.06February 2007

magazine

INTERNAL MAGAZINE

COMPOSITES A technological leap for M-D

LAIP Lean Accelerator to Improve Performance

MyPDP A makeover for one of management’s basic

w

.06 MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

February 2007

MAGAZINE MESSIER-DOWTY . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 02

To submit your ideas for future issues of the One Team Magazine, please feel free to contact your local correspondant:Bidos, Hervé Nachbaur – Gloucester, Thomas Bouchez – Montréal, Anouk Rivard – Toronto, Moira Harvey – Seattle, Jeanette Hawkins – Suzhou, Tommy Fei – Vélizy, Laurence Lysimaque

Messier-Dowty internal magazine for the sites of Bidos, Gloucester, Montreal, Seattle, Singapore, Suzhou, Toronto and Vélizy:Director of publication: Claude Mathieu – Editor-in-Chief: Cécile Kaberry – Editorial Committee: Thomas Bouchez, Gaëlle Busvel, Noémie Decamme, Tommy Fei, Jeanette Hawkins, Laurence Lysimaque, Hervé Nachbaur, Anouk Rivard – Special contribution to this issue: Philippe Alleaume, Gilles Desprès, Patrick Dunleavy, Jean Ferlus, Christian Grande, Moira Harvey, Jean-Pierre Serey, Joseph Noone, Eric Recton – We express our thanks to all our interviewees: Jean Blondin, Paul Bordenave, Martin Brunet, Jean-Luc Cabou, Emmanuel Calderara, Alexandra Caussé, Delphine Chiron, Arnaud Dujourd’hui, Mark Evans, Andy Fardon, Jean-Marie Jacquet, Darren Jarvis, Arthur Koroglu, Dave Mette, Hubert Moebs, Christian Nadeau, Marc Pedro, Serge Rière, François Roby, Henri Sarthou-Garris – Photos & Illustrations: Gaëlle Busvel, Sébastien Detroyat, and pictures provided directly by the sites – Impression : Siob – Creation, Design and Realisation : Sébastien Hié (www.shazor.com).

Duplication and disclosure of articles and illustrations must have obtained the prior written authorization of the editorial committee.

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2007 : Let’s keep up the good work!

The start of the year is always an important time for businesses. It’s a time for taking stock, fine-tuning, and re-evaluating objectives. As President Knapp visits our sites to show us the broad outlines of our 2007 development plan, we chose to look back on some of the strategic and innovative actions which have distinguished the year 2006 and which contribute today to the continued improvement of our company.

In December, the SAFRAN group awarded us the Grand prix de l’innovation 2006 for the B787 composite side braces. A true world first (it’s actually the first time that composite materials have been used in structural parts for landing gear ), the success of this project is for M-D a real technological and industrial leap to which we felt we had to devote a couple of pages.

Another major innovation for our company and which has received (in equal place with the composite project) the Grand prix de l’innovation 2006 at the Messier-Dowty level, is the expanded control panel (tableau de conduite étendue). Initially deployed at the Bidos site, this concept is among the solutions developed in the framework of the Action V LAIP project intended to optimise our production tool and our internal resources. In order to observe the LAIP’s first results, which were very encouraging, we visited our Western production sites and studied four of the solutions implemented in the framework of this project.

The Engineering and Production functions have not been the only ones to develop innovative solutions over the last few months. With the online deployment of MyPDP, Messier-Dowty acquires a management tool facilitating individual meetings simplifying its administrative process to then give more space for dialogue between colleague and manager.

Thus whether we choose to consider the development of our technologies, our working methods, and even the men and women in the company, our innovation and creativity are some of our strongest assets to enable us to progress and move forward.

Ourselves in communication we always try in our headlines, our articles, our films and events to surprise and entertain you with new and innovative ideas, whilst still keeping in mind that our primary role is to keep you informed of what’s going on around the company. We therefore hope that this new issue of OneTeam will inspire you and boost your creativity even further!

The Editorial Committee

Contents 20

PAGE 03 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

MDI Internal Communications’ teamLaurence Lysimaque, Gaëlle Busvel and Cécile Kaberry

