthas become a serious contender in airmanagement for general aviation, businessjets and helicopters. “This is a concept aboutone plus one makes three,” he says. Thedivision’s fluid controls and polymer armsseem to prove the sums too.

Meggitt Fluid Controls consists of five Meggittgroup companies, all leaders in their fields—Whittaker Controls, Meggitt Airdynamics,Dunlop Equipment, Serck Aviation and Avery-Hardoll. Combined, on wing or on ground, itsvalves, heat exchangers, fans, pumps andcompressors add up to a range of specialisedsub-systems. The group is also focusing onthe requirements of all-electric aircraft,vehicles and industrial power plantequipment, with investments in advancedmotor controllers for fans, pumps and valvesand “smart” modulating actuators andtraction drive motors. “The emerging all-electric platforms are a great opportunity forfluid controls to expand its markets and thevalue of a centre of excellence in motorcontrol and smart actuation would resonateacross the group,” says Stobie. “It’s a classicenabling technology.”

Meggitt Polymer Solutions, a combination ofDunlop Bestobell and Meggitt SiliconeProducts, offers an unrivalled set of productsthat can provide every single polymer solution

an aircraft needs. This simplifies procurementfor the customer in line with the Meggittgroup’s mission, while product familyengineering delivers economies for Meggittand its customers. “We can provide all theelastomers needed for a family of productsinvolving an entire wing so customers don’thave to go to three or four different suppliers.We can do the same thing for cabin, nacellesand the engine. This is a huge differentiatorfor us right now,” enthuses Stobie.

Heatric and Safety Systems are the division’sonly stand-alone businesses. Safety Systems,with around 80 per cent of the market sectorin commercial aircraft fire detection, is anestablished provider of subsystems involvingcontrollers and electronic interfaces. It isexperiencing a surge in demand for its bleedair leak detectors which activate cockpitalarms for leaks that can inflict seriousdamage to metal, components and wiring.

“It is a serious safety mechanism,” saysStobie, “and we’re on the brink of somesignificant contract wins for this very cleverproduct.” Meggitt Safety Systems’ highlyreliable brushless DC actuation capability,which has grown from zero to around $10million in four years, aligns well with thedivision’s electric motors initiative.

Stobie’s home is not exclusively in aerospace.He admits to a passion for the energy industry,which is why Heatric is a business after his own heart. Meggitt has invested heavily inexpanding the factory to meet a booming orderbook for its compact heat exchange solutionsfor oil, gas and petrochemical plant. And whatStobie describes as Heatric’s “paradigm-shifting” technology has enormous potential inre-forming for the distributed production ofhydrogen and syngas. “This is an enablingtechnology for a hydrogen-based economy.Further, because it can be used to transformnatural gas into liquid for ease of >

ONE PLUS ONEJohn Stobie, President of Meggitt Aerospace Equipment, explains his division’s approach to creating value—and why a Meggitt job is more than just a job.

“Emerging all-electric platforms are a great opportunity”

“it’s all about the businessesworking together more efficiently

with common tools”

“Booming ordering book forcompact heat exchange solutions”

“We don’t want to be a tier oneintegrator. At the same time, wedon’t want to put limits on our

potential within our niche markets ”

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EQUALS THREE

“a Meggitt job must spell‘opportunity’. I want our people to

have the chances I’ve had”

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Meggitt Thermal Systems, one of Meggitt Aerospace Equipment’s ‘focusedbusiness units’ (FBUs), has pooled its fluid dynamics, heat transfer and powermanagement expertise to create single aircraft air management systems for lightjets—a subsystems solution that creates more value to the customer from asingle source of supply. A range of contract wins includes the high pressureenvironmental control systems for Javelin, the advanced executive jet andmilitary trainer (below).

> Single air management system for Javelin

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One plus one equals three

Heatric is taking its unique printedcircuit heat exchange technology intodomain of ‘re-forming’, allowing it toexpand into a much larger sector of theenergy market. Many of the world’s gassupplies are in small offshore fieldsthousands of miles from the nearestpipelines. Cooling the gas until itbecomes a liquid is not often viable inthese small fields and the conventionalchemical technology needed to convertit into a liquid fuel is too big to put ona ship. Heatric has been very successfulin reducing the size of equipment foroffshore gas processing and is poisedto do the same for offshore re-forming.

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transportation, it can help supply the worldwith the fuel it needs, irrespective of where itoriginates and needs to go. This will become avery important issue, relatively soon.”

Stobie sees significant opportunities for growthin the energy sector for many of his businessesover the next ten to 15 years. He summarises:“World demand for energy is increasing. Thereis a declining world supply. There is acompelling need for clever technology to find it,move it, conserve it, process it and deliver itwithout wasting a drop.”

He predicts that future opportunities are notlimited to those enabled by Heatric technologybut will affect many Meggitt AerospaceEquipment companies. “The energy marketexhibits many of the extreme environment

attributes we are used to responding to inaerospace and represents a significant growthopportunity for our current and newtechnologies.” Meggitt Safety Systems alreadyhas a good position in the nuclear industrybecause the core of its virtually indestructible

silicone dioxide cable transmits signals veryefficiently in spite of the hostile environment.The cable as a whole won’t age with heat orradiation. Whittaker Controls’ industrial gasturbine valving for bleed air management anddigitised fuel metering >

> Heatric’s re-forming boost for gas supplies

“September 11 changed everything.Aircraft utilisation dropped so we

have to tighten our belts andbecome super-efficient”

One plus one equals three

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products is well-established with increases inpetroleum consumption boosting demand forthese specialty products.

Stobie has appointed strong leaders to growthe division’s businesses and drive strategyaround the focused business unit concept.

They are supported by a divisionalinfrastructure providing engineering direction,centralised IT, other shared services andoperational expertise, mirroring what MeggittPLC is providing at group level. “It’s all about

the businesses working together moreefficiently with common tools,” says Stobie.

Asked about the limit of Meggitt AerospaceEquipment’s systems aspiration, Stobie keepsit broad. “We don’t want to be a tier oneintegrator. At the same time, we don’t want toput limits on our potential within the nichemarkets we’re looking at. We are on amigration path—still servicing our marketswith components—with the ability to do somesubsystems work now with a vision to extendour scope in that area.”

John Stobie headed up Safety Systems, which,with Whittaker Controls, Meggitt acquired in1999. He was promoted to manage both, withestablished Meggitt business Avica (now

a Meggitt Thermal Systems company), asPresident of the new Meggitt AerospaceEquipment division. Turnover was around $185million. It’s now around $575 million. “We’vedone OK,” he says.

It is a different business now, of course.“September 11 changed everything,” saysStobie. “Aircraft utilisation dropped so we had to tighten our belts and become super-efficient.” At the same time, Boeing andAirbus were changing their business models.“They went through their tier one integratorsand really reduced their supply chain. Now we

are moving into areas where we would beconsidered tier one to some of thoseintegrators versus tier two and three. Therehas been a lot of work and a lot of change.”

Stobie’s passion for operational efficiency iswell-known and this has been transferred tothe division’s newer businesses. “There issome outstanding work going on now,“ hesays, citing numerous achievements includingStewart Warner South Wind’s reduction inTAKT time (an allowable time for completingindividual steps in a production process) from24 days to 45 minutes on its Pratt & Whitney600 heat exchange cell. Improving processesand reducing working capital is important, heconfirms, but there is more to running abusiness for him than this. His personal goalis to bring more value to the division’semployees year on year. “I take pridein being at the helm of businesses that run smoothly with no waste but I want to grow them too. A growth business is a creativebusiness that excites the people who work in it. That’s why a Meggitt job mustspell ‘opportunity’. I want our people to havethe chances I’ve had to go as far as theypossibly can.”

It’s a two-way street, though. Meggitt peoplemust play a part in creating their chances.Stobie puts it simply: “You’ve got to keeplooking at those customer metrics and keepimproving on them. You can’t create growthand opportunity without that.”

“You’ve got to keep looking at thosecustomer metrics”

“a growth business is a creativebusiness that excites the people

who work in it”

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Meggitt Thermal Systems’ ice protection arm is poised to make a big impact on thefixed and rotary wing market. Where the competition relies on bleed air,compromising available engine power, Meggitt integrates its electro-thermal iceprotection systems. What’s more, complex composite structures are its speciality—like the air-engine inlets of the Agusta Westland large-class, three-engine helicopter.The product links into more electric and all-electric aircraft concepts and MeggittAerospace Equipment’s strategy of maintaining market leadership by developingtechnology that consumes less power.

> Electro-thermal ice systems consume less power

Keith Products’ mastery of integratedvapour-cycle air con for business jets,light aircraft and helicopters is almost

unrivalled. Demand for its products has neverbeen higher and its record with the FederalAviation Administration is unblemished. Thecustodians of the company’s microprocessor-

controlled heating and air conditioningcapability are the Doell brothers and PatDePole. Tom Doell is the accountant whostepped away from Peat Marwick into oil andgas, then real estate before purchasing KeithProducts from Parker Hannifin in 1989 withbrother Tim, an aerospace professionalemployed by Parker and Pat, another formerreal estate developer. The trio, who sold thebusiness to Meggitt last year, continues tosteer the business, with Tim leading on productdevelopment certification and technicalcustomer relations, Pat on operations and Tomtaking care of finance while new managers arebeing recruited and trained.

For Tom, part of the business’ success, isabout good financial management. “You cannever underestimate the importance ofunderstanding all your costs. We know what

we need to sell our products for and we’vemade sure we have made a profit every singlemonth since we bought the business.” Equallyimportant are the compelling reasons whycustomers pay a premium price for thecompany’s product. Tom explains: “we providea highly engineered, specialised service thatnot just anybody can provide and we makesure we deliver that service on time.”

This is a significant claim as Keith Products’core competency is integration. While itdesigns and makes many components,including the compressors, condensers andevaporators that represent the beating heart of any air con system, its customers arebuying a complete package—components,system design, installation, test and FAAcertification—and one that is capable of series production.

Says Tom: “There are other companies whereyou could buy individual components to build avapour cycle system and many OEMsthroughout history have done that. The OEMswho come to us, like Learjet, Bombardier andRaytheon are those who don’t want to risk the50:50 per cent success rate associated withthat approach. They are happy to let us providea guaranteed package and not have tomaintain vapour cycle engineers on staff.” >

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“You can never underestimate theimportance of understanding all

your costs”

BIG FREEZE IN THE In the last financial year, Meggitt’s Texan air con specialist Keith Products has seen a 25 per cent leap in sales as a number of carefully nurtured, high quality programmes have come to fruition. There are more in the pipeline and while the integrator is boosting the marketing drive of Meggitt’s new thermal systems group with expertise and key technology, the tie-up is expanding the scope of its integration capability too.

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MASTERS OF VAPOUR CYCLE AIR CON INTEGRATION:from the left, Tim Doell, Vice-President, Engineering and Tom Doell, Chief Financial Officer

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LONE STAR STATE

CERTIFIED GENIUS: “When Learjet decided to do Lear 45 with us, they took a brand new$15 million jet from the production line, delivered it to us here in Dallas and rolled it intoour hangar. Six months later, we returned it to them with a certified air conditioning systemthat could be repeated and installed from their production lines.” Tim Doell

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Tim explains: “When Learjet decided to do theLearjet 45 with us, they took a brand new $15million jet from the production line, delivered itto us here in Dallas and rolled it into ourhangar. Six months later, we returned it tothem with a certified air conditioning systemthat could be repeated and installed from theirproduction lines. We cut holes in the airplane,we tied our system into the electrical systemand we put parts in the nose, in the tail andeverywhere in between. We did the test flightsand interfaced with the FAA. There are lots ofpeople out there who can make parts but fewpeople can make an entire system like we do.We have total knowledge of the aircraft and allthe systems that go on it.”

The design-manufacture-certify timescalesunheard of in other parts of the aviation

industry are common at Keith Products,helped by an excellent relationship with theFederal Aviation Administration. The company

is one of the FAA’s most active customers inthe American Southwest region, interfacingwith the regulator every month maintainingSupplemental Type Certificates and approvingnew projects. Keith Products has never had anAirworthiness Directive issued against itssystems and is regularly invited to give annual

talks and provide training programmes onvapour cycle technology. Says Tim: “Theyrecognise we do a good job. That’s why wehave a test regime pre-negotiated with theFAA on what needs to be done to ensure thesafety of the system; and another to determinethe performance of the system within itsstated flight envelope.”

Ease of installation characterises KeithProducts’ output. The KingAir integrationpackage is broken into several different stationkits delivered to different parts of the aircraft’sproduction line. “We work with our customers’manufacturing engineers to develop these kits.The structural parts may go to one building tobe built into the nose and fuselage section andother parts to the wire harness group. Theyjust flow in like all the other parts coming into

Big freeze in the Lone Star state

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“The KingAir integration package …flows in like all the other partscoming into the production line.

We stay on that line until there iscomplete understanding of how to

implement it”

Conditioning air since 1968Keith Products was founded in 1968, when JB Systems beganthe vapour cycle air conditioning systems product line inLongmont, Colorado. It was sold to Airborne Manufacturing in1972, in 1979 to arch rival Parker Hannifin and then the Doellbrothers—one of whom worked on the product line at ParkerHannifin—and Pat Depoele in 1989. The trio consolidated thecompany’s operations in Addison, Texas. Meggitt bought KeithProducts in September 2006 and integrated it into its MeggittThermal Systems group.

Keith Products’ 61 employees have business jet, jet trainer,light aircraft and helicopter vapour cycle air conditioningsystems down to a fine art on the Cessna 172, Learjet 60series and light twin-engine planes such as the Cessna 300and 400, Piper Seneca II PA-34-200T and Navajo PA-31, SocataTBM 700 and Raytheon’s Hawker Beechcraft KingAir B-200and B-350. Helicopters like the Bell 206, the TH-57 and 67, theEurocopter EC-120 and 135 and the Sikorsky S-76 carry thecompany’s innovative cooling systems for their low weight, lowpower consumption, efficiency and reliability and ingeniousmicroprocessor-controlled bleed air heater systems andbrushless DC blowers, compressor drives and condenser fans.Keith Products’ integration engineering expertise has resultedin the largest product listing of Supplemental Type Certificatesfor air conditioning units worldwide.

Major programme awards include bleed air heating andavionics cooling fans for the EC-145/UH-72A, Learjet 30, 40, 45and 60, the Raytheon/Hawker Beechcraft T-6A Texan II (US AirForce and Navy JPATS) and the CJ-4, Cessna’s new businessjet which will feature new brushless DC motor technology forthe compressor drive and evaporative blowers.

