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SPEECH BY MR MANOHAR KHIATANI, ASSISTANT MANAGING DIRECTOR, SINGAPORE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD, AT THE OPENING OF NELCO’S AEROSPACE COMPOSITES PLANT, AT PIONEER ROAD ON 21 FEBRUARY 2008, AT 9:45 AM
Mr Howard Elliott, Managing Director
Mr Tony Digaudio, Vice-President, Sales
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you today to celebrate the opening of Nelco’s Pioneer Aerospace Composites Plant.
Nelco expands into the fast growing aerospace composites segment
2. Today’s ceremony signifies an extension of Singapore’s long-standing relationship with Nelco, and its parent, Park Electrochemical Corporation.
3. Park’s electronics laminates manufacturing plant started operations in Singapore two decades ago. The operations have been very successful and I understand that the facility is regarded as one of the most efficient and profitable plants within the Nelco group of companies.
4. With this new aerospace composites manufacturing facility, Nelco is expanding its presence in Singapore into the fast growing aerospace composites segment.
Significance of composites for aerospace industry
5. The outlook for the global aerospace industry is positive. Due to booming air travel, demand for new aircraft globally is very strong with record aircraft orders in 2007. The prospects for the aerospace industry in Asia are bright with the region expected to lead the growth in air travel. We believe that Singapore’s world-class infrastructure, excellent logistics capabilities, technology orientation, quality manpower, and overall cost competitiveness will position us well to capture and ride on this growth.
6. The aerospace industry has been one of the fastest growing sectors in Singapore. Since 1990, it has enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 13%.Last year, it achieved a record output of $6.9 billion; a 10.4 per cent increase over 2006. Today, we also have the highest concentration of aerospace OEMs in the Asia-Pacific, and the Singapore government is committed to this industry’s continued growth. Our decision to set aside 300 hectares of land on this small island nation is testimony to this. With first class infrastructure, Seletar Aerospace Park is designed just for the aerospace industry. The many new project announcements during this Singapore Airshow week show the strong interest of the aerospace industry in Singapore.
7. In order to ensure our continued attractiveness for the aerospace sector, we are constantly looking at how best we can embrace and harness trends that are critical for the sector. Building up our capabilities in composites is one such example.
Singapore is already building up composites MRO and manpower capabilities to prepare for the future.
8. High fuel prices and increasing environmental concerns are putting pressure on the aerospace industry. OEMs are therefore innovating to make air travel more energy efficient and a key solution to this is the use of lighter and stronger products such as composites. For example, just 10 years ago, less than 20% of commercial aircraft were made of carbon composites. This will dramatically change for future commercial aircraft and we are already seeing this happen with new models such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which is made of about 50% composites. A larger proportion of carbon composites will significantly reduce the aircraft’s weight and thus provide fuel consumption advantages over earlier generation aircraft.
9. Recognising the importance of composites in the aerospace industry, the EDB together with our sister agencies, are focused on building up our composites capabilities. Let me cite two areas as examples.
10. The first is in the area of manpower training. The integration of composites into the primary structure of the aircraft means that composite maintenance skills, including the use of non-destructive inspection equipment, will need to be developed. Together with the industry, the EDB is working with educational institutions and local research institutes to develop manpower and new technologies in composites. For example, our Institute of Technical Education or ITE and Nordam have recently announced a collaboration to establish a composites laboratory within ITE. The building up of relevant expertise and composites MRO capabilities will prepare our aerospace industry for the future.
11. The second is in the area of composites Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul or MRO capabilities. The growth of the use of composites in aircraft will have significant implications for the aerospace aftermarket segment, in which Singapore is a key player. Today, we rank as the largest and most comprehensive MRO hub in Asia, capturing approximately a quarter of the Asian market. Singapore offers a full range of aerospace MRO capabilities including airframe maintenance, engine overhaul, component repair, and avionics systems repair.
12. Companies such as Goodrich and Nordam already have very significant MRO operations in Singapore involving composites repair. Goodrich, for example, will be expanding the scope of their operations to include new activities like developing advanced composite repair techniques, new manufacturing technologies and new acoustic or composite structures. Both SIA Engineering Company and ST Aerospace are also actively working to grow composite capabilities for airframe maintenance and repair.
13. Given our focus on composites, we are naturally delighted at Nelco’s investments in new aerospace composite technology and equipment. This initiative will help develop its composite materials capabilities and provide yet another entry point for Singapore to tap the composites market for aerospace.
Conclusion
14. In closing, I would like to thank Nelco for its long standing partnership and commitment to Singapore. The setting up of this facility is a reflection of your vision to move into new, high growth areas. We look forward to working together with you to make this aerospace composites plant a success. |
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