NEWS

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nomy,

Airlines,

Airfra

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M-D FIL

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- Ajax

- Ontar

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EN BREF CHEZ M

-D

- Acti

on V, Eve

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OUTSIDE

- Com

posite : a

tech

nological le

ap fo

r M–D

INSID

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- LAIP

: Lean

Acc

elerator t

o Impro

ve P

erform

ance

- MyP

DP: My p

ersonal

developm

ent plan

online

- HSE : L

iving w

ithout a

ccidents

PEOPLE

- A day

in th

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Mess

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01. ECONOMY

02. AIRLINES

> OILTHE OIL MARKET IS COOLING DOWN ...During the past months, the mild climate of early Winter heavily influenced the oil markets: we experienced the mildest temperatures in the past fourteen years and the worldwide consumption dropped by 650,000 barrels/day, as compared with a normal period. Thus, since the beginning of the year, the crude oil prices decreased by 14%. Should this mild climate persist, the barrel might drop down to less than US$50, against 78 during last Summer. This might spur the OPEC to react: following the decisions made last Fall, the cartel member countries, which deliver approximately 40% of the worldwide offer, are supposed to decrease their production by 1.7 million barrels/day, as from February 1, 2007. This is probably useless as, combined with the country-level saving measures which are now bearing fruits, the markets consider that such consumption decrease will be sustainable. The oil speculative bubble appears to be closed. At last!

...BUT THE US DOLLAR REMAINS LOW ...90% of the Messier-Dowty sales are signed in US Dollar, while the costs amount to 55% only. This means that half of our revenue is exposed to the variations of the US currency with regard to our local currencies (Euro, Sterling, Canadian Dollar). Thus, every 1% decrease of the US Dollar corresponds to approximately US$ 4 billion less EBIT for our Group. Of course, Safran uses exchange hedges. They perfectly mitigated the “sawtooth” effects in the past, but reach their limit when the decrease (or increase) is continuous and ongoing.

Messier-Dowty thus has no other choice than matching the situation by reducing its exposure risk facing the US Dollar. Practically, this consists in increasing the share of purchases made in US Dollar with regard to other currencies. Most of our “Action V” labeled projects in fact include this dimension. In addition, everyone can and should contribute by asking a simple question: “and why not pay my supplier in US Dollar?”Philippe Alleaume - Finance MDI

...AND THE PRICE OF RAW MATERIALS KEEPS INCREASINGThe material market is segmented, depending on whether it concerns aluminum, steels containing nickel or titanium. Also, the purchasing price of each alloy depends on its composition (e.g. nickel contents), but also on the demand. Globally, all segments in this market have been increasing since mid-2005.

As a whole, the price of our materials increased by 20% within 18 months, and the impact on our margins amounts to approximately 1.5% of our turnover.

M-D undergoes such increases, all the more as the demand is stronger than the production capabilities. Our current purchasing contracts are not really protecting us against such increases.

In the air industry, and especially in the structural parts, the specific alloys we use result in a very tight market. We are working with our suppliers (blacksmiths) or with material developers so that they increase their production capacity, but they are worried due to the risk for air cycle turnabout (the latest investments were made before 9/11/2001) and, in addition, the implementation time of investments exceeds 1 year.

The bottlenecks are now found for sponge titanium and vacuum arc remelting (VAR). M-D, supported by SAFRAN, is working on these issues. As a whole, 2007 will still be very difficult.

A few figures: We purchase in 2006 approximately 6,000 tons of steel, 100 to 200 tons of titanium –the titanium price increase by 58% within 18 months). In 2010, we shall purchase approximately 1,000 tons of titanium! Just one more surprising figure: The titanium worldwide production represents “only” one 25-meter side cube (steel is approximately 100,000 times more).

Christian Grande - Supply Chain MDI

SUCCESS FOR THE FIRST TECHNICAL SUMMITS ON THE AIRBUS LANDING GEARSRegional technical summits (Asia / Americas / Europe, Africa é Middle East), organized by Messier-Dowty, and dedicated to the L/G for Airbus aircraft took place in Singapore, Queretaro, Paris and Suzhou, between October

2006 and January 2007. The major operators and airlines in these regions were invited.Prepared in cooperation with Airbus and Messier Services, these summits allowed the M-D Customer Support (backed up by the M-D Engineering Department) to explain our customers the upgrades of our products and the best maintenance practices. This generated highly productive dialogs. All the customers unanimously congratulate us for the organization of these meetings and ask for them to be organized regularly. A documentary film, directed by the M-D communication teams, and broadcasted on every site during the 2007 roadshows, allowed capturing the basic comments from airlines with regard to their perception of our strengths and weaknesses, and to the improvement lines to be explored in order to better work together.

THE PROSPECTS BECOME BRIGHTER FOR US AIRLINESAfter several years during which they had to face a succession of unprecedented difficulties (economical crisis due to the collapsing of the Internet bubble, terrorist attacks, highly unstable international political stage, unrivaled level of kerosene prices), the US airlines are resuming profit, and their efforts, especially in cost reduction, are finally paying. So, the major 10 airlines should record for 2006 cumulative net profits between US$ 1.4 and 1.7 billion, after a 10-billion loss in 2005.

Source : AFP, Les Echos.