JUST SET THE TEMPERATURE: Keith Products’ Set and Forget system for the Sikorsky S-76 represents a major leap in rotorcraft cabin and cockpitclimate control. This first-generation, computer-controlled, vapour cycleair conditioning and bleed air heating system enables the flight crew tosimply set the desired cabin temperature, leaving the system to operate in air conditioning or heating mode to deliver it. The microprocessor-controlled unit receives temperature inputs from several cabin and cockpit temperature sensors, modulating the heating and air conditionsystems so pilot workload is decreased and flight crew and passengercomfort level rises.

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the production line. We’ll help on that line untilthere is complete understanding on how toimplement the integrated package.”

Like most in aircraft engineering, KeithProducts pursues the twin goals of low weightand low power consumption. Tim highlightswork carried out for the Beechcraft KingAir B-200 and B-350, one of the most widely utilisedcorporate transport aircraft in use today. “Wereplaced these aircraft’s existing systems withintegrated vapour cycle air conditioning andbleed air heating that weighs 30 per cent lesswith 40 per cent more capacity. Warranty costsfor those aircraft have plummeted too.”

About 70 per cent of Keith Products’ salesinvolve complex systems to cool passengersand avionics for OEMs to install on productionlines. The rest of the business is dedicated toretrofitting existing aircraft, from single-engine

piston airplanes to twin engine jets andhelicopters, with neat, off-the-shelf air consystems that deliver automobile-style comfort.Visitors to owner-operator oriented shows likethe NBAA and Heli-Expo will see Keith

Products selling them over the counter moreor less to all kinds of business and pleasureaviators. Mike Fitch, Keith Products’Aftermarket Sales Manager, stands behindthat counter. “We get a lot of positive feedbackfrom our customers—comments like: “I’ve hadyour system in my aircraft for several yearsand it’s the only thing that's never broken”; or“love the system, it blows icicles” or even “Iflew from Houston to Dallas and I had to turnthe darn thing off—it was freezing me out ofthe airplane."

For the future, Keith Products intends to stickto its knitting. The last financial year has seena leap in sales of 25 per cent—the fruits ofpre-acquisition labours—and they are workinghard to make sure the pipeline stays full withnew, high quality programmes such as therecent Cessna Citation CJ4 contract won onthe strength of an advanced system featuringthe company’s new brushless DC motortechnology. Tim explains: “Our strategy is toconstantly increase our market share byproviding quality products that move with thetimes, backed by continuing high levels ofservice.“ He is undaunted by the rise of themore or all-electric aircraft. “It is still too earlyfor our market to tell exactly what is going tohappen but since most of our vapour cyclesystems already run off electric motors, weare more than ready to respond to newvoltages, reduced or even no bleed air.”

Wider interaction with the Meggitt ThermalSystems is of immediate interest. “We areworking together extremely well on a wholeraft of new proposals to the top OEMs, offeringtwo things. The first addresses a whole newpsychology of responsibility,” says Tim. “Whilewe have never let a customer down because ofa supplier, we are getting a very positiveresponse to the concept of ‘One Meggitt’ asthe one responsible party. We can integratenumerous Meggitt products into our systems.”He is also enthusiastic about working withinthe Meggitt Thermal Systems (MTS) group to

expand the scope of Keith Products’integration capability. “Before MTS we wouldonly think in terms of taking the bleed sourceafter it had been conditioned and gone throughthe flow valves. Now with MTS’s bleed airducting, Whittaker Controls or DunlopEquipment valving and Stewart Warner SouthWind heat exchangers, we can create acomplete system from the engine bleed port tothe air outlets. That is a very new and excitingconcept for us.”

“Working hard to ensure thepipeline stays full with new, high

quality programmes”

“A complete bleed port to air outlets system is a very new and

exciting concept for us”

AIR RESCUE: 40 of the T-6A Texan II single-engine, two-seat primary trainingaircraft were delivered to the US AirForce before it called a halt to furtherdeliveries citing, in part, inadequate aircon. Raytheon contacted Keith Productswho were quick to diagnose theproblem, recommending a solution basedon brushless DC technology never beforeapplied to systems for these aircraft.

The prototype aircraft was flown to KeithProducts’ Addison, Texas facility and after

a swift development programme usingthe company’s onsite computerised test facility, it was able to meet orexceed all system specifications,including tolerance of 100° Ftemperatures and combat manoeuvrevibration. After endorsements fromRaytheon flight test crews, the US Air Force and an independent testingagency, Keith Products were contractedto replace the incumbent systemenabling joint primary pilot training to proceed.

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Schwartz’s career in aerospace anddefence started at the LoralCorporation in the United States in the

late 1970s when he left Deloitte & Touche asa chartered accountant and an experiencedauditor of many sectors. He was neverinterested in accounting as a career butenjoyed “a great fundamental education”,instilled with the conviction that “whateverbusiness you are in, at whatever level, youhave got to make your numbers.”

Starting as an assistant controller in LoralElectronic Systems, which specialised inactive and passive military radar warningtechnology, Schwartz found the defencebusiness model extremely appealing. “If yougot on the programme early—sole source—and performed well, you were assured of along-term revenue and cash flow stream onthat programme.” But it was the campaign tobecome a “Tier 1” supplier to the United

States Department of Defense that made amanager of him. Loral had to show theDepartment it had the cost and scheduleprogramme management tools needed toparticipate in the largest, cost-reimbursableprogrammes where the customer underwrotethe risk. “You are ineligible for these awardsunless you have a validated cost schedulecontrol system [CSCS]. It is a big deal.”Schwartz was taken out of his finance role towork full time, selecting and leading themulti-functional team needed to secure CSCS validation, which they won two and ahalf years later. “I still feel a sense of pridewhen I think of the pat on the back we gotfrom a four-star general after a gruellingthree-week test and review of our programme controls. We passed firsttime. That was exceptional.”

When asked about how he motivated theteam throughout this tortuous-soundingprocess, the answer is uncomplicated. “Well,it’s who Ken is, you know. You come intosomething; work hard and work smart; anddo it with great passion. That’s contagious. Itis about commitment. What you put in is whatyou get out. That’s how I think and I raise myyoung children that way.”

The CSCS project won him a promotion toLoral’s corporate centre as director of

internal audit. Pre-Sarbanes Oxleygovernance, this focused on productivityimprovement and operational audits—inaround 25 different companies at Loral—aswell as liaising with the group’s independentauditors on accounting matters.

In 1989, Schwartz was appointed CFO of K & F Industries Holdings, which was formedto buy Aircraft Braking Systems Corporationand Engineered Fabrics Corporation. “I wasthe first one in the door and I built thefinance team.” He proceeded to develop the hands-off management style thatcharacterised his time at Loral.

Schwartz believes in managing operations bymixing autonomy, authority and the rightfinancial controls so entrepreneurialism isnot stifled. “I prefer to foster a sense ofresponsibility and instill a sense ofaccountability in local managers so they feelit and know it.”

And Schwartz believes the best ideas comefrom the operating business units. “When weinstalled cellular manufacturing into theAkron plant, we worked with the Union andthey told us the best way to set up a cell. Thisresulted in savings of millions of dollars.” Atthe management level, Schwartz says: “I amsmart enough to know that I do not know theVP operations job as well as the VP. I respecthis expertise. I take the information and weget to the right answers together. I do notmicromanage. Quite candidly, in the earlyyears, I did micromanage because I felt I hadto know everything. But over time, I learnedto stand back and let the process ownersexecute.” Today, Schwartz heads up thewheel and brake operation under Meggitt.

For Schwartz, whether under K & F orMeggitt, the markets remain the same andhis eye remains firmly focused on thecustomer’s needs. Over the last 20 years, hehas observed the maturation of the aerospacesector whose players are adopting strategiesthat require suppliers like Meggitt to becomeeven more cost-competitive if they are toremain profitable. >

Meggitt acquired Aircraft Braking Systems in June 2007 as part of the K & F Industries Holdings transaction. Now it’smerging with established Meggitt company, Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems into a brand-new division—MeggittAircraft Braking Systems. We introduce its president, Ken Schwartz, who explains how he and the integration team are formulating the future state of this powerful new force in wheels and brakes.

BRAKING POWER

“You come into something; workhard and smart; and you do it withgreat passion. That’s contagious. It is about commitment. What you

put in is what you get out”

“Same respected faces but withrenewed ambition to deliver more

to customers”

GETTING TO THE RIGHT ANSWERS: Ken Schwartz, President, Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems

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MOVING WITH THE TIMES: MeggittAircraft Braking Systems has a presenceacross all strata of the regional andbusiness jet market. The like-mindedAkron and Coventry operations also havea stake in programmes that areresponding to the changing private jetmarket business model.

Across Europe and the United States, start-up air-taxi ventures are emerging,using light and very light jets (LJs andVLJs). These aircraftfeature technologythat makes themcheaper to buy andrun than conventionalprivate jets. Lower cost per seat milewill enable charter and fractionaloperators to extend their reach,attracting middle managers and theupper middle class as well as thecorporate jet setter usually associatedwith this market.

Air taxis will be taking off and landingonce every two hours so Meggitt AircraftBraking Systems has developed brakesthat can withstand the punishingschedules of these flexible, smaller

aircraft; have the static hold needed foraircraft preparing for take-off withengines running on full power; and the“power braking” needed on the shorterrunways in cities and towns on whichsuch aircraft tend to land.

Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems’Phenom 300 brake uses carbon, which ismore expensive than the steel usuallyused on aircraft of this size but, throughclever design, it has succeeded in

delivering theeconomically viablebrakes needed by thelight and very light jetcustomer. While the

purchase cost is still higher than a steelbrake, the carbon model will last twiceas long and deliver the efficiency andreliability needed.

The Phenom 300 carries Coventry’s “ultrahigh life” brake-by-wire system. MeggittAircraft Braking Systems Akron is alsopresent on several of these newgeneration aircraft including the Phenom100 (pictured) and Adam Aircraft’sAdamjet 700. It recently won its firstcontract with Cessna on the Citation CJ4.

“economically viable brakes for light and

very light jets”

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Braking power

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He is convinced Meggitt Aircraft BrakingSystems will meet these challenges.Productivity campaigns underway at the Akronand Coventry sites before they merged will beboosted by sharing best practice. Bothbusinesses are rich in the technologies thatcount in braking systems but development willbe optimised by a bigger engineering team.Materials sourcing will find new directionsaided by Meggitt’s operational excellenceinitiatives. Schwartz observes: “There are fourthings that win bids. The technical solution to

the wheel, brake and brake control system forthe new platform; the improvements we canbring to the economics of running airlines—products that perform as expected;aftermarket support—global coverage forreplacement parts; and evidence—how ourproducts perform on the aircraft. We can check all those boxes.“

The customer focused “workstreams” of theMeggitt Aircraft Braking Systems integrationteam are currently evaluating long-termmarketing strategies. Today, Meggitt AircraftBraking Systems is extremely well-known tothe business jet, regional aviation and militarymarkets delivering reliable braking systemsthat don’t disrupt schedules; brakes that stopaircraft on shorter runways; and brakes thatlast despite gruelling schedules in extremeenvironments; and high usage. Contract winson the new generation of very light jets such asthe Embraer Phenom 100 and 300, Adamjet,Hondajet, the Cessa CJ4 and progress onexisting Embraer regional jet programmesshow that both wheel and brake businessesare at the top of their game. Implementing ourstrategy, ” says Schwartz, “will ensure weretain the fantastic aircraft platform base wealready have.”

He congratulates the integration team on thegreat progress made clarifying the business’scurrent position and ensuring the combinedbusinesses are as easy to deal with as they

were before the merger. Schwartz summarises:“Same respected faces but with renewedambition to deliver more to customers.”

On the merger as well as day-to-day business,Schwartz is an advocate of speed and logic.“When we say we are going to do something,we must execute quickly but thoughtfully.” Hehas great confidence in the integrationprocess, applauding the way it elicits inputsfrom all constituents, surfacing the best ideasand best practice and ensuring that anyobstacles to success are forced out into theopen and addressed at the earliestopportunity. “This process is not just aboutstaying on target. It is about getting to theright answers and formulating the future stateof our company.”

“This process is not just aboutstaying on target. It is about getting

to the right answers and formulatingthe future state of our company”

“There are four things that win bids… we can check all those boxes”

FLYING COLOURS:Aircraft Braking Systems Corporation and DunlopAerospace Braking Systems’ staff combined forcesand presented a united face at the National BusinessAviation Association’s trade fair in September.

In September, Meggitt Aircraft BrakingSystems seized the opportunity to launch itself at the business jet world’s most important event in the annualcalendar—the National Business AviationAssociation’s trade fair held, this year, in Atlanta.

Aircraft Braking Systems Corporation andDunlop Aerospace Braking Systems’ staffcombined forces and presented a unitedface to the world, marketing an expandedcapability that ran the gamut of wheels(nose and main), brakes (steel and carbon),and brake control systems (anti-skid andbrake-by-wire) and included MeggittAircraft Braking Systems’ new electricbrake for a large business jet flight testdemonstration.

Flying coloursFrank Crampton, Senior Vice President,Sales & Marketing enjoyed the new look(see left and right). “The graphics werecrisp and professional and we catered for

Akron and Coventry’s interests withoutincreasing the size of the booth butimproving its impact.” Cramptonemphasised to customers that MeggittAircraft Braking Systems developmentswould be evolutionary not revolutionaryand that the folks they dealt with lastyear are the folks they will be dealingwith this year. “What hit our customersmost positively, “says Crampton, “are theimmediate advantages of our combinedorganisation’s enhanced engineeringcapability and expanded complement offield officers and service centers.”

Double actsCrampton and team made every effort to fly the new colours and ensure thatMeggitt Aircraft Braking Systems spoke asone company amidst an atmosphere ofgreat interest in the new organisation.Crampton confirmed: “There is a greatsense of purpose to the combined teamand a belief in the potential of this merger.

The NBAA fair proved we could do a nicejob of presenting ourselves. We went todinner with one of our landing gearpartners and a half dozen representativesfrom Akron and Coventry. As with so manyengagements at the show for the ‘OneMABS’ team, solidarity prevailed.”

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Getting together The merger progresses

“Our goal is to ensure that by the end of the integration process,our customers are amongst thegreatest advocates of the deal.”

