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More Innovative Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing(JCN Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW YORK, NY, Sept 15, 2014 - (ACN Newswire) - Many of the prime satellite contractors in the US aerospace and defense manufacturing industry are not taking full advantage of the process innovation and cost benefits that an outsourced manufacturing model for major composite structures could bring to bear, according to Rick Byrens, President, and Jeff Lassiter, Chief Financial Officer, Alliance Spacesystems. Alliance Spacesystems is a solution provider at the marcus evans Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Summit 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 5-6. - What would ease some of the cost pressures in this industry?Byrens: Competition and pressure on cost is very intense. Our customers want to reduce costs and lower prices, while the price of raw materials and commodities is increasing. This is squeezing the middle of the market. We are addressing this issue by investing in continuous process improvement, LEAN initiatives, and managing our supply chain towards longer term agreements on material purchases to improve efficiency.Many primes are still doing composite structures manufacturing and assembly in-house, which is very expensive for them and often less efficient. Primes could greatly benefit from moving towards more outsourced content for composite structures to leverage our capabilities and emerge more competitive. Lassiter: There's a lot of effort to reduce costs in both production and launch of satellites. The catalyst for change has come with resurgence in the commercial satellite market. There has been a lot of press on the launch platform side, and our customers have been exploring concepts to leverage scale economies on the production side, such as common use components across platforms. This issue has troubled the industry for a long time, and we want to contribute to positive change.- What opportunities for being more innovative could you point them to?Byrens: Satellite prime contractors are slow to change their supply chain practices, especially when it comes to detailed manufacturing. However, increasingly, they see themselves as system integrators and they need to rely on other companies in the supply chain to be the process innovators for manufacturing. Outsourcing manufacturing has helped them compete in this market. Boeing is a good example. It has chosen to outsource a lot of its composite manufacturing, helping it stay competitive in the commercial satellite market where it is a leader. Others have been slower to adopt an outsourcing model, mostly because of the intricacies involved in what they have done in-house for decades. We want to help them see how composites manufacturing suppliers have come up the learning curve. We are making fully integrated satellite structures with wire harness integration, static load testing, mirror bonding and pretty much preparing a satellite for electronics integration. Any labor intensive operation they outsource could potentially save millions.Could this speed up the design cycle or time to market?Lassiter: Schedule savings is also becoming increasingly important for our customers. They are dealing with satellite operators who want to define their systems as late as possible in the design cycle to better determine satellite coverage area, number of transponders and which regions they will serve. Design requirements are developing at the latest possible moment, which creates demand for more flexible designs that can be produced faster and cheaper. This means that the more capabilities we can deliver to our customer's products that are ready to integrate, the more responsive our customers can be to reducing their cycle time for operators.About the Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Summit 2014The 10th Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Summit is the premium forum bringing leading manufacturing and engineering executives from global aerospace and defense manufacturers and solution providers together. Taking place at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 5-6, 2014, the Summit includes presentations on innovative manufacturing technologies, research partnerships, counterfeit parts risk mitigation and so on. For more information please send an email to [email protected] or visit the event website at www.aerospacedefensesummit.com/RickByrensJeffLassiterInterview marcus evans group - defense sector portal - http://www.marcusevans.com/reviews/defensePlease note that the Summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.About Alliance SpacesystemsAlliance Spacesystems, LLC. is a premier supplier to leading satellite integrators for the fabrication, assembly, integration and testing of major satellite composite structures. Alliance focuses on design and manufacturing of precision composite structures for spacecraft and other high tech applications where high strength to weight ratios, superior stiffness and dimensional stability are key requirements. Alliance Spacesystems is a portfolio company of Admiralty Partners, a private investment firm which invests exclusively within the global aerospace, defense and federal information technology industries. www.alliancespacesystems.com.About marcus evans Summitsmarcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world's leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com.- Twitter: www.twitter.com/meSummitsGlobal - YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/MarcusEvansGroup - SlideShare: www.slideshare.net/MarcusEvansSummitsContact: Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian Press Manager, marcus evans, Summits Division Tel: + 357 22 849 313 Email: [email protected] 2014 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. |