ALITALIA FOR SALEBy the end of 2006, the Italian Government, which holds 49.9% in Alitalia, issued a Call for Tenders for airline the buy-out and privatization. The deadline for the potential purchasers was January 29, 2007. Finally, 11 bidders transmitted their proposals to the Italian Government. A major absent from the bidders, Air France-KLM, which preferred to disclaim in a first step, as the current specifications are considered as “not reasonable”. The French-Dutch airline nevertheless declared that it did not exclude the possibility to re-apply, if the conditions were changed.

Source : Le Figaro Economie, AFP, Bourse.com

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 04

Evolution of Eur/US$ spot rate

03. AIRFRAMERS AND PROGRAMMES> AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERSSALES: BOEING IN FRONT OF AIRBUSFor the first time since 2001, Boeing is overcoming Airbus in terms of the number of aircraft sold. With 1,058 raw orders recorded for last year, Boeing recovered 56% of market shares against Airbus, which experienced a drop to 44% (after a peak in 2004 with 57%).

Source : Air & Cosmos

> AIRBUS PROGRAMS“GO AHEAD” FOR THE A350 XWBOn December 1, 2006, nearly five months after the model demonstration during the Farnborough Air Show, the Airbus Board of Directors gave the go ahead to the industrial launch of the new family of medium capacity, long range, twin-engine aircraft, A350 XWB.

With this new launch, Airbus incorporates the feedback provided by the airlines with regard to the initial A350 version, considered as being an enhanced version of the A330, with a performance considered as insufficient and a somewhat limited capacity. Hence, the A350 name does not change to A370, as this was suggested, but is assigned the XWB suffix, standing for Extra Wide Body, different from the A330.

The A350 XWB allows Airbus to achieve two goals: the aircraft is now closer to its direct competitor, the B787 from Boeing, and with the three other versions being announced, it also attacks the B777, the other best-seller built by the US aircraft manufacturer.

However, the A350 XWB will be released to market only four years after the Boeing B787 planned for 2008. In spite of this, the EADS managers know they cannot let Boeing cover alone this market segment: “Not launching it means taking a commercial risk by leaving the gap in the Airbus range that will be profitable to Boeing. Launching it means taking a financial risk, as the aircraft cost approximately amounts to € 9 billion.”

The A350 XWB launching should also be the opportunity for Airbus to change its working methods by implementing the “Power 08” competitivity schedule. Contrary to Boeing, the European manufacturer produces most of the aircraft component parts. On the A350 XWB, Airbus has decided to further associate the suppliers. This decision will allow decreasing the invoice amount: “Partners involved in financing the aircraft development are interested in the aircraft sale. Various formulas are possible”, explained Airbus.

On the other hand, the program financing is not fully finalized. The expenses incurred in this program will spread over several years, and will partly be covered by the major industrial partners and sub-contractors, and partly by EADS and Airbus.

Source : AFP, Les Echos, le Figaro Economie, Airbus.com

M-D and the A350 XWBMAIN LANDING GEAR: Messier-Dowty remains selected for the supply of the aircraft main landing gear, and the M-D teams are working in close cooperation with Airbus in order to define the best product.NOSE LANDING GEAR: Messier-Dowty is not selected for the competition regarding the NLG. Have been short-listed: Goodrich and Liebherr.

THE A400M IS TAKING SHAPE By the end of November 2006, Airbus completed the assembly of the first wing set for the first aircraft. This is the first time that Airbus produces a wing mostly consisting of composite materials. 23 meters long and weighing nearly three tons, this is the largest composite wing ever produced. The first aircraft should be delivered to the French Air Force in October 2009, but the planning remains very tight.

M-D and the A400MFollowing the inauguration last July in Velizy, of the A400M system test bench building, the reception of the bench with the gears will take place during the first half of 2007. The first productions started on our manufacturing sites and the first prototypes should be delivered by mid-2007.

PAGE 05 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

A380 DELAYEDIndustrial difficulties... For long, the technical successes recorded by the A380 program have hidden the industrial difficulties met by the production plants. Until the announcement for three successive delays, which accumulates a total delay of 19 months! Hence, instead of setting the A380 into service by the end of 2006, Singapore Airlines should wait until October 2007 before receiving their first aircraft. 40 aircraft will be delivered until 2010, instead of 116 initially scheduled. The profit loss for the aircraft manufacturer amount to at least € 6 billion.

... thus generating problems for the airlines... Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Quantas, Lufthansa, and Air France, the first A380 customers, will have to revise down their growth for certain destinations. Within the next eighteen months, 20,000 seats/day will be missing in the fleets. These stresses will impact the price of new or rented aircraft, while the reduced offer for seats will favor the increased price or aircraft tickets.

... or even orders being canceledFEDEX canceled its 10 A380 orders and replaced them with an order for 15 Boeing 777 Freight.