That was one of the messagesunderpinning the Meggitt AircraftBraking Systems integration processlaunched in August by Dave Johnson,Integration Director and formermanaging director of Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems (right).

At the inaugural integration workshopheld in Akron, high level plans for co-ordinating the integration work were set out by leaders of specialintegration “workstreams”, dedicated to customers, operations, engineering and product development and backoffice, all backed up by head office-sponsored support on compliance,finance, IT and communications.

Chief Executive Terry Twigger concludedthe two-day event by applauding thespirit of willingness and cooperation ofpeople fired up with a vision for a world-

class company. “Very few organisations have achieved what we are trying to achieve and at the end of thisintegration process, Meggitt will havebecome an incredible organisation.”

Since August, both businesses have beenusing new Meggitt Aircraft BrakingSystems’ livery with an official launch ofthe combined business set for January 7when signage will be installed and use ofMeggitt’s graphic visual style extendedbeyond the sales teams.

Official launch – January 7

After a little over two months from astanding start, the Akron facility is nowproducing management accounts usingthe Meggitt group reporting package.This very significant achievement fromMeggitt PLC and Akron’s highly skilledfinance teams means that integrationactivity can be undertaken efficiently withreference to consistent data sets andcommon formats.

Integration supply chain goals arecoming into view with initial gains in IT procurement.

Operations are making strides instandardising continuous improvementmethodologies based on the selection of the best of the combined businessmodels.

Most important of all, Meggitt AircraftBraking Systems is one team. Says,Johnson: “With exchange visits to sites,with joint sales activity taking place, withintegration planning moving ahead, it’sclear that people from both sides of theAtlantic are working extremely welltogether. The advantages that thisbestows on the merger’s prospectscannot be underestimated.“

Braking news at the NBAANEW LOOK: one of a dozen new graphic panels used to rebrand the group’s braking systems booth.

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Meggitt has been selected to providewheels, brakes and brake controlsystems for Taranis, the BAE Systems’

led unmanned air vehicle (UAV) technologyprogramme that will demonstrate howemerging technologies and systems candeliver battle winning capabilities for the UK’sarmed forces.

The agreement, reached at this year’s Paris AirShow, will see Meggitt deliver equipment forthe £124 million demonstrator aircraft beingdeveloped at BAE Systems’ site in Warton,Lancashire as part of the Ministry of Defence’sexperimental strategic UAV programme.

UAV lead“This is a big deal for us,” says Matt Price,Head of Segment, Military Aircraft, MeggittAircraft Braking Systems, Coventry. “Itenables us to participate in researching anddeveloping the technologies that will ensurewe stay at the top of our game and puts us atthe forefront of the European UAVmarketplace as unmanned vehicles progresstowards operational capability inreconnaissance and combat operationsalongside traditional military aircraft.”

BAE Systems is also a longstanding Meggittcustomer. Its braking systems are specifiedon all its aircraft and the Coventry-based armof the new worldwide Meggitt Aircraft BrakingSystems’ organisation is determined toensure that it continues to remain BAESystems’ first choice for wheels, brakes andbrake control systems.

Chris Kelly, Procurement and Supply ChainDirector of BAE Systems’ AutonomousSystems and Future Capability business,confirms: “As UAVs play an increasingly vitalrole in military operations, BAE Systems iskeen to continue to work with long-established suppliers, protecting UK capabilityand ensuring the UK aerospace sector staysahead in the global race to developtechnologically advanced aircraft.”

Second winThe programme win is Meggitt’s second inunmanned air vehicles. It successfullysupplied and demonstrated its electrically-actuated “E-brake” on an EADS’ UAVprogramme in 2006. Says Price: “That was thefirst electric brake and anti-skid system in theworld to fly successfully and on one of most

testing platforms there is. With no pilot toreact to landing conditions and controlbraking, we delivered a system that wasreliable and responsive enough for saferemote operation, integrating it with flightcontrols managed by pre-programmedcomputers.” Meggitt’s E-brake can be readily adapted for commercial, mannedaircraft in line with the requirements of theevolving all-electric aircraft platform. Priceconfirms: “It encompasses all the reliability,maintenance gain and weight loss everyairline operator is looking for.”

The beauty of electric braking is the speed atwhich the motor can respond to brakepressure, which means shorter stoppingdistances without loss of control. The systemcomes with locked-wheel protection toprevent tyre burst and deceleration controlfor smoother braking during high-speedlanding. The small number of moving partsin Meggitt’s E-Brake delivers the highreliability and low maintenance regimes.With no need for valves, hydraulics or pipework, aircraft weight overall is lower.

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NO MAN’S LANDAnother European UAV braking systems programme win for Meggitt after 2006’s world first.

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The Tiranus teamNeil Flanagan Programme Manager, UAV systems

Theresa Roberts Systems Engineer

Kevin Baylis Technical Specialist, Mechanical Design

Beke Vuma Brake Performance Engineer

Mark Maydew Chief Mechanical Engineer

Marc Greenshield Chief Systems Engineer

Mike Eccles Skill Centre Leader, Brake Performance

BIG BRAKE: The award from BAESystems for Taranis’ wheels, brakesand brake control systems put Meggittat the forefront of developments inEuropean unmanned air vehicles asthey advance toward reconnaissanceand combat operations.

Tira

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prod

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cou

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BAE

Syst

ems.

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SMART“When smart people of goodwill are

thinking about what they are going to donext week then good ideas emerge”

From the left: Roger Brum, President,and Charles Panasewicz, Vice Presidentof Business Development of the newcombined Meggitt Defence Systemsfacility in California and Terry Timms,the division’s Managing Director

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Terry Timms and his team have a clearvision for Meggitt Defence Systems—tobe the preferred supplier around the

world for integrated training systems andprecision-mechanical systems for combatplatforms. With the critical mass lent bysignificant acquisitions—live fire trainingspecialist Caswell in 2003 and virtualspecialist, Firearms Training Systems (FATS)in 2006—and serious investment in

infrastructure across the business, that visionis coming within reach. “We’ve come a longway in a little over a decade,” says Timms. “In1996, our turnover was £14 million. When webought FATS in 2006, we went from a £90million to a £130 million business at a stroke.That was around 15 per cent of Meggitt overall before the K & F acquisition. We’ve raisedour profile in our chosen market sectors too.”

When it comes to training, Meggitt isresponding to military doctrine on both sidesof the Atlantic. “In the US, there are three bigpieces of training to support the way the USmilitary fights wars,” explains Timms. “Theyfall into the categories of live, virtual andconstructive training and we’ve positionedourselves to respond accordingly.”

He refers to the division’s live-fire capabilitywhich enables soldiers, police officers andsecurity people to hone tactical response,engagement and responsible firearmshandling using real weapons and bullets onMeggitt’s computer controlled, electro-mechanically operated targets representingpeople and vehicles. The virtual training sideis covered by its sophisticated simulationproducts. Here, trainees are challenged by

breathtakingly realistic targets usingcomputer-generated imagery—multiple andsingle combatants on foot and in a range ofvehicles including boats, in wide, openlandscapes and intimate urban settings—using real firearms with wireless connectionsto intelligent software. “The constructivetraining piece,” Timms explains, “is abouthigh level joint command—basically a bank ofcomputers fighting a battle with a large battlestaff. The other term is ‘network centricwarfare’ where a commander could be in SanDiego, California fighting a war on the otherside of the world”. If you include theinformation Meggitt Defence Systems’ live andvirtual training range complexes can gatherand present in After Action Reviews—post-training analysis in civvy speak—Meggitt cangive combatants a taste of what it is like tooperate on an increasingly net-centric,battlefield. Says Timms: “we are now aserious contender when it comes tosupporting the large lead systems integratorsimplementing this live-virtual-constructivetraining doctrine.”

Simulation, with all its crowd-pleasinggraphics and second-by-second analysis of atrainee’s every move, has by no meanssuperseded the need for live-fire ranges, saysTimms. “There is something about the

pressure you experience firing real weaponsat physical targets when training foroperations in the wind, rain, cold, heat andover extended periods that even FATS can’tsimulate. That’s why live training is anintegral part of any solution. What’s importantis we ensure that live-fire targetry providesthe same high quality After Action Review data

you get from virtual training. We’re workinghard to bridge that technology gap.”

The combination of live and virtual firetraining has immediate applications forsecurity forces around the world involved incounter-terrorism and Timms believes thatthe FATS-Caswell business has the advantageof cross-disciplinary experience. “Overseas,we are seeing a blend of military and lawenforcement agencies working together todefend realms. Not only do we have thetechnology to respond to military trainingneeds, we have trained many police forcesand security organisations.” At the same time,FATS’ simulation goes beyond field combat to

what is known as critical infrastructureprotection—buildings, convoys, ports andaircraft taking off. Timms declares: “I don’tthink there is any other organisation in theworld better placed to cover the requirementsof homeland security.”

The live-virtual strategy piece is sofundamental to the developing defencesystems business that the division has beenreorganised accordingly. The trainingcapability is encompassed in the Suwanee(Atlanta), GA site in the US and at Ashford inthe UK, the European hub for FATS supportand aerial target manufacturing. This issupported by a substantial global presence inthe Middle East, Asia and Australia. Combatplatform systems include ammunition-handling equipment, electronics cooling,countermeasure deployment systems, specialpurpose aircraft pods and radar sensingsystems supporting the gamut of armouredvehicles, fighter jets and attack helicopters.They have been housed in one state-of-the artfacility in California. >

“breathtakingly realistic targetsusing computer-generated imagery”

“I don’t think there is any otherorganisation in the world better

placed to cover the requirements ofhomeland security”

“working more closely together topresent packages of training”

MOVES Terry Timms, Managing Director of Meggitt Defence Systems, explains how buying Firearms Training Systems and co-locating the division’s Californian businesses is setting the scene for growth.

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Meggitt Defence Systems’ strategy includes sustaining its market-leadingposition in aeromechanical towed systems.

The ALE-50, an electronic countermeasures system manufactured byRaytheon Space & Airborne Systems, is used by multiple US Air Force andNavy aircraft. When deployed, the decoy is towed behind the host aircraft,protecting it and the crew against RF-guided missiles by luring the missiletoward the decoy and away from the intended target.

In flight tests and combat, the ALE-50 has successfully counterednumerous live firings of both surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles earningthe nickname of ‘Little Buddy’ from US military pilots. In the ALE-50’s 12thyear of production, Meggitt Defence Systems will be producing its25,000th decoy structure to be launched and towed by its launcher, cableand deployment device.

> Buddying up

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“When you think of defence systems, you thinkof the big integrators. But our goal is not to bea prime integrator, although we are on a smallscale in some cases. Rather, our goal is tocarve out market niches where we haveparticular expertise and which no one else canmatch on speed, cost and quality. Both sides ofour business meet that standard. We are worldleaders in aerial targets in the mediumperformance sector. We lead in ground targetsand simulation. Now it is about working moreclosely together to present packages oftraining to customers.”

Meggitt Defence Systems is no stranger tointegrated packages. Its Banshee 200-knotaerial target system, a product that has beenin service and fully integrated at UK rangessince 1987, was combined with Meggitt’sscoring systems to win a contract wortharound £40 million to Meggitt from the UK’sMinistry of Defence for weapons air defencetraining. And there is plenty in the pipeline.

The MoD has over 100 ground targetry rangesthat need to be upgraded and the division isproposing an entirely new order of realism andobjective feedback from a fully-integratednetworked live-fire package featuringeverything from intelligent targets tosophisticated pyrotechnics using a combinationof in-house and outsourced technology.

The integration theme carries through to itscombat support systems businesses. On June11, Meggitt Defense Systems closed the doorson its Fullerton, Irvine and Tustin premises inCalifornia and converged on a new 155,000square foot factory in Irvine’s technologycentre. This fully operational state-of-the artdesign and production facility houses 250people including 60 engineers. Roger Brum,President of the combined businesses, isimmensely proud of the way the move wascarried out. “Our guys just rolled up theirsleeves to get the job done after a year ofplanning. I didn’t have to ask them, they >

Integrating new electronics into existing military aircraft can be complex andexpensive, which is where Meggitt’s special purpose pods come in. It has been designing them for the US Army, Navy and Air Force for 30years, using robust analytical methods and software to deliver theaerodynamic performance, structural integrity and reliability needed tohouse countermeasures, towed decoys and gunnery targets.

Following the co-location of its Californian businesses, Meggitt DefenceSystems has combined its pod prowess, environmental control expertise andradar experience into a single package for the ALQ-211 electroniccountermeasure protection system. This mitigates systems integration riskfor the customer, ITT Industries, with whom Meggitt has worked successfullyon several advancedaerostructure projects. Thedivision’s pods will now comeready made with antennaeassemblies, radomes and thevapour cycle cooling systemsneeded to ensure that denselyconcentrated electronicequipment does notmalfunction. Stewart WarnerSouth Wind, Meggitt’sAerospace Equipment’s heatexchanger specialist, willintegrate a surface condenserinto the unique coolingsystem design.

Smart moves

>Pod people

just volunteered. It was impressive howeveryone pulled together as a team to makethat happen.” And they’ve stayed a team.Many have been quick to see the opportunitiesarising from joint activity. Brum confirms:“The barriers associated with three differentbusinesses on three different sites just meltedaway almost as soon as we moved in.”Facilities for R & D, test and productioninclude secure space for classifiedengineering with room to grow internally andby acquisition. All primary functions havebeen integrated, including business processesand procedures, accounting, security, humanresources, and IT. According to CharlesPanasewicz, Vice President of BusinessDevelopment, “When you walk into our facility, it really says ‘world class’. Thesepeople are serious. They are very hi-tech.They are players.”

It comes as no surprise that a consolidatedbusiness can control cost more effectivelywith newly unified processes and proceduresbut the move is about setting the scene forgrowth and building a systems capability.Timms explains: “With all this engineeringtalent in one place, we can respond morequickly to what our customers want. We canpursue bigger contracts and we can createentirely new product offerings based onintegrating our capabilities. Brum agrees.“You need quite different things in a systemsorganisation. You need integrated electricaland mechanical, controls and softwareprogramming expertise. We had it all. It wasjust dispersed.”

Brum cites Meggitt Defence Systems’ newpod project as a perfect example of acombined product offering arising from thenew, combined organisation. ”The customer—ITT Defence—wanted a complete turnkeysolution, a pod structure ready to populatethat was electrically-wired andenvironmentally-controlled, with radarantennae and radomes. We have all thattechnology in-house. People forget that ourtarget scoring is part of a much widercapability in radar sensing.”

The division is equally committed to leadingthe field in automatic ammunition loadingwith its highly sophisticated pick-and-placerobots. The $44.3 million contract to deliveradvanced automatic ammunition loadingequipment for the US Army’s Future CombatSystem (see Meggitt Review, Winter 2006)remains on track with substantial systemsintegration covering fire control and vehicularsubsystems taking place at the new facilityfrom August. Meggitt has also just completeda critical design review phase of its Cobra 20mm linear linkless feed system programmewhich could be fitted on 200 Marine Corpshelicopters over the next ten years. It willcontinue to target programmes that willbenefit from the ammunition feed systemsthat are peerless for optimal size, weight and reliability.

Meggitt’s electronics cooling team continuesto prove and promote its military mission-critical cooling capability. It is using an

innovative combination of stand-alone liquidflow-through electronics enclosures withcompact supporting refrigeration. Withoutsapping any engine power, they lower thetemperature of the control systems in aircraftand land vehicles not designed toaccommodate high-density onboardelectronics. The drive also ensures thatproduction variations are being specified onbrand-new platforms.

Sustaining its market-leading position in aeromechanical reeling systems is another Meggitt Defence Systems strategy fundamental. It is based on a longstanding relationship with the seminal ALE-50 ‘Little Buddy’ electroniccountermeasures programme.

Teamwork and improved communicationcharacterises the new facility according toPanasewicz. “60 engineers from the formerthree businesses sit in one area but arespecifically dispersed so they can share whatis going on when necessary. As they go to thesame coffee pot, they start combininginformation and ideas they would never havethought of separately. All of a sudden,everybody knows what everybody else isdoing, so it is only a matter of time beforeadditional synergies are found.” Hesummarises: “When smart people of goodwillare thinking about what they are going to donext week then good ideas emerge. In thiscombined facility, those ideas can be exploredusing resources that previously would havebeen beyond a single company’s reach.”

Terry Timms is equally congratulatory aboutthe effect of the combat support systemsintegration and is looking forward tocompleting the FATS-Caswell integrationwhen its new 206,000 square foot facilityopens in early 2008. “When that’s finished,we’ll have another strong team, ready tomanage larger programmes and people willbe equally as excited.”

Smart moves

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“With all this engineering talent in one place, we can

respond more quickly to what our customers want”

“You need integrated electrical and mechanical controls and

software programming expertise.We have it all”

‘Linear linkless’ refers to the design of almost all Meggitt’s mediumcalibre ammunition handling systems which eliminate conventional bulletlinks, hence ‘linkless’ from the ammunition. Although linear implies astraight line, many designs ‘serpentine’ the bullet flow to maximiseavailable space for ammunition storage, moving bullets along any linefrom storage to weapon, quickly and reliably.

> Snaking the bullet flows

“When smart people of good willare thinking about what they aregoing to do next week then good

ideas emerge”

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A C4I-hungry world is boosting demand for Meggitt’sinnovative cooling technology as never before,” saysbusiness development and marketing director Gerry Janicki.He is talking about the density of command, control,communications and computing information systems beingpacked into aircraft and land vehicles designed before theelectronics revolution. “For the first time in US militaryhistory, cooling systems have become mission-critical.”

Electronic cards—single board computers—are the problem.Military aircraft and vehicles designed in the Reagan era nowneed powerful devices to control everything from modernavionics to better braking systems, emitting significant heat inspaces that weren’t designed to accommodate them. SaysJanicki: “Each single boardcomputer can generate up to300 watts. A person sitting cangenerate about 150. So if youare in a small cockpit or a smallcrew area in a vehicle and youhave a six-card box, it could be like bringing twelve of yourbuddies along with you. That would be very, very warm.”

Dissipating this heat to a level that allows electronics tooperate can be difficult. The old methods using convection—blowing air over components with a fan—are not up to thetask. Liquid cooling is the thing. The division should know. Ithas a 50-year heritage in environmental control systems todraw on, from liquid cooling systems on the F4 fighter;through innovative first generation liquid-cooled racksholding nearly a hundred cards to replace an aircraft’savionics bay; to equipment for the Abrams M1 tank thatcools crew and electronics. It’s this heritage that has enabledMeggitt to respond to a seeming impasse on the extraweight and space needed to power and cool the newsystems. “We’re seeing a whole new bunch of APUs andgenerators and upgrades to bigger engines and alternators

to get more power to run and cool the electronics requiredfor network-centric warfare,” confirms Janicki, “but we havethe products to avoid these kinds of costly upgrades.”

Meggitt’s purpose-built liquid flow electronic coolingenclosures dissipate the new heat efficiently. The flow ratesof these rugged, self-contained boxes are accurate andsustainable and can be reprogrammed in real time. Space,weight and energy consumption is minimal. They don’t leakamidst vibration extremes.

What’s more, the enclosures are portable, with quick releaseconnectors and fasteners for swift line replacement. To avoidthe cost and complexity of in situ access and the challenges

of cleanliness and sealing, thesystem is modular so if acontrol system is damaged inbattle, there is no need to shut the whole system downand disassemble it. Individualitems can be removed and

replaced, reducing the number of steps and logistics requiredto repair a vehicle management system. The container’smodularity means that obsolete cards can be replaced easilyand there is in-built capacity to cover three or fourgenerations of electronics.

Most innovative of all are the supporting, portablerefrigeration units. These highly compact coolers—the samesize as the card containers—pump the liquid needed to coolthe racks in the absence of a vehicle’s own cooling system.The precision coolers each have 1kW of active coolingcapacity—twice as much as competing products for the sameconsumption of weight and space. Says Janicki: “If you wantto put in, say, a radio upgrade but there’s no integratedcooling system, you can use the combination of our card boxand the standalone cooling unit. This portable and flexiblecooling has no impact on the engine cooling system.”

> Heat is on for standalone cooling

“For the first time in US military history, cooling systems have become

mission-critical”

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> Intelligent targetsThe British Army is upgrading itstraining targets on over 100 rangesaround the world via two multi-millionpound programmes which is why, onAugust 8, Meggitt was to be founddemonstrating its networked live-firecapability at BATUS. This is the BritishArmy’s premier training location at theCanadian Forces Base in Suffield,Alberta where, on the vast prairie, ittrains all-arms combat groupings withtanks and armoured vehicles inmanoeuvre warfare.

Chris Nelson, the BATUS and SARTSProgramme Director, says MeggittDefence Systems’ approach to therange upgrade has three angles:improving the target units; improvingfirer feedback for the After ActionReview; and exposing trainees tonetwork-centric battlefield environments.“When you conduct live fire training,you attack targets with liveammunition, moving tactically in therange area to complete the mission. A hot debriefing follows. That’s theAfter Action Review. Today, data largelycomes from what the gunneryinstructor observes with the naked eyewhen physically present on the range—right down to counting the number ofbullet holes in a target and assessingthe level of kill. Meggitt’s intelligent,integrated systems offer an entirelynew level of objective feedback using

sophisticated radar and acoustictechnology, communicated through aWiFi range communications network.”

Meggitt’s Location of Miss and Hit(LOMAH) bars tells soldiers when theirrounds hit or miss targets and give thecoordinates of where rounds haveimpacted. Targets can be programmedusing timeframes and distances formore realistic scenarios—a target

manning a defensive position will duckunder suppressive fire and reappearjust as a human target would. WhenGPS is used by firers, the system canisolate the target’s location exactly andwork out the engagement range for the“time target up”, “time to engage” and“time to kill” processes familiar toanyone who has served in the armedforces. “LOMAH, additional

programming and GPS make dumbtargets intelligent so they are morechallenging. And because they arenetworked, trainers and trainees canobtain the detailed feedback they needin real time to hone performance,”says Nelson.

Meggitt’s intelligent targets will beintegrated with WiFi networkcommunications (imagine a miniatureinternet) carrying voice, video and arange of digital information quickly tothose who need it for the After ActionReview—on the spot and to a desk onthe other side of the world if necessary.The networked system’s alerts will alsoimprove target maintenance andmanagement, identifying real andimpending breakdowns quickly.

Meggitt has coordinated several in-house capabilities and integratedstrategic partners into the mix to createa sophisticated package. Stationaryarmoured target lifters come with radarto mark tank and armoured vehicleengagements, supported by acousticsystems for small arms fire. Newelectro-thermal panels deliver morerealism and reliability for reduced

“It is important the British Armycan choose from advanced

systems because network-centricwarfare is here and our forces are living it every day in Iraq

and Afghanistan”

Meggitt Defence Systems’ high performance glide target bridgesthe gap between towed and free-flying drones. The differenceinvolves the degree of challenge versus the degree of expense.

“This is an important product now militaries are baulking at thecost of flying jet-powered targetry,” says Meggitt DefenceSystems’ Ian Matyear. He continues: “Our target flies atsufficiently high speeds to challenge ground or airborne weaponssystems operators but there’s no engine to pay for. And since itis air launched and can be operated on open sea ranges withoutthe need for the fully-instrumented ranges and tracking systemsyou need to run a jet drone, it can be deployed at a fraction ofthe price.”

Because the benign, fuel-free glider can also carry the scoringdevices and IR and RF reflectors needed to emulate a wide rangeof missiles and manned aircraft, it is proving popular with userssuch as the French Navy—operated by France’s leading towingcompany Aviation Defense Service—and the Royal AustralianNavy and Air Force.

> Meggitt’s glide target is a real hit

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visibility target practice. Sophisticatedpyrotechnics are deployed to createrealistic battle effects. Specialist 3-Dtargets in robust plastics look real—particularly when looked at throughthermal imagers—and are easier tohandle than conventional woodtargets. GPS-based situationalawareness systems track enemy andfriendly forces. Vehicle position andreporting devices enable engagementmanoeuvres to be replayed on thebig screen as part of the After ActionReview and collateral data stored.Wireless range controllers and WiFinetworks link the lot.

At BATUS, four armoured vehiclesdeployed into an “advance tocontact” scenario, firing at 20 to 40targets to push the enemy from anarea the vehicles had been tasked toprotect. According to Nelson, theBATUS demonstration was the start ofa process in which Meggitt has showna wide range of products to stimulatenew thinking. “The stakes are high.Whatever is chosen has to last. It isalso important that the British Armycan choose from advanced systemsbecause network-centric warfare ishere and our forces are living it everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Technology demonstrations for SARTS, theBritish Army’s Small Arms ReplacementTargetry System, start in 2008 for whichMeggitt will also be advancing smart targetconcepts to boost the performance ofBritish soldiers with more sophisticatedAfter Action Reviews, increasing their abilityto fight on networked battlefields.

IN THE LINE OF

42

FATS—Firearms Training Systems—wasacquired by Meggitt in 2006. Now it ismerging with established Meggitt companyCaswell, a world leader in live-fire training,providing safe ranges and intelligent targetarrays for soldiers and police officers to trainwith their entire complement of weapons andfire live ammunition.

In 2008, the combined company will moveinto brand-new headquarters in Atlanta,Georgia, to fulfil its mission to become theworld’s preferred supplier of integrated liveand virtual training systems. Here, FATS’people explain the virtual element of MeggittDefence Systems’ total training capability.

You are commanding a convoy making its way through Baghdad; patrollingdangerous shores in a coastguard vessel; leading an eight-man squad on openterrain and seeing the first harassing fire from enemy artillery; or you are partof a SWAT team attempting to free a hostage. Welcome to FATS, a world ofsimulated scenario-based training for soldiers and law enforcement personnelso real it will have the hairs standing up on the back of your neck. It’s notjust the fact that the computer-generated imagery will be as good as it getsand that you will be armed with weapons so authentic the only thing theydon’t do is fire real bullets. It will be the impact of event changes in responseto your words and actions that will take you by surprise, time and again,severely challenging your sense of leadership, judgement, decision-making andcommunication skills.

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FIREThe FATS convoy trainer can simulate up to six military ground vehicles from Humvees(pictured) and Landrovers to transport trucks. The trainees can be in separate roomsbut the vehicles will be displayed on screens before or behind one another. Eachvehicle crew includes a commander with map and radio, driver and gunner. Crewsassume their correct positions and drivers can accelerate, steer and brake as if theirvehicle were real. As the convoy route is followed, training instructors introduceevents—an attack if the wrong route is taken; a barrier forcing a stop; men with RPG7s and others shooting with AK 47s; an IED (improvised explosive device), apparentlyburied in the side of the road, exploding. If the driver mounts a kerb or drives down

into a ditch, the convoy trainer vehicle, with its six degree freedom of movement, willmove accordingly. If he goes too fast, the crew will be shaken and the gunner’s abilityto maintain his point of aim impaired. As Heath Shaw says [see over], this simulator isnot just a driver or shooter trainer. It is a leadership development and team-buildingtool that instils in the trainee a set of procedural responses to events, honingreactions to ambush, IEDs and other convoy mishaps.

> More than a driver trainer

43

“honing reactions to ambush, IEDs and other convoy mishaps”

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Rich Haddad,President,Meggitt TrainingSystems

FATS, a state-of-the-art defencetraining provider,won its spurs inthe military and

law enforcement markets over 20 years.Then it reached a crossroads.

So that FATS could bid for and win largerprogrammes, it needed to be part of a largerorganisation. It considered some of thebigger defence contractors but felt the bestfit would be with Meggitt. There werecultural similarities that would enable FATSto stay nimble and fast-moving,characteristics that are very important to hi-tech businesses. The opportunity to linkup with a live fire training provider ofCaswell’s calibre was equally as compelling.No one else would be able to offer such atraining combination.

In the last 12 months, FATS has become partof a combined entity known as MeggittTraining Systems. It will play an importantpart in realising a brand-new vision; tocreate the world’s first integrated live and

simulated weapons training organisation. It’s a natural fit: FATS and Caswell really aretwo sides of a coin called 'training for thereal world'.

Modern military training doctrine centres onthe live, virtual and constructive mix involving”netcentric warfare”. The highest level oftraining is constructive simulation, primarilyfocused on generals and senior officers. Itinvolves data analysis and simulation toassess the likely effectiveness of assets suchas troops, supplies, fuel, vehicles and aircraft

against those of the enemy. Providing the“virtual” and “live“ part of the mix is whereFATS and Caswell come in.

On the live side—as Meggitt TrainingSystems demonstrated so successfully inAugust when it showcased its networked livefire capability using 'intelligent' targets tothe British Army (see page 40)—performanceassessment technology for the “After ActionReview” is moving closer to what we providecustomers on the virtual side. Live fireengagements can already provide an analysisof every shot fired; how it was fired; whetherit reached its target; by how much it missed;and where it fell. It won't be too long beforethe effectiveness of tactical decision-makingcan be recorded too.