BUT CERTIFIED!These delays do not prevent the A380 to successfully overcome important technical milestones. The passenger version of the very wide body aircraft indeed obtained its type certificate from EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and US FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) on December 12. The aircraft is now certified for commercial flights, in Europe and in the United States.

M-D AND THE A380The certification of the A380 passenger version also represents a real success for the M-D teams working on the program. They indeed worked hard to meet the deadlines and thus support Airbus for overcoming this essential step. For Messier-Dowty, the impacts of the A380 delays are fortunately less heavy, as our supply is limited to the NLG, but the financial impact remains important.

> BOEING PROGRAMSTHE B787 HOLDS HEADINGAfter exceeding the threshold of 450 orders, Boeing performed a virtual factory roll out last December. This operation, controlled by the CATIA software, allowed checking that the thousands of parts composing the aircraft and produced worldwide, could be correctly assembled. The first delivery is scheduled for May 2008, then Boeing plans to deliver 112 aircraft in 2008-2009, before gradually increasing the rate until reaching 3 aircraft/week.

M-D and the B787All the M-D teams are mobilized in order to meet the deadlines imposed by Boeing. Technically speaking, partial tests of the composite strut arms with resistance to maximum loads were successful. With regard to production, these efforts were rewarded with the timely delivery, in November 2006, of the L/G components for the system test bench. The series production of parts started on all the M-D sites and Everett (in an ex-Boeing building) was finally selected as the L/G final assembly site. We should now continue our efforts in order to improve the program profitability.

B747-8 LAUNCHING On December 6, Lufthansa launched the passenger version of the B747-8 Intercontinental, with a firm order for 20 units, and 20 additional options. The first deliveries are expected for 2009-2010.

> OTHER PROGRAMS SUKHOÏ SUPERJET100Considered as the Russian most ambitious commercial aircraft project since the communism collapsing, this aircraft, offering 75 to 100 seats and basically produced by Western partners and suppliers, might become the best commercial success of the Russian aviation for its generation. Indeed, if Sukhoï achieves the first prototype flight by Summer 2007, as scheduled, the aircraft might quickly be seen by the airlines as a real alternative to western aircraft on the business aircraft market.

M-D and the Superjet100After succeeding in freezing the L/G specifications, M-D must now meet the deadlines to support the first flight next summer. The program team continues its research works in order to develop a low cost production strategy.

>GLOBAL EVENTSSAFRAN ROUTE DU RHUM CONTEST3,280 SAFRAN employees participated to this contest. At M-D, we had a particularly good response rate from our Toronto site. On August 14th, Tony Adili, from the Ajax Customer Services Department won the contest first prize, which was a week end in Saint-Malo, France and got to meet with Marc Guillemot, the Safran boat skipper. To win, Tony correctly answered the 10 questions about the SAFRAN boat and won the draw! He also was the only winner from M-D. Congratulations Tony!

3000TH A320 SHIPSETOn November 2006, M-D celebrated on all sites the delivery of the 3000th A320 shipset with goodies, posters and decorations. This delivery marks a major milestone in M-D history but also for all those, from design to customer services, who have helped build the fine reputation of our products throughout the years. This A320 family programme is a major opportunity for the development of our support-in-service and MRO activities,

particularly throughout the Messier Services network. Airbus delivered A320 MSN3000 to Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia on January 18th 2007.

INNOVATION CONTEST 2006M-D International JuryThis year, among the 28 projects presented at the MDI level, the judging panel awarded first prize to two projects: “Composite side braces”, presented by Vélizy, and “Tableau de conduite étendue”, presented by Bidos. The composite project not only represents a major technological and industrial leap for M-D but is also a strong example of successful teamwork between different functions, different sites (Gloucester, Vélizy, Seattle), and different SAFRAN Group companies (Snecma, Aircelle, MD).By rewarding the “Tableau de conduite étendue” (extended control board) project, the MDI jury chose to congratulate the operators for the in-depth work they conducted on the shop-floor. This concept will not only be implemented in Bidos but also in Montreal, Toronto and Gloucester.

SAFRAN Group JuryOn January 3rd of this year, the “Composite Side Braces” project won the 2006 SAFRAN Group Innovation Grand Prix. M-D was also awarded first prize in the Sustainable Development category with the Montreal project “Elimination of black smoke in heat treatment”.

Congratulations to all the project teams for their creativity and hard work! To enter the 2007 competition, go to the following website: http://www.creativitemessierdowty.com or get in touch with local internal communications rep.

EPMS, GO LIVE!EPMS was rolled-out across Messier-Dowty during the second half of 2006: Seattle in June, Vélizy in July, Bidos in August, Gloucester in September, Toronto in October, Montreal in November. Let’s now build the EPMS network on all programs !