Artificial intelligence is in our sights. Wewant computers as well as instructors to select event changes within scenarios in response to the actions of, say, a

commander and his troops in an imaginaryor topographically and socially realistic city. We are also moving into secondgeneration vehicle-based trainers. We have created an embedded system for theFuture Combat Systems Stryker vehicle sotrainees can move from real-life to simulated driving at the flick of a switch. The advantage is that when soldiers aredeployed, they can sit in the vehicle and hone their skills in transit or from the daythey arrive.

Combining our live fire and virtualtechnologies will ensure that MeggittTraining Systems remains the world leader in integrated training for operations acrosscombat, homeland security and incidentresponse management. Delivering thattraining to military, law enforcement andother government agencies in environmentsthat are as close to the real thing as they can be, is our vision.

In the line of fire

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There is a backpack worth of electronics inside this simulatedpistol, a FATS Bluefire® weapon. Bluefire refers to ‘Bluetoothed’wireless weapons—real models, decommissioned for training andas close to a real weapon as they can be without shooting realbullets. Trainees can carry a rifle with complete freedom ofmovement or put a pistol back into its holster, concentrating onthe training task without the distraction of the customary tether.Bluefire weapons are “smart” and packed with sensors to enabledetailed performance reviews.

“FATS and Caswell really are twosides of a coin called training for the

real world”

“Artificial intelligence is in our sights”

“Delivering training to military, law enforcement and other

government agencies in environmentsthat are as close to the real thing as

they can be, is our vision”

44

Bobby Chung,Director ofHardware andMechanicalEngineering

Putting Bluetoothtechnology into ourreal, butdecommissioned,weapons was

revolutionary. By getting rid of the cumbersometether—a cable linking the weapon to thesystem computer—trainees could concentratewholly on the training task. Operationally, wehad to change our thinking across the board,from design, engineering and manufacturing totesting, sales and service. Everything insidethose weapons had to be ten times smallerthan anything we had made before.

Before BlueFire®—the registered trademark forour Bluetooth weapons—the only tetherlessweapons were dumb lasers, which had neitherrecoil effect nor smart sensors for post-performance feedback (what the military call‘After Action Review’). We had seen solutionsinvolving backpacks containing sensors,

electronics and air supplies to replicate recoilbut they weren’t efficient. What we needed wasa backpack worth of electronics inside a pistol.

It all began in 2000 when we read aboutBluetooth for the first time. Then, thetechnology was geared to the volume PC

market but as we were at the forefront of digitalvideo technology, we had links to Silicon Valleyand found Zeevo, a start-up, which wassufficiently intrigued by the application to helpus. It was the first to produce a single-chipBluetooth the size of a postage stamp; and ithappened to have a processor powerful enoughto perform the tasks our weapons needed.Eureka! All we had known before then werefour or five electronic circuit boards measuring20 square inches combined.

With a board less than the size of a hand grip,our mechanical engineers’ challenge was to putthe air reservoirs needed to replicate the recoilof a fully-loaded magazine inside the pistol.

This dictated a regulator that could createcompression levels of about 3,000 to 150 psiwithin a very small space. None of our usualsuppliers were prepared to accept such amission, so we had to fall back on our owningenuity. After much painstaking work, webuilt and patented a regulator comprising over50 micro-mechanical pieces.

We were one of the first businesses to release aBluetooth product. Interest groups would reporton yet another Bluetooth-enabled computermouse and then our wireless training weaponentered the scene. That drew huge interest andput FATS on the leading edge of our market. Tothis day, FATS offers the highest quality AfterAction Review and the most realistic practiceweaponry. We are still working our way throughour extensive arsenal of weapons,“Bluetoothing” those most commonly used bymilitary and police forces. We are also makingsure they are compatible with tethered modelsso customers can manage upgrades easily.

Bluefire® technology has just been awarded five US patents—one of which covers the concept of using any radio frequency communicationtechnology within a smart weapon. FATSremains the only company to offer wirelesssmart weapons. A worldwide patent applicationis in process.

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ALL AT SEA: A naval crew onboard the boat motion platform with its six degree freedom of movement patrolling an offshore installation in a highly realistic scenario projected onto a wraparound screen.

“FATS offers the highest qualityAfter Action Review and the most

realistic practice weaponry”

Wireless weapons at the end of their tether

In the line of fire

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Tom Shirey,Director ofSoftwareProgrammes

Working at FATS isdifferent. After all,building simulatorsis a long way fromwhat most softwareguys are doing in

the business world. Setting up and installingthe second generation boat patrol trainer wecreated for the Singapore coastguard is thebiggest challenge we have faced to date: we areincorporating all our training tools and all ourlearning from the last decade into this fully-integrated training environment. Our highestfidelity graphics ever, our Bluefire weapons andour after action reviews are optimising whatFATS training is all about—leadership training,team-building, decision-making practice andcommunications skills development.

Our first boat trainer was one large “motion”platform with a driving station. This latestversion has two and can accommodate up to

seven crews in remote locations, all practicingnavigation, weapons-handling and teamwork.Two crews drive virtual boats, with up to fivecrews in separate spaces participating in theexercise from a tactical perspective. Theparticipants’ virtual worlds are coordinatedthrough a remotely located command andcontrol centre.

Here’s how it works: you climb a step ladder in a30-foot high room onto a 20-foot high deck. Whenyou stand on the platform’s bridge with acomplete control suite at your disposal, you feelyou have total visibility and that you really aredriving a boat at sea. In front of you are the helm,throttle controls, communications, GPS andradar for a 70-foot long boat. There is a sailormanning a 20 mm gun on its bow and rails andwalkways for soldiers with rifles. When youswitch on the projector, a wraparound screenoffering a 280 degree field of view reveals yourvessel tied up in Singapore harbour.

This is a marine simulation so faithful that evenSingaporeans think they are watching a film oftheir island coast. When you start the engines,you can hear their roar. When the platformstarts to move, you experience the swell of thesea in the weather conditions selected for theexercise. The water is as real as you can get,with reflections—a crane on the side of thewharf—oil spills, bow spray and stern wakes.When you cast off and accelerate, the boatplatform turns, making you lean and sit back asif you were driving the real thing. As you sailaround the island, you can climb aboardsimulated ships and go ashore to enter andinspect simulated harbour buildings. There are smaller virtual coastguard boats, too, allmanned, all networked.

The biggest challenge of this project is its size and complexity—meeting the ballisticrequirements; running the simulated scenarioson multiple systems, coordinating with eventson several boats so everyone can see whateveryone else is doing; and then replaying the exercise in a remote location for the critical after action reviews. This systemshowcases all FATS’ capabilities in a one very powerful package.

Heath Shaw,Meggitt SalesSupport Manager,US Marine CorpsStaff Sergeant,Reconnaissance,Reserve

Active service inIraq made me seehow valuable our

I-FACT system is. This forward air control trainerenables you to practice calling in close airsupport by guiding pilots to ground targets andartillery. It was the brainchild of my reservistcolleague Tod Haley, now serving in Iraq.

In Reconnaissance, we operated in very smallunits. We always had aircraft on call overheadand we needed to roll our communicationequipment over to an aircraft’s frequency veryslickly and communicate clearly under stress.Before I-FACT, the training tools were just sandtables and airplanes on sticks—and occasionallive flight exercise training.

Lt Col Dave Grossman said it best: in combatyou do not rise to the occasion, you fall to yourhighest level of training, which I-FACT reallydelivered. Forward air control skills becamesecond nature. Because the system enablesinstructors to change the training scenarios atwill, you can’t get used to them and you learnhow to think on your feet. And while thecomputer-generated imagery is astonishingly

real, it’s working the procedural-basedcommands for fixed and rotary wing, artilleryand AC-130s that are really important. I-FACTis about developing skills, getting used tomaking the right decisions in split seconds,putting thoughts together under stress andcommunicating effectively.

Our convoy trainer is no different. The trainingis more about how you handle yourself thanyour weapon. The simulator can be embeddedin a real Humvee for training in theatre or on

exercise and can be mounted in a mock-up in atraining school. We developed and deliveredthis trainer within six months so soldiersbound for Iraq could practice the newprocedures developed to replace those only toowell-understood by the enemy. Its impact wasjust as significant in terms of being ableidentify leaders who could function in stressfulsituations—explosions, getting lost, breakingdown, getting separated. We rotate naturalleaders out of the lead because IEDs andexplosions are not necessarily going to hit theprivate. They may hit the sergeant andsomeone more junior may need to take over.

Virtual systems cannot replace training withlive fire. They are complementary tools. In myexperience, the most effective units are thosewho have been trained on both, which is whythere is so much scope for integrated live-virtual systems. Simulation prepares you for the live fire experience and simulationenables you to focus on any weaknessesidentified after it. In an ideal world, all ranges,whether for the armed services or lawenforcement organisations, would co-locatelive and virtual facilities.

“This marine simulation showcasesall FATS’ capabilities in a one very

powerful package”

“it’s more about how you handleyourself than a weapon”

Making waves

He knows it’s not a game

FATS has the processing power tonetwork training exercises involvingsquads and sections, companies andbattalions, brigades and combinedoperations using data logging tocompensate for time differences andenabling coherent performanceassessment (After Action Reviews).

FATS’ team-building and tactical trainingstarts at squad level – a group of eightindividuals armed with their real suiteof infantry weapons. They will go on totrain to “call for fire”—requestingmortar support from a team firing asimulated mortar weapon using targetdata just as they would in battle. Asthe engagement becomes moredemanding, artillery can be called in tosupport fictional combined operationson difficult terrain. Depending on thescenario, this could progress to largerweapons effects, right up to multi-launch rocket systems.

Trainees can practice laying and firingsimulated mortars, while the FATSsystem can deliver the simulatedartillery fire needed to hit a target inreal time based on the weapon andammunition type specified and theselected weather conditions. Here, theexercise would focus on the tacticsinvolving forward observation officerstrying to anticipate what the enemy willdo and include constructing defensivefire plans and prioritising targetlocations on the battlefield according tolikely enemy forming up points andavenues of approach.

The FATS systems enables trainees tocall in air support, which can begenerated by the system or by realpilots flying flight simulators, emulatingattack helicopters, air force fighterground attack aircraft and even high-level bombing missions. The effects ofthis are faithfully displayed in real time.

> Connected combat

47

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FATS FACTS

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1. Basic shooting training Using real weapons—rifles, pistols, light and heavy machine guns and mortars—converted into highly realistic simulators.FATS is the only organisation to offer smart,tetherless weapons.

2. Leadership FATS is about more than marksmanship:leadership development, tactical team-working and communications training areintegral to its systems.

3. Judgement Video is a highly-developed tool featuringconfrontational situations for judgemental lawenforcement training including complexhostage scenarios where trainees interactwith a simulated team moving aroundbuildings, negotiating with hostage-takers.Trainers have a range of outcomes at theirdisposal, switching seamlessly from one toanother according to a trainee’s performance.FATS scenarios develop the police officer’smost important weapon: the verbal skills he deploys to address everyday andextraordinary situations.

4. Training alone or in a group FATS enables soldiers to train as individualsand in squads, companies and battalions,some calling for fire (mortar, artillery) and airsupport (attack helicopter, fighter groundattack and even high level bombing missions),others practicing forward air control(translating calls for fire into targetinginstructions for pilots). You can train in convoyand patrol by boat.

5. Networked training FATS simulators have the processing powerand use the right architecture to networkactivities from a squad all the way up tobrigades for large manoeuvre exercises. Datalogging compensates for time differences,enabling coherent performance assessment(After Action Reviews).

6. Training trainersFATS trains instructors but FATS’ owninstructors are increasingly integrated intocustomer’s training centres —17 in Australia,freeing up highly skilled soldiers for action andproviding continuity in training services.

7. Keeping upFATS’ subject matter experts, drawn from the services, police forces and securityorganisations, work with customercounterparts to ensure that productdevelopment—from weapons to courseware—responds to evolving tools, tactics, techniquesand procedures.

8. Video authoring Enables customers to design and constructtheir own scenarios to maintain secrecy forspecial operations requiring secure training.This could involve defending nuclear powerstations, or guarding jewellery stores andwarehouses where the circulation of situationaland training data must be restricted.

9. Gaming and CGI FATS’ peerless CGI (computer generatedimagery) is enabled by the most up-to-dateprocessors and video cards. While FATS keepsan eye on the gaming industry because it canfoster interesting technologies that can beadapted for more serious training purposes,FATS’ production values are more in line withHollywood than Gameboy.

10. Sea-going FATS Its boat trainers represent all FATS’capabilities rolled into one in an astonishingsimulation of operations for coastguard andnaval patrol boats that can operate in flotillasin their own waters and interface with shore-based assets.

11. FATS to go Customers can choose from one largecomputer rack in a static training theatre or aportable rugged container housing the ready-to-use computer, processing power andprojector for easy loading and transportation.

12. FATS worldwide Round-the-clock telephone support,maintenance and upgrade programmes,training and product development from 700personnel based in Australia, Canada, Holland,Singapore, the UK, United Arab Emirates andits US-based headquarters.

13. Who buys?The British Army (FATS’ biggest customer), theUS Marine Corps, the Canadian Army, theAustralian Army and more than 30 otherinternational customers.

What Firearms Training Systems does

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As a trainee in a military computer-generated scenario, youwould generally face open terrain with a conventional enemyforce advancing towards you, preceded by reconnaissancevehicles, harassing fire from enemy artillery, followed by acombination of armoured vehicles that stop, dismountinfantry and attack your position. You can face them as partof a squad or multiple teams. If you hit an enemy, he will falland if you hit vehicles correctly they will become disabled.You can achieve this with anycombination of weapons. Youmight be leading an eight-man squad carrying your ownweapon, directing the squad and controlling the applicationof fire using rifles, light and heavy machine guns and anti-tank weapons and mortar fire. Pressing on floor panelspeppered with sensors enables you to seemingly moveforward into scenarios involving urban patrols, climbing upinto buildings, looking into roofs, going into cellars, movingaround an interactive world as if you were part of itspopulation of combatants and civilian bystanders, allpreconfigured to move in a timed scenario.

FATS systems are employing artificial intelligence increasingly.Until now, ordinary crowd scenes would consist of unintelligentgroups. Now, they are distinctively dressed and their featureseerily real, with lip synchronisation, moving eyes, chests risingand falling. There are sounds of vehicles, animal noises, churchbells ringing or calls to prayer. Individuals will talk to you orchant at you using a combination of pre-recorded phrases andlive voiceover in any language. Trainee responses are assessed

by instructors or by the systemusing voice recognition technology.If you say the right things, aperson will be caused to retreat

and go about his day-to-day business. If you say the wrongthing, he would be caused to become aggressive.

FATS systems have an infinite array of scenarios that can begeneric or, by using Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED)mapping, particular—real towns mapped down to two metres’definition, enabling soldiers to practice patrolling terrain wherethey will deploy. Scenario configuration takes some time tocreate but after familiarisation, instructors can exploit the systemwith ease and change them on the fly to challenge the trainee.

> Is this for real?

“features eerily real with lip synchronisation, moving eyes, chests rising and falling”

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Ed Schumacher,Director ofTraining &TechnologyIntegration

I lead a team ofsubject matterexperts at FATS.We ensure thatproduct

development covers the spectrum ofcustomers’ training needs. Realism andfidelity are our watchwords. We try to achievea correlation between simulation training andthe real world such that soldiers andpolicemen can go from one to the other and be100 per cent effective. We cover all phases ofsimulated weapons development through tocomplete systems, looking at ballistics toensure bullets fly from the launch point to thetarget as realistically as possible; making thecourseware—the scenarios created usingcomputer-generated imagery; and creating thevideo material for judgemental training, withour experts on use of force, rules ofengagement, escalation and de-escalation.

After 20 years in the US Army serving in theArmoured Corps and various infantry

organisations, I have experience of multipleweapons and ground combat supported byartillery and attack helicopters. I competedinternationally in the army shooting team andstill keep my hand and eye in on FATS’machines. After 20 years here, I nowunderstand the science of it all—our ballisticsengineers must be among the best in the world.

Our BlueFire weapon is as close to the realweapon as it can be. The only thing it doesn’tdo is shoot a real bullet. Before our wirelesssimulated weapons, you would have had 15firers on the firing line in a room and as manycables on the floor, tethered to the weaponsand plugged into a system. Now, the shootercan handle his weapon much morerealistically: he can carry a rifle with completefreedom of movement and even put a pistolback into its holster.

When we started FATS, most of our visualscame from video laser disks. We projected theworld onto a screen just like a movie. Today,with our CGI 3-D terrains, there are no practicallimits to range size. We can feature

targets sited at accurate distances relative tothe capacity of the weapon being exercised. The ammunition will reach those targets in real time according to the weapons firing tables and meteorological data selected. We can simulate any weapon-type, avoiding the costs of ammunition and rangeconstruction and providing very cost-effectivetraining on anti-tank weapons.

Pistol and rifle technology has not changedextensively in several years but soldiers aremore capable. With GPS, they know wherethey and their units are at all times. Theycommunicate over digital networks and usenight vision and optic sights. Every US soldierhas a monocular on his helmet or weaponsight to see in the dark. In my day, there might have been two per platoon. Soon ourcustomers will be able to use the nightcombat training systems we are pioneering in response to what the military call ‘Own thenight’ and ‘Fight the night’ doctrine.

We see a lot of smart weapons withautomatic targeting capabilities. The moretechnical they become, the more expensivethey are to fire in training. This makes thesimulation form an even more valid trainingoption, especially in preparation for live firetraining. That is why the merger withMeggitt’s live fire operation, Caswell, makesour joint offer so compelling.

Soldiers practice drills, calling for fire, aiming, loading and firing mortars. The FATS computer processes target data (using entered range, bearing and altitudedifferences), weapon data from the mortar's firing tables held in memory to ensurerounds take the correct trajectories and land where requested and meteorologicaldata. Mortar teams need not see what they are firing at but the observer team willsee the rounds land and be able to adjust fire and determine target effect.

> Out of this world

“there are no practical limits torange size … and we can simulate

any weapon type”

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The Specialist

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PRICE PERFORMERIan Joesbury’s account of his role as Meggitt

group Director of Operations Excellence isunpretentious. He’s too experienced to be

anything else and one suspects the notion of‘directing’ achievement is alien to apersonality who talks of “facilitation” and“frameworks” rather than prescription andregulation. “Single-minded dictatorship insome organisations can work,” says Joesbury,“but what’s needed to release the flair andcreativity from the talent in a group as richlydiverse as Meggitt, are tools and opportunities

These are the keys to initiating and developingbest practice within a given environment.”

Joesbury has three goals. “First, most of our businesses have reached high standardswhen it comes to manufacturing but we musthelp them all to do so. Second, we must makethings well but cost-effectively. Third, because

our aerospace customers want one Meggittinterface, our businesses must provide them with a common experience ofexcellence, whether they deal with us one at atime or all together.”

The “common experience” Joesbury refersto is not standardisation for its own sake. He confirms: “excellence can be a universalcharacteristic of what it’s like to work withMeggitt but delivering high standards can take many forms. We can adopt a more subtle approach.” >

Ian Joesbury, Meggitt’s new Director of Operations Excellence, talks about the scope of his role and the focus ofhis first nine months: buying things shrewdly.

“our businesses must providecustomers with a commonexperience of excellence”

In the coming months, Joesbury will beworking with the operating companies’improvement teams to develop a “commonframework for self-assessment of operationalperformance”. As part of the process, Meggittbusinesses will be asked to identify the threeor four areas of expertise that are reallyimportant to their specific operations. Armed

with this data, businesses can assess keygaps and determine who at Meggitt is bestequipped to help bridge them. It will thenbecome clear which operational improvementtechniques should be adopted by the groupand which should remain particular to a givenbusiness. “We will not strive for sameness atthe expense of maximal effectiveness,” he

confirms. Any gaps in expertise will be filledby tapping into the group’s collective in-houseexperience and knowledge. “In an ideal world,businesses would be bartering operatingexpertise in a given field,” he says.

“Alignment” is important to Joesbury—ensuring operational improvements worktogether, not in isolation. “One of the biggestdangers in improvement is to make a greatjob of optimising one process, only to haveanother let it down badly.” Processes shouldbe attuned to group goals as well as tailoredto business unit need. “Attaining this balancecomes from ensuring our improvementprofessionals do not labour alone,” saysJoesbury. He acknowledges that much workon this front has been carried out by thebusinesses already. “There is clearly anincredible thirst among the operatingcompanies to collaborate across Meggittbecause it really makes sense to do so. Part

Price performer

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“ensuring our improvementprofessionals do not labour alone”

Ian Joesbury

2006 Meggitt PLC

Group Director of Operations Excellence

2004-2006 Smiths Aerospace

VP Operations, Flight Controls

Program Director, A380 Flight Controls

2002-2004 Goodrich Corporation

VP Operations & Supply Chain,Engine Controls

1999-2002 TRW Aeronautical Systems

Director of Programmes

Programme Director – Trent 500

1997-1999 Lucas Aerospace

General Manager, Ignition and Switchgear

1993-1997 Lucas Automotive Aftermarket

General Manager, Test Equipment

Strategic Planning Manager

1992-1993 Warwick University

MBA

1986-1992 Imperial Chemical Industries

- Maintenance Resource Manager

- Plant Engineer

- Project Engineer

1981-1986 Ford Motor Company

Undergraduate

- Manufacturing Engineering

- Special Vehicle Engineering

- Engine Development

- Testing Operations

1982-1986 Imperial College London

B Eng Mechanical Engineering

HELPING THE MEGGITT GROUP TAP INTO ITS COLLECTIVE IN-HOUSE EXPERIENCE: Ian Joesbury, Group Operations Excellence Director

of my role now is to quench that thirst byadding structure and formal support to whatthey are doing.”

Joesbury will also examine Meggitt’s long-term manufacturing strategy, analysing thegroup’s “make-buy” positions to test whetherwe are making the right things, in the rightway, in the right locations. Until then, hisconfidence in the current state of Meggitt’soperational effectiveness involving teamsheaded up by Aerospace Equipment’s KenThrasher, Braking Systems’ John Hindmarch,Sensing Systems’ Bernie Stevens and Defence

Systems’ Bob Meyer, has allowed him to focus for the last nine months on directprocurement, aka “supply chain management.”

After graduating in engineering from London’sprestigious Imperial College and taking anMBA at the Warwick Business School—a UKinstitution known for its focus onmanufacturing operations—Joesbury’s 20-year career has spanned cars, chemicals andaircraft components and systems at Ford, ICI,Lucas Varity, TRW, Goodrich and Smiths. Hehas managed large numbers of people(around 1000), a polytetrafluoroethylene plantinvolving lethal chemicals (Teflon being anotable output), Asian supply chains andprogrammes from big turbine fuel systems(the Trent 500) through to electronics,hydraulics, flight controls, ignition andswitching for a wide range of aircraft.

That is why, with first-hand experiencedevising large-scale business improvementsas general manager and staff, Joesburyknows about the hard graft and attention todetail involved in moving from anunderdeveloped position in any discipline tomanaging and maintaining the optimal steadystate. The work he is undertaking with thebusinesses to maximise Meggitt’s supplychain effectiveness—or materials’ buying

power—is a case in point. “There is no doubtthat the time commitment is significant.What’s important, is to look at the scale of >

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“the IPO continues to underpin thegroup’s strategic sourcing plan and

aims to generate substantialsavings over the next few years”

When Dunlop Equipment wanted to use the reverseauction technique to establish the ‘true’ marketprice of steel investment castings, they validated arange of suppliers from a large group and invitedthem to bid on a package of work. The pre-bidstage involved direct discussions with thoseselected to confirm their understanding of a givenrequirement. The auction—a live internet session—defined the most competitive monetary bid.Supplier selection, however, as with other auctionsacross the group, will be made according to bestprice in the context of strategic value.

According to Ian Joesbury, Meggitt’s Director ofOperations Excellence: “reverse auctions are agood way of establishing true market prices. Once you have established or re-established arelationship, you can repeat the exercise but onlyonce every three to five years at most.” There ismore, however, to supply chain management thanreverse auctions, he continues: “at Meggitt, giventhat much of what the group makes is highlycomplex with integral intellectual property, we need

strategies to develop strong relationships as wellas to generate competition.”

The final auction result gave Dunlop Equipment thechoice of our low-cost economy suppliers, all ofwhom priced a $1.1 million dollar package ataround $300,000 and a range within the UK andUS offering significant but fewer savings. DunlopEquipment is balancing potential savings againstthe need for further validation of new suppliersand their capabilities and the challenges of aproduct transfer programme. Says Joesbury:“Dunlop Equipment used the auction data todevelop a strategy that will take them from wherethey are to where they want to be. What’simportant is that the auction process has giventhem choice and the data they need to construct along-term sourcing plan. Orders don’t have to beplaced immediately after the auction has closedand purchasers can return to traditional bid workor negotiate long-term agreements armed with aset of robust pricing benchmarks.”

“making the right things, in the right way, in the right locations”

> Reverse auction technique yields best price

53

opportunity, create a business case to get moreresource if it’s needed and to keep focusing onthe end-game.”

The My Dollar and M750 projects show theway,” he says. These cost-saving projectsinvolving the sourcing of non-product relatedmaterials and services started in 2005 and,excluding travel, have saved over £2.3 million todate. The group’s international purchasingoffice (IPO) in Singapore is also gaining groundafter two years, offering more and moreservices to individual Meggitt companies. Sinceits inception, based on July figures, the IPO hassaved over £1.4 million to date. The IPOcontinues to underpin the group’s strategic

sourcing plan and aims to generate substantialsavings over the next few years. Joesbury goesfurther: “Its activities are critical to our successin global sourcing. The office is contributingvery significantly to sourcing suppliers forreverse auctions (see page 53).

Any Asian supplier that emerges throughresearch conducted by an operating companywould be vetted by Alan Lee and his team whowould then manage the relationship. In turn,our strategic plan will bulk up group spend,giving them bigger sums to attract a broaderrange of potential suppliers. This makes themmore powerful.”

The need to work and buy as a group has grownsince Meggitt bought Dunlop and grew by athird at a stroke. The K & F Holdings acquisitionhas expanded it by a third again. “There areeven more opportunities to grasp now ratherthan continuing to think inside the confines ofindividual business boxes,“ he reminds us.

Joesbury, supported by a team ofPricewaterhouseCoopers consultants andgroups of Meggitt sales people, engineers,quality, operations and supply chain

managers, has just completed a substantialsourcing assessment via 27 workshops toevaluate what Meggitt is spending in a givenproduct category and to define the

opportunities or obstacles to changingsuppliers. Typical constraints include long-term agreements, customer-mandatedsupply, International Traffic in ArmsRegulations and requalification and product validation.

The analysis was consolidated duringworkshops held in the US and Europe andvarious activity streams were defined from theMeggitt spend profile that emerged. More

detailed evaluation of key spend categoriescontinues and a benchmarking process toestablish current sourcing prices has begun.

Combining the group’s requirements andfinding appropriate suppliers for whomMeggitt’s spend is significant is one approachto improving Meggitt’s supply base andlowering the cost of activity. Improving theliquidity of product is another fundamental.Joesbury describes the core elements. “Youcan do a global search, whittle down a largenumber of suppliers to a smaller number ofcomparable organisations and then conduct areverse auction in which these suppliers bidfor your engineering package.”

Better product definition assumes a newimportance. “We need to capture engineeringknowledge and intellectual property in fullwithin a drawing package so we are free to

Price performer

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“even more opportunities to graspas a group rather than thinking

inside individual business boxes”

SAVING MEGGITT OVER £1.5 MILLION SINCE 2005: Alan Lee, Director of Meggitt’s International Purchasing Office.

“we need to capture engineeringknowledge and intellectual

property in full”

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explore new suppliers, rather than rely onfamiliar suppliers to fill in the specificationgaps on repeat orders.“

Liquidity flows better too when organisationsget better at moving product because theirprocesses for requalification or revalidationare slick. “If suppliers know that it is hard foryou to move something, then they know theydon’t have to price as sharply. But if you getreally good at it, then suppliers will recognisethat. Improving our processes so that we canmove things more easily is a really effectiveway of doing business,” he says.

As Joesbury’s ‘category strategy’ develops, heis encouraging the group to focus on quickwins—structured negotiations for betterprices with existing suppliers without movingproduct. “The backdrop of our strategicsourcing initiative can be enough to stimulatea fair response on pricing,” he observes.