TDI : A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH Deployment of a unique and shared 3-D view of the landing gear, new ways of working and new tools (CATIA V5, SMARTEAM, PDM V4). Model based definition has become a standard requirements for airframers. A new phase of the TDI project has now been launched (TDI phase II) to ensure that the tools are being implemented and used in all functions (design office, development, manufacturing, customer support).

TECHNICAL EVENTS, DESIGN & SPECIFICATIONS HARMONISATIONThese two projects have been completed. The Technical Events project has delivered process, tools and first results (confirmed by Airbus and Airlines). It is now through continuous improvement that we will improve our performances. The Design & Specifications Harmonisation project has generated a defined set of standards and specifications to be used by IPTs for new programmes. From a customer angle, the maintenance mode of our harmonised referential is now active. Congratulations to Manuel Fainéant and François Jan, the two project managers, and their project teams for these achievements.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The project is taking up some speed! After setting up the new Supply Chain Organisation in 2005, building up the Supply Chain Improvement plan in 2006, Frédéric Bochu, the Project Manager and his project team are pursuing their efforts at an even faster pace to put in place

a robust Project Monitoring Process to boost project benefits and on-time deliveries.

NEW MRO PLANTMessier Services has signed a major contract with US Air. It is the first contract for Messier Services new plant in Queretaro (Mexico).

SUPPLY CHAIN IN EMERGING SOURCES The operational teams, composed of an M-D multi-skilled taskforce, are now in place.

They are at work to audit, develop, qualify and strongly monitor the manufacturing and quality levels of our Emerging Sources Suppliers located in Russia, China and Romania. They are there to guarantee that our planned deliveries for 2006 are met.

IMPROVE AND INTEGRATE SPARES PROCESS Welcome to the SPICE project! During the scoping phase of this initiative, 4 axis of improvement have been studied: sales administration & AOG support, provisioning process & inventory management, warehouse & transportation, capex control. We have now a clear target and roadmap to achieve our goal : to reduce the operating cost of the end-to-end spares process while maintaining contractual service level towards airliners and repair stations.

01. ACTION V

02. EVENTS

Sailing Challenge 2006 : family photo with all the M-D participants. Bidos A320 team in front of the 3000th shipset

Nov 24th 2006 : innovation ceremony in Velizy

Tony (wearing a red jumper), with his sister Nazgol, on the SAFRAN boat with skipper Marc Guillemot – 21/22 Nov 2006

Messier Services : new Queretaro site

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 06

HOCKEY TOURNAMENT IN CANADAThe 10th traditional and very popular canadian inter-sites hockey tournament took place on April 23rd and 24th 2006. The Turbomeca Canada team was praised by all the M-D Montreal, M-D Toronto and Hispano Suiza Canada teams for the quality of their game. M-D Montréal, which was hosting this year’s tournament won the cup by beating the M-D Toronto team.

AIRBUS AND M-D ON A FOOTBALL PITCHOn, June 23rd 2006, Messier-Dowty Gloucester football team played against Airbus UK team. Despite the great football skills deployed by our team, the Airbus UK team won 6-2, thanks to 3 goals scored at the very end of the game.

ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT IN TORONTOIn August 2006, the annual M-D Toronto Golf Tournament took place again at Deer Creek Golf Club. This event gets bigger and bigger every year with over 200 employees and friends taking part this year! Congratulations to our winning team: Fran Stilwell, Tim Whittier, Bruce Phemister and their guest Dave Cairns!

CLASSIQUE BERNARD TRAHAN The 16th edition of the Classique Bernard-Trahan took place on August 26th 2006. This golf tournament is by far the most popular social event of the year for M-D employees. This year, the event gathered 132 very keen golf amateur players who were able to practice their swing and share a good game and some good times with their work colleagues on what turned out to be a very sunny day.

SAILING CHALLENGE 2006 The sixteenth sailing challenge opus, the very first to be called the SAFRAN Group Sailing Challenge, was held in La Rochelle (France) from 29th September to 1st October 2006. This time, the event gathered 80 boats representing 28 companies of the Group, 38 sites and 540 participants, out of whom 38 were from Messier-Dowty. Hats off to the Toronto team who won the trophy of the best non-french crew : Mike Smith, Kyle Schmidt, Dave Thompson, Rick Lavigne, Gilbert Poon, Steve Anderson, Sandra Scott.

MONTREAL On June 20th last year, Montreal management team members turned into chiefs and acted their very own version of “Ready, Steady, Cook” to prepare a barbecue for all site employees and celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of M-D Montreal.