There’s an ongoing evaluation of the Meggittgroup’s ability to implement superiorprocurement processes and developsuppliers too. “It is complex work linked toinformation services, export compliance,organisation development and ethics,” saysJoesbury, who has recruited David Hornerand Scott Donnelly as Head of StrategicSourcing and Category Manager respectivelyto help him in the US. CorrespondingEuropean positions are being filled, includinga programme manager role for strategicsourcing. “There are a whole series ofparallel activities in our strategic sourcinginitiative, all needing resources and milestoneprocesses to make sure they are on track.The programme manager will work withindividual work stream owners to make surethey stay on course. They will also providesupport when needed and ensure thatactivities fit together as part of the wholeMeggitt picture.“

Joesbury’s experience of supply chainmanagement in other businesses has taughthim a few things. Testing the competitiveness

of suppliers, perhaps even changing them,can be an uncomfortable experience. Heemphasises that long-term businessrelationships are of enormous value and theresponsiveness this generates should beitemised amongst the strengths of a givensupplier. “Not all decisions will be financiallydriven to the last per cent,” he says. It is alsoimportant to recognise that a processdelivering better pricing does not meanprevious methods were weak. “What will havehappened in the majority of cases is thatindividual operating companies now have theweight of the Meggitt group behind them sotheir negotiating positions are strengthened.”

Joesbury is also aware of the fear of the riskinvolved in supplier change, which is whyworking with the businesses in considerabledetail is a hallmark of his team’s approach.He is firm: “suppliers will not be changed forshort-term gain or strategies developed by acentral group of people in a locked room orany third party. They will be developed jointlywith the businesses, subject to properanalysis, broadly shared and tuned to makethem really effective and then implemented ina detailed way that makes sure we all do agood job and stay competitive.”

The group’s supply chain strategy offers manybenefits to in-house specialists. Joesburyconcludes: “Their skills and experience are ofimmense value to less experiencedcolleagues. Just as important, if we are toachieve the synchronicity so critical toproviding the subsystems on which part ofthe group’s future success depends, thatexpertise must be deployed with reference toother business units’ activities. In either case,it is an opportunity for those experts topractice their art on a bigger stage.”

> Working on the chain gang

David Horner, Head of Strategic Sourcing (USA), has 20 years’experience working in Lean manufacturing, quality systems and cost reduction across medical devices, telecommunications andammunition. David has a BSc in Business and an MSc in Operations.His last role was Vice-President of Operations, Meggitt DefenseSystems Caswell.

Scott Donnelly, Category Manager Strategic Sourcing (USA), isresponsible for supporting category work streams—and leadingsome of them. Scott spent 18 years in manufacturing, specialising insupply chain logistics and cost reduction for electro-mechanicalproducts via international suppliers. Sixteen of those years werewith Katun Corporation where he supported new productdevelopment, purchasing and quality. His last role was GlobalSupply Chain Leader, Meggitt Defense Systems Caswell.

“suppliers will not be changed forshort term gain or strategies

developed by a central group ofpeople in a locked room”

“Individual operating companiesnow have the weight of the Meggitt

group behind them”

Meggitt’s significant profile in aerospaceand defence has often obscured itspresence in energy sectors around the

world but, as their managing directors confirmin the divisional strategy debriefs (see pages 18and 34), it is an important growth market forMeggitt’s Aerospace Equipment and SensingSystems businesses. The sector has much incommon with aerospace, sharing its hunger forthe ‘smart engineering for extremeenvironments’ that addresses increasinglytough operational economics andenvironmental constraints. According to StuartParker, Vice President, Sales and Marketing(Americas), Meggitt Sensing Systems: “Likeaerospace, power generation, oil and gasproduction and distribution, petrochemicalprocessing and marine propulsion rely on highvalue rotating machinery and these assets have

to be protected just as zealously. That’s whycustomers in these markets are increasinglyturning to Meggitt’s condition monitoringproducts to reduce maintenance costs,unexpected failures, repair and overhaul timeand spare parts inventory.“

For today’s cleaner operating regimesWhen it comes to the environment, Parkeroffers some sobering statistics. Carbon dioxideconcentrations are the highest in the last300,000 years (377 parts per million). Carbon-based fuel consumption has increased by 400per cent in the last 50 years to seven gigatons a year, emitting 25.6 gigatons of carbon dioxideper annum. With no change in current policy,global emissions are set to double pre-industriallevels before 2050, with severe impacts on ourclimate and the global economy. “These figuresmake disturbing reading but Meggitt has some

of the technologies that can help meet the challenges of generating carbon-based powermore cleanly and optimising renewable energysources.” He cites the revolutionary turbine tipclearance technology acquired by Meggitt lastyear which, incorporated within active controlloops, can improve efficiency and significantlyreduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions fromheavy duty gas turbines. Endevco and Vibro-Meter’s dynamic pressure sensors have becomethe industry standard for gas turbinecombustion monitoring and control and are avital element in supporting today’s cleaneroperating regimes. Next generation gas turbineoperators would benefit from the innovativeoptical products developed by Vibro-Meter’sNew Hampshire facility based on the science offlame signature monitoring. These help detectand quantify the chemical elements within thecombustion process that have an impact onoperational reliability and the environment.

Supporting renewablesParker points to the Meggitt Sensing Systemsproducts supporting the growing renewableenergy market, including Vibro-Meter’s air gapsensors which are monitoring the hydro-electricturbines of the world’s largest hydro powerprojects. Wilcoxon Research has devised a suiteof sensor products that enable the condition ofwind turbines to be monitored. Parkerconcludes: “The provision of clean, affordableand secure energy supply is a global challengeand the ultimate solution must be a collectiveeffort. However, it is good to be part of anorganisation that is already making a differencethrough its commitment to innovation.”

Last November and this June, there was aconvergence of group talent and technologies atthe Powergen shows in Europe and the UnitedStates respectively. This covered a wide range ofsensing and control technologies from the fine,miniature and smart to the muscular, weightyand electro-mechanically ingenious. Itembraced high precision fluid and bleed aircontrols from Whittaker Controls; highefficiency, high integrity and highly compactdiffusion-bonded heat exchangers from Heatric;Vibro-Meter UK’s virtually unquenchable high

MEGGITT NETWORKS AT POW

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Two group appearances at the world’s key power generation exhibitions highlight Meggitt’s capabilities in the energy sector.

LEFT: FINE, MINIATURE AND SMARTMeggitt Sensing Systems monitors and protectsrotating equipment from the VM600 series, optimisingthe performance of critical parts in gargantuan steamand gas turbine operations, to intelligent transmittersystems providing signal conditioning for simple on-line monitoring of vibration in motors, pumps, fans,blowers and gearboxes. The product range includeshigh performance pressure, acceleration, vibrationand shock sensors.

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ERGEN

energy high tension and torch ignition systems;high sensitivity optical fire detection from Vibro-Meter, New Hampshire; as well as the highperformance pressure, acceleration, vibrationand shock sensors, signal conditioners andstate-of-the art machinery protection andcondition monitoring systems from centres ofexcellence within Meggitt’s new sensingsystems division—Endevco, Vibro-Meter,Switzerland and Wilcoxon.

Network sensors reduce complexityA glimpse of the future was expressed througha networked sensors concept that aims toreduce consumption of labour and dollars whenconnecting sensors on gas turbines and otherheavy machinery. Such systems could reducecomplexity with compatible, multiple sensortypes including pressure, vibration, temperatureand flow; dramatically simplifying cablemanagement; enable wired and wirelessconfigurations; collect, monitor, and processdata from distributed locations to promoterelevant information centrally; and diagnoseand troubleshoot intelligently.

Dennis Echternach, Market Segment Manager,Endevco, confirmed: “Gas turbines and heavymachinery have a significant number of sensorsproviding critical data to monitor and controlperformance. All require individual wiring andconduits from machine to control room, labour-intensive wire-pulling, elaborate construction ofconduit runs and extensive continuity checkingon all connections. Our networked sensorsneed far fewer cables and significantly lesslabour to install.”

Heat exchangers create space

Heatric’s multi-fluid heat exchangers wereshown as part of Meggitt’s energy productportfolio. Around 85 per cent smaller andlighter than conventional shell and tubeexchangers, these diffusion-bondedalternatives reach temperature and pressures beyond the reach of other compactexchangers, outperforming conventional shelland tube exchangers at virtually every level.Caroline Evans, Heatric’s marketing executive,explains: “Our order book is bulging. On oroffshore, we are retrofitting old plant that

doesn’t have the space to accommodateconventional heat exchangers when it needs to increase capacity. And where topsideis limited on offshore platforms, our compactheat exchangers are creating space foradditional technology. Stogit’s Brugeroonshore gas storage plant in Italy chose ourproducts for their small space footprint but thereal decider was their limited environmentalimpact—they don’t leak and there are noemissions. Our products have many ingeniouscharacteristics and can respond to a range ofinteresting challenges.”

ABOVE, BELOW: MUSCULAR, WEIGHTY AND ELECTRO-MECHANICALLY INGENIOUSWhittaker Controls pioneered the electrically-actuated, high speed, high accuracy fuel metering valves forGeneral Electric and Rolls-Royce that can accommodate natural gas flows up to 22,000 pounds per hour and bepositioned to within 0000.2 of an inch. Its isolation shut-off valves developed for the Rolls-Royce RB211 and Trentindustrial gas turbines close in fewer than 100 milliseconds and open in fewer than 200. The company’s name ison the lowest pressure drop valve in the turbine industry, delivering significant energy savings for the customer.

Most of the time, the analysts and fundmanagers following Meggitt’s fortuneslearn about our products through

words and pictures, so it’s good to give thesekey influencers and opinion-formers theopportunity to see them for themselves,especially in the integrated system groupingsthat represent exciting growth opportunitiesfor us right now. They can also see them onour customers’ stands, exhibited on realengines and airframes. The whole event givesthem a much better insight into what we aredoing and really helps us bring the mainthemes of our investment plans to life. Thereare hundreds of companies out there for fundmanagers to invest in so we work hard toprovide them with a compelling account ofwhat we are about.

Different audiences want different things from the Meggitt booth. This year, manywanted to focus on wheels and brakesbecause the news that we had finally acquiredAircraft Braking Systems Corporation brokehalfway through the show. Others wereinterested to see how our environmentalcontrol systems work and get the latest on ourstate-of-the-art sensing systems.

Innovation is clearly key to Meggitt’s businesssuccess but I take the opportunity to exploreother aspects of the group’s business model.When some people think of aerospace theytend to think of one or two big players. Part ofthe message I spend time putting over is thatwhile the production schedules of Boeing andAirbus are important, there are already around18,000 large planes out there in service right

now, all needing the valuable aftermarketservices Meggitt businesses provide—spares,repairs, maintenance and overhaul. And, ofcourse, there is the regional aircraft sector—around 5,000 aircraft—and business, light jetand general aviation fleets, which add a fewmore air miles into the equation. More airmiles flown means more wear and tear oncomponents and systems. That means moreopportunities for us to sell parts and moreservices to the airline operators. The revenuesare predictable, which is reassuring for

shareholders and good for business planning.Now that we have acquired Aircraft BrakingSystems and Engineered Fabrics Corporation,around 50 per cent of our sales will come from supporting military and civil aircraft inthe field.

SHOW TIME FOR MEGGITT

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The Meggitt booth at the Farnborough and Paris air shows showcases Meggitt’s capabilities tocustomers. The investment community uses it as a useful focal point for information-gathering too.Chief Executive Terry Twigger explains.

IGNITING INTEREST: Chief Executive Terry Twigger works the Paris booth

“When most people think ofaerospace they tend to think of one

or two big players”

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ONE STOP SHOPPINGInlet ice protection system, with a conceptdemonstrating Meggitt’s integrated engine and cabincooling for light and very light jets. The concept includesevaporators, compressors and condensers—the beatingheart of any environmental control system—from KeithProducts, part of Meggitt’s Thermal Systems group.

QUICK AND QUIETThe GT400 glide target can be launched and operatedon open sea ranges without the fully-instrumentedranges and tracking systems needed to run a jet-powered drone. This means less expensive deploymentwhile flying at sufficiently high speeds to challengeground and airborne weapons systems operators.

LIGHTBULB MOMENTSFrom pioneering electric braking systems, threat warningindicators and air data systems, to polymer solutions,sensing systems, fire detection and cabling andenvironmental control, the Meggitt booth’s stylishlightboxes featured sophisticated graphics illuminatingindividual product stories to complement product displays.

BLACK IS BACKThe Meggitt booth continued to set high standards of presentation at this year’s Paris airshow. The famous‘wonder wall’—that glittering showcase of smart engineering prowess—continued to work hard for its living.This year’s evolution included an innovative circular banner overprinted with bold monochrome aerospaceimagery to improve visibility. Sharp and shiny monochrome graphics threw Meggitt’s branding into sharperrelief. Displays have acquired a new capability-oriented sophistication with essays in environmental control,condition monitoring, integrated sensing and ignition, network sensing, polymer solutions, cabling anddetection, avionics and aerial targetry.

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APPRENTICES FLY H

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Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems has been named a top training provider by the UK Government’s Adult LearningInspectorate. Serving apprentices, their ‘minder’ Simon Cutler and ex-apprentice and Operations Director Chris Lee have their say.

The endorsement of Meggitt training bythe UK Government’s adult educationwatchdog is the latest in a long line. With

James Harrold named Apprentice of the Year2006 by the City of Coventry’s Freeman’s Guild,Nick Newman a finalist in the EngineeringEmployer’s Federation Apprentice of the Yearscheme and Lee Boehm commended by NorthWarwickshire and Hinckley College foroutstanding performance in his Higher

National Certificate in ManufacturingEngineering, the Adult Learning Inspectorate’sChief Inspector David Sherlock’s claim that theapprentices “can be confident they will receivefirst-class support to achieve their full potential”might be considered an understatement.

Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems providesfour-year advanced apprenticeships intechnical and craft manufacturing.

The first year involves college, then time invarious production placements learning about production materials and processes.Recruitment is linked to strategic businessplanning. So they can display their strengthsand establish an appropriate career path,apprentices are exposed to a range of rolesand company projects. From their third year, they specialise in the department of their choice.

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IGH AT COVENTRY

James Harrold, 21Final Year ApprenticeTechnical SupportMeggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, Coventry

THE PROSPECT OF BECOMING AN APPRENTICE WAS

daunting initially— having to grow up quicklyand learn how to function in a professionalenvironment. But I’ve had a lot of support and I feel very comfortable in my work here. I getlots of opportunities to be involved in thebusiness at all levels and on many interestingprojects. I have found my niche in technicalsupport. It’s unpredictable. No day is the same.I can connect with customers and feel a senseof achievement at the end of each day.