GLOUCESTER This past summer, Messier-Dowty took part in a variety of local events within the area of Gloucester. Consequently, a number of employees had the opportunity to attend one of Cheltenham festivals sponsored by the company (Science Festival, Cricket Festival and Music Festival).

SUZHOUMessier-Dowty was recognised, among the 2,000 companies implanted on the Suzhou Industrial Park, as one of the ten best employers of the year 2006, in terms of human resources management and safety. This award, given by local government officials, reflects the commitment of Messier-Dowty to being a benchmark employer on all of its locations.

TORONTOOn September 1st 2006, Luigi Mattia was appointed Messier-Dowty Group Vice President Business & Regional Business Unit, based in Toronto. Luigi with more than 25 years experience in the aeronautics field, out of which 16 years spent within Messier-Dowty, started his career with Pratt & Whitney Canada, then with Spar Aerospace Ltd. He joined Messier-Dowty Montreal in 1991 and became Site Director in 1997. In 2001, he joined the Gloucester site as Operations Vice President, then moved to Seattle to become Vice President of the B787 program.

INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (ILDP) The aim of this program is to enable managers to reinforce their ability to deploy objectives across multi-sites teams in our matrix IPT organisation. During this week-long training program, participants can test and learn how to strengthen their leadership skills. Each ILDP session is sponsored by a member of the Executive Committee who offers the participants to work on current challenging company issues. On many occasions, the sponsors have recognised the high quality of the results and solutions presented by participants. The last and 8th ILDP session took place on the 4th week of January 2007. The next session should be held within the next two months.

ROADSHOW 2007 Our Chairman’s seventh annual meetings are currently taking place on all Messier-Dowty and Messier Services’ sites. The first meeting was held in Velizy on January 23rd and the last one will take place in Suzhou on March 7th. These meetings are the opportunity for Christian Knapp to present to all M-D employees the achievements and results of the year past, and the objectives and improvement plans in place or to be put in place for the year(s) to come. It’s also a privileged time in the year for all of us to ask our questions directly to the

Chairman and his team. Do no hesitate to send us your comments or questions regarding the content and sequencing of this year’s roadshows by writing us at the following address : roadshow@messier-dowty.com

03. SPORT

7th ILDP session held in Nov 2006

Montreal management team playing BBQ chiefs for the site 15th anniversary.

Luigi Mattia

>SITE EVENTS

Cheltenham Music Festival

M-D Gloucester football team

Canadian Inter-sites hockey tournament (Montreal, April 23rd –24th 2006)

PAGE 07 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

Lightweight and resistant, composites are now an integral part of our everyday life – from bicycles, to satellites, including applications for the air land and sea, for construction, industry, energy, etc. Every day they are revolutionising our world a little more.

1. GENERAL DEFINITIONComposites are strong materials made by associating two or more materials whose respective properties complement one another to form a material with improved overall performance.

There are two categories of composites:“Mass market” composites whose mechanical properties are lower but whose cost is compatible with mass production. This material is widely used in the automobile industry.“High-performance” composites with specific, high-level mechanical properties and high unit prices. These are the ones used in aeronautics.

2. TWO MAIN CONSTITUENTS: THE REINFORCEMENT AND THE MATRIX Most composites are made from two constituents. A material (the matrix) surrounds and supports a set of much more resistant fibres (the reinforcement).

The reinforcement is simply the framework or structure of the composite that provides mechanical strength and supports most of the stress. It usually comes in the form of filaments or fibres. Fibres usually have good tensile strength and can reinforce material in certain directions. Depending on the application envisaged, we use short fibres (mat) or continuous fibres (multidirectional fabrics or textures). Two of the most commonly used fibres are: Fibreglass, developed in the late 1940s, was the first modern composite and is still the most common for everyday objects: boat hulls, windsurf boards, surfboards, sports articles, car bodies. Its production cost is low and it is mainly used for non-structural applications (where the stress is low).Carbon fibre for structural applications. Much used in aerospace industries and competitive sports, its cost remains high although with the increased volume of production, it has gone down considerably.

The matrix plays the role of a binder to protect the reinforcement from the environment, keep it in its initial position and ensure the transmission of stress. It is the “bond”. It also provides anticorrosion protection. There are three main matrix families: a) organic matrices, b) ceramic matrices, c) metal matrices. Organic matrix composites or OMC are currently the most widely used composites. The use of metal matrix composites (MMC) or ceramic matrix composites (CMC) remains very limited and very expensive but M-D is carrying out research programmes on this subject. Organic matrices are obtained from resin (thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers).

3. COMPOSITES ARE NOT A NEW IDEA!Composites are definitely not new products – they have accompanied humans in their everyday lives for thousands of years. Some composite materials exist naturally in nature. Wood, for example, is made of long fibres of cellulose (the reinforcement) held together by a weaker substance called lignin (the matrix). Cellulose is also found in cotton and linen, but it is the binding power of the lignin that makes a piece of wood much stronger than a bundle of cotton.

However, humans did not only use the composites present in nature. They were quick to understand that by combining different materials, they could greatly improve their conditions of life. Take mud bricks made from mud and straw, for example. Let’s study the two materials separately: a cake of dried mud is easy to break by bending but makes a good strong wall when compressed. A piece of straw has a lot of strength when you stretch it but none when you crumple it. However, if you mix pieces of straw (the reinforcement) into blocks of mud (the matrix) and leave them to dry, the resulting bricks make excellent building materials.

Over the past years, many new composite materials have been developed. Indeed, by carefully choosing the fibre, the matrix and the manufacturing process, engineers can tailor the properties to meet specific requirements. Finally, we should note that composites do not have homogenous characteristics and cannot be treated like metals when used.

COMPOSITE: A TECHNOLOGICAL LEAP FOR M-D

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 08

On 1st December 2006, EADS confirmed the production launch of the A350 XWB. Most of this aircraft, which is intended to compete with Boeing’s medium-haul aircraft, will be made of composite materials. This choice only goes to confirm a trend in the aeronautics industry that has been intensifying over the past few years. Composites first made their appearance in the aircraft world with business aircraft and more recently with the launching of the Boeing B787. What do we know about this material and its uses? What position do we hold in this rapidly growing market?

01. COMPOSITE MATERIALS : A QUICK OVERVIEW

Preform made by Albany Preform assembly Demonstrator in molding tooling Part quality control by ultrasonic scanner

Demonstrator after machining and non destructive inspection

SOME OF THE MAIN STAGES FROM THE MAKING PROCESS OF THE M-D COMPOSITE PART

PAGE 09 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

4. THE COMPOSITE MARKET AND ITS FUTURE10 million tonnes of composites are produced every year. The world market has increased by 5.7% per year since 1994 with particularly dynamic segments like the automobile industry (which uses 30% of current production) and the aerospace industry (20% of current production). Composites will never replace traditional materials like steel, but they offer manufacturers and designers new ways of associating function, shape and materials in increasingly efficient systems. New processes in design, industrialisation and manufacturing are extending technical capabilities and making it possible to meet requirements that are

sometimes contradictory (weight, function, etc.) and that traditional materials have difficulty meeting. About twelve implementation processes have already been developed in under fifty years. This is more than the major metal processing techniques developed over the past two hundred years.

So, there is no doubt that composite technology will evolve very rapidly: we haven’t seen all that composites are capable of achieving yet!

If the automobile industry mainly uses mass market composites (polyester resin reinforced with fibreglass), the aerospace industry uses high-performance composites (carbon fibres that are usually laminated and impregnated with epoxy resin) which have very good mechanical properties and produce lightweight structures.

Composites were first used in this sector to make primary structure parts because of their good performance, their lightweight qualities and their flexible shape, e.g. the central fuselage, the keel beams stiffening the fuselage of the

A340/600, the outer wings of the ATR72. However, it was with the arrival of Boeing and its B787 that the use of composites in aeronautics really took off. Indeed, as a percentage of this new aircraft’s weight, the composition of the material is 50% composites, 20% aluminium, 15% titanium, 10% steel and 5% other materials.

Therefore, within 20 years, the proportion of composites has gone from 3%(Airbus A300) to 50% (Boeing B787).

They now rank second behind aluminium and new alloys in the manufacture of civil aircraft. And that’s just a start. Indeed, to take up Boeing’s challenge, Airbus has announced that almost 60% of the structure of the A350 XWB will be made of composites. This shows the maturity and growth potential of the composite parts industry.

IN THE AERONAUTICS INDUSTRY, COMPOSITES HAVE SIX PROPERTIES THAT MAKE THEM SUPERIOR TO TRADITIONAL MATERIAL.

1. Lightweight 2. Improved service life thanks to good fatigue

resistance3. Corrosion resistance4. Improved fire resistance5. Complex shapes can be obtained

Therefore, although it costs more to manufacture composites than it does to manufacture traditional material, this price difference is greatly offset by savings in parts weight and maintenance, which lead to an overall gain for the user.02. MESSIER-DOWTY AND COMPOSITES

1. THE USE OF COMPOSITES IN AERONAUTICS

I. The Boeing selectionWhen Boeing announced the launch of its new B787 programme in 2004, its aim was to reclaim the leadership of the long-range, medium body market. The American aircraft manufacturer was setting itself a challenge: to produce an aircraft that is technologically more advanced, more comfortable, more lightweight and more fuel efficient. The structure, wings and fuselage of the new aircraft will be completely made of composites. Boeing’s challenge therefore becomes the challenge of all suppliers hoping to work on this programme.