Nicholas Newman, 18Second Year Technical ApprenticeBusiness Improvement TeamMeggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, Coventry

I STARTED AT THE COVENTRY SITE’S TRAINING SCHOOL

where I learned basic engineering principlesand machining operations. The approach ispractical and academic. I enjoy both, which iswhy a job in design that’s also hands-onappeals to me. Getting my Green Belt incontinuous improvement has been a realhighlight and I am really looking forward toimplementing business improvementtechniques like Six Sigma, Lean and the 5s. In the two years I have been here, I’ve seen a lot of change and a lot of modernisation. It’s experience you can’t really beat.

Simon CutlerLearning and Development ManagerMeggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, Coventry

I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT GROWING PEOPLE, GETTING

them learning. Supporting our apprentices isexceptionally rewarding. It is quite a thing tostep into a career at 16 years old, earn goodmoney, deal with college life and organiseyourself. We do everything we can to help themsucceed. In turn, we make sure our candidatesunderstand the commitment needed to makeour four-year journey of learning. The rewardsare great. At 20 years old, they will have had

serious work experience in a large corporation.They will have acquired some high levelqualifications. They will also have developedthe kind of judgement, decision-makingabilities and character you might not find inolder students who have opted for college-based education. I am always proud when theycomplete their training and feel privileged tohave been able to guide them through one ofthe most formative periods in their lives.

Chris LeeOperations DirectorMeggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, Coventryand ex-apprentice

AS A 16-YEAR OLD IN

Coventry in the 1970s,you got anapprenticeship and thena job. That was thenorm. From the likes ofJaguar, Triumph andMassey Ferguson, I chose DunlopEngineering (now

Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems) for the varietyof businesses it served. Having to get up in themorning, go to work during the day and attendcollege at night gave me the discipline needed ina young lad’s life. And I discovered my idealapproach to learning. I wasn’t a late developer. Ijust didn’t like school so the mix of academicstudy and work experience suited me down tothe ground. At 20, I was into the first year of asandwich course that led to a first-class honoursdegree. Later, I approached my Masters inmanufacturing engineering in the same way,staying in touch with factory operations whilestudying. The MBA was the biggest challenge,combining that with work and family.

When I started as a production engineer, I was struck by the spectrum of opportunity. I went on to specialise in change projects. Thisincluded introducing CAD CAM systems into ourengineering department, setting up integratedlogistics to support Eurofighter contracts,leading the redesign of an entire wheel andbrake operation and establishing and running abusiness unit. I have never been disappointed.

FLYING HIGHLeft, Nicholas Newman, centre, Simon Cutler, right, James Harrold

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In their own words

THE ETHICS LINE IN ACT An important part of Meggitt’s Ethics Program is the ability to raise questions or concerns. Meggitt offers a number of ways to ask questions and get answers. One of those is the Ethics Line. Barney Rosenberg, Meggitt’s Ethics Manager explains.

The posters say ‘Global ethics line’ in one offive languages and are strategically placedin Meggitt facilities around the world. The

Ethics Program Office receives, on average, twocalls a month. Meggitt has an internal trackingfunction to assign consistent categories ofissues and generate reports by issue, type ofcontact (ethics line call, e-mail, direct phonecall), division and operating company andwhether confidential or anonymous.

Around 50 per cent of calls are about humanresources matters, such as racial discriminationand bullying; 25 per cent fall into amiscellaneous category and address concernssuch as gifts and entertainment issues and theftof company property; and 25 per cent of callersare looking for advice on, say, how to handlecompetitive intelligence and resolve potentialconflicts of interest.

When a complaint is lodged, our first step is tounderstand the nature of the complaint becausespecial experience may be required toinvestigate the facts. Depending on thecircumstances, we may have to ask people

outside the local management chain to conductthe inquiry.

If confidentiality or anonymity is requested, werespect this to the maximum extent possible. If callers have provided ways to follow up withthem, we keep them informed as the matterdevelops and about the outcome, withoutcompromising anyone else’s confidentiality orprivacy. If all we have is the unique casenumber assigned by ExpoLink, our independentethics line provider, we will advise them, ifcontacted again by the caller, to say something

like: “We have conducted an internal review andhave been (or have not been) able to confirmwhat you told us. Appropriate remedial actionhas been (or will be) taken. Just as we protectyour confidentiality, we are obliged to do thesame for others who are affected, so we cannotshare all of the specifics with you. Please beassured that we appreciate you bringing this toour attention. Thank you for contacting theEthics Program Office.”

Our primary concern is that we have the abilityto investigate thoroughly matters that areraised, so the identity of the caller is notsomething we look for. Anonymity andconfidentiality are always respected, eventhough it can make it more difficult toinvestigate the facts. It helps to be able to goback to the person who initiated the inquiry.

But if we cannot do that, we find other ways toinvestigate, through audits of various kinds

and through other creative means. Readersmay be interested to know that most of ourethics matters do not come through the EthicsLine but reach us through more direct meanswhere people reveal their names and aregenuinely willing to help.

The bottom line is that the system is working. If you have a question or a concern,contact your local Ethics Coordinator. Tell amanager or a colleague what worries you.There is no chain of command when it comesto reporting business misconduct.

We are all in this together—and together wewill keep Meggitt a good place to work.

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“There is no chain of commandwhen it comes to reporting

violations”

Just take a momentThe sixth installment of Meggitt’s“Ethical Moments” on-line tutorialis out and will have been deliveredstraight to you by e-mail. Called‘’Diversity: Another Perspective’’,it is, as usual, available with sub-titles in five languages. Earliercourses can still be accessed viathe current portal.

1. Ethical Choices: Thinking Things Through (September 2006)

2. Confidential Information: Loose Lips (November 2006)

3. Anti-Corruption:Getting the Business (January 2007)

4. Help lines and Non-Retaliation: Making the Call (March 2007)

5. Conflicts of Interest: I’ve Got Connections (May 2007)

When you call, who’s at the end of the line?

> The technology and the voicesbehind the ethics line are managedfor Meggitt by UK company,ExpoLink

> ExpoLink is located in Chippenham,England

> It is completely independent of Meggitt

> When a call is received, a trainedoperator creates a written reportsummarising the conversation

> Calls are not recorded

> If a caller wishes to remainanonymous, Meggitt has no way ofknowing who they are

> All reports are sent to BarneyRosenberg only

> ExpoLink assigns a unique matternumber to the call in case thecaller follows up

> As soon as Barney confirms receiptof the report, usually within a fewhours, the original is destroyed andExpoLink does not retain a copy

Spacewoman rockets into Meggitt

Ask Natasha Allen, Meggitt’s newExport Compliance Manager, Europe& Asia, to explain her enthusiasm for

export compliance and she is unequivocal. “Ilike detail and I am a finisher so compliancein aerospace and defence, which is critical,is meat and drink to me.”

After studying business and informationtechnology, she started her compliancecareer in customs audit at satellite builderEADS Astrium in the UK. After several yearsestablishing new procedures and processesat the sharp end of import and export,product classification and customs and exciseliaison, a move into formal export control andcompliance was a natural progression. “Thatwas when the United States’ InternationalTraffic in Arms Regulations kicked in andpeople started to take compliance moreseriously,” she confirms.

The compliance discipline can be daunting,she says. “There is no body of knowledge tograduate from so you have to acquireknowledge through hands-on experience.You’ve got to like learning, be passionateabout the subject and soak up as muchinformation as you come across.” Working inthe highly-sensitive domain of spaceproducts and services, she could be involvedin up to150 different US product licences on asingle product.

For Natasha, the key compliance challenge ischange. “People have to approach productdevelopment, marketing and sales from anew angle. In the early days, it wasn’t easy tointerest people in something that impingedon the time they spent on core activities.ITAR [International Traffic in ArmsRegulations] changed all that.”

Natasha joined Meggitt to practice herhard-won arts at the highest level. “Iwanted to be part of an organisationdetermined to set the standard. Meggitt’scompliance message is flowing the rightway—from the Board down. It doesn’t workif initiatives have to flow up.”

Working with JPMorgan Chase Vastera, aglobal trade management consultancy,Meggitt has pursued a rigorous complianceimprovement programme over the lastthree years. “We are taking the compliancerule book and looking at the history of everyMeggitt product to understand what it wasoriginally designed for,” she explains. Itcannot be an easy task given that manyproducts have changed hands as a result ofacquisitions over a 60-year period. AsNatasha asserts, “we are leaving no stoneunturned in our bid to be the benchmark forcompliance in our industry.”

She has lost no time in getting stuck in tothe role, familiarising herself quickly withthe European businesses, talking to staff inwarehousing, engineering, sales, marketingand procurement. And she is alreadyproviding a service to the businesses’ exportcompliance officers, which covers advice,trouble-shooting and hand-holding.

Today, Meggitt is halfway up a mountain,says Natasha, “significantly further than anumber of competing outfits.” “We aredeveloping a really competitive edge. Theindividual businesses are better off. We areboosting the credibility of Meggitt’scorporate reputation. And when the lawbecomes more stringent, we will be verywell-placed to meet its requirements.”

Contact natasha.allen@meggitt.com

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Real complaints and what happened

> A manufacturing test procedure was considered ambiguous bythe technician on the productionline. The Ethics Program Officebrought it to the attention ofmanagement. A meetingbetween Quality Assurance andEngineering was convened andthe procedure was changed,with the customer’s approval.

> Someone at a facility whereaircraft components aremanufactured alleged thatdrugs were being used by someemployees. Based on a call tothe Ethics Line, random drugtests were administered andsome people lost their jobs.

> A high ranking manager wasaccused of bullying and otherimproper workplace conduct.Following a thorough fact-finding exercise, the managerwas suspended and eventuallylost his job.

“We are taking the compliance rulebook and looking at the history of

every single Meggitt product”

“New standards for the industry”

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Accolades and anniversaries for Meggitt’s operating companies

Total Quality says Boeingand Lockheed Martin JVAfter achieving a performance rating of 99 percent or better for six consecutive months,Endevco Corporation has been recognised as aTotal Quality Supplier by the United LaunchAlliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeingand Lockheed Martin to provide world-class,cost-effective space launch services to the USgovernment. With this level of performance,the Endevco parts—transducers and dynamicinstrumentation for vibration, shock, inertialmotion and dynamic pressure measurements—provided to Lockheed Martin’s Harlingen, Texasfacility, no longer require complete inspectionwhen received.

Endevco’s 60 years oftrusted measurementsFounded in 1947, Endevco has providedmeasurement professionals with reliable andaccurate sensing solutions for demandingshock, vibration and pressure applications.Over 60 years, the company has beenresponsible for a number of notable firsts.These include creating the first ‘shear design’accelerometer; the first piezo-electricaccelerometer capable of continuous operation at temperatures up to 1400˚F; thefirst and only 2000,000 g accelerometer; thefirst commercially available accelerometerusing a micro-machined silicon variablecapacitance microsensor with internalelectronics; and the first monolithic siliconpiezoresistive accelerometer.

Another Gold from AirbusAt the Paris Air Show, Meggitt SensingSystems’ Managing Director Richard Greavestrod what is becoming a familiar path to theillustrious Airbus chalet to accept an award onbehalf of Meggitt Sensing Systems’ Vibro-Meter. The award, for outstanding customersupport, was endorsed by votes from Airbuscustomers. Because Vibro-Meter, Switzerlandhas been a regular top 10 achiever in Airbus’supplier support rating programme since 2002,it received a second endorsement of its ‘Gold’supplier status. The first was awarded last year.

CSR award for Vibro-MeterVibro-Meter, Switzerland has been awarded theCantonal Prize for Encouragement à l'EnterpriseCitoyenne. The jury of the Fribourg cantonaleconomic development council, comprising over20 leading lights from the canton’s business andeconomic development community, recognisedVibro-Meter’s significant economic contributionand its actions as a responsible corporatecitizen for apprenticeship training, earlyadoption of environmental managementstandard ISO 14001, equal pay, flexible workinghours, canteen subsidies, smoking cessationhelp, support for sporting activity, familyinvolvement, ethics training and support for itsdiverse and vibrant workforce, 20 per cent ofwhom are from outside Switzerland.

DABS industry bible tributeDunlop Aerospace Braking Systems won ‘EnergyEfficient Installation of the Month’ fromspecialist trade magazine, Drives & Controls.Because of upgrading the compressed airinstallation at its Coventry plant, compressed airenergy consumption dropped by 30 per cent andair usage during low production periods halved.

Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems, now Meggitt AircraftBraking Systems, has been named Supplier of the Year byGulfstream Aerospace Corporation, reflecting DunlopAerospace’s performance in quality, reliability, delivery andproduct and aftermarket support. Dunlop scored an“excellent” rating in each category in every quarter of 2006.After Dunlop signed its first contract with the Gulfstream IVfor wheels and brakes in 1992, its products were specified on over 700 of this high-speed, long range business jetfamily, including Gulfstream’s flagship G550 and the 40 or so additions to the fleet entering service each year. By providing superior turnarounds on its spares service means that it will be helping to keep these aircraft flying for their lifetimes—around 20 to 25 years.

Serck vies with Dunlop Bestobell for IMechE honours

Gulfstream honours Dunlop

The Meggitt Review is Meggitt PLC’s magazine for employees. Headquartered in the UK, Meggitt is an international group operating in North America,Europe and Asia. Known for its specialist extreme environment engineering, Meggitt is a world leader in aerospace equipment, sensing systems, defencetraining and combat support. Editor: fiona.greig@meggitt.com. Tel/fax: 44 (0) 1202 597587. Meggitt PLC, Atlantic House, Aviation Park West, BournemouthInternational Airport, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 6EW, UK www.meggitt.com. 64

Dunlop Bestobell beat runner-up and sistercompany Serck Aviation to an Institution ofMechanical Engineering’s ManufacturingExcellence award which recognisedinnovations from the polymer solutionsbusiness in financial information systemsunder the Financial Management andPartnerships between Business and Educationcategory. Serck Aviation was a finalist, rubbing

shoulders with Dupont and Agfa for IMechE’s Customer Focus award. DunlopBestobell went on to win the Barclays Awardfor Financial Management. Its success isbased on adding value to businessperformance beyond control and compliance,supporting manufacturing and operations withanalysis and developing risk managementstrategies linked to business goals.