Messier-Dowty was determined to take part in Boeing’s commercial programme and did its best to win this selection. Aware that the programme’s objectives with regard to weight were very ambitious, Messier-Dowty, in its reply to Boeing’s

RFP, suggested the American aircraft manufacturer have the side braces made of a composite material: side braces have quite simple interfaces and are subjected to tension and compression by very heavy loads (more than 300 tonnes). This proposition not only achieves a 20% reduction in mass compared to parts made of titanium, it also provides better resistance to corrosion and fatigue, and reduces maintenance requirements.

II. M-D’s first steps in global composite activitiesAt the end of 2004, won over by Messier-Dowty’ s proposition, Boeing selected us as the supplier of all B787 landing gear systems. It was time for us to roll up our sleeves and set out on the composite adventure! At the start of 2005, Messier-Dowty got ready to take up the composite challenge and set up an activity that drew upon synergies in the SAFRAN group and on the expertise of companies working in this field: Snecma, for its research into composite 3-D woven fan blades, Aircelle for the production

of composite parts (M-D does not have the skills to produce composites). The company Albany Techniweave was chosen to supply the preforms (3-D woven parts).

III. The composite technology at M-DThe technology M-D decided to use was basically that developed by Snecma for fan blades: 3-D woven carbon fibres (preforms) are used; once shaped they constitute the reinforcement. Layers of the material are placed in a mould then epoxy resin (the matrix) is injected according to the RTM or Resin Transfer Moulding method. Carbon fibres are very resistant to strain but are fragile and can break if bent. The epoxy resin not only holds the fibres together, it also protects them by redistributing the loads.

The main advantage of M-D’s carbon composite is its resistance and stiffness combined with its light weight.

The next stages are stripping and machining and finally placing the bushings. An ultrasound scanner is used to check the parts: developing non-destructive techniques to check parts is a key aspect of the manufacturing process.

Many technologies have been invented by engineers at Messier-Dowty to obtain this part: the insertion of carbon creases to reinforce the lugs area, the winding of preforms, the local reinforcement of overlap points, the placing of bushings, custom-made stichings, etc.

It is a major technological and industrial leap in landing gear systems and also a great challenge for our company!

IV. The Composite IPT With the composite project, Messier-Dowty is faced with a technological challenge but also with a commercial reality; Boeing will only choose the composite technology if it is economically acceptable.The composite project is a development project for which an Integrated Program Team representing all departments has been set up (programme, engineering, purchasing, etc.). The composite IPT based in Vélizy operates from a very active coordinating room where the team meets every morning to discuss the milestones that have to be respected and share the latest information on the programme. The Vélizy team is in regular contact with the other M-D sites involved (Gloucester and Seattle). The project manager ensures the overall coordination and often organises meetings and video-conferences. Temporary offices are also made available to Aircelle teams.

Tomorrow’s challenges on the Boeing programme:M-D’s will be faced with its first challenge in the second half of 2007 when it will have to produce and qualify the part in time for the B787’s first flight in September 2007. In 2009, M-D will have to produce and supply about 1,000 parts per year for Boeing’s programme. The supply chain will have to start getting ready now: purchasing preforms from Albany and resin from our supplier Cytec. This material will be passed on to Aircelle which will inject and finish the part in its workshops in Le Havre before delivering it to M-D Seattle where it will finally be installed on the landing gear.

In conclusion, Messier-Dowty is making a great technological and industrial leap in landing gear systems. This concept will no doubt be applied to other aircraft then to other landing gear parts (brake arms, torque links, etc.), and later even to complete landing gear systems!!!

Article written in collaboration with Gilles Desprès, Patrick Dunleavy, Jean-Pierre Serey, et Laurence Lysimaque.

2. THE USE OF COMPOSITES AT MESSIER-DOWTY

The M-D Composite IPT with some members of the B787 Boeing team in Velizy

Composite side braces

THE M-D COMPOSITE SIDE BRACES WINS THE 2006 SAFRAN GROUP INNOVATION GRAND PRIX On January 3rd of this year, Messier-Dowty was awarded by the SAFRAN Group Grand Jury, (which includes the Group Executive Committee and all the Presidents of the SAFRAN subsidiaries), the 2006 SAFRAN Group innovation Grand Prix for the B787 composite side braces concept. This award recognizes all the creativity, work and efforts put into this project by the M-D teamsand their partners from Aircelle, Snecma and SPS. Congratulations to all!

At the end of 2005, to keep up with our customers’ increasingly demanding requirements while sustaining our economic performance, M-D decided to launch two complementary projects as part of the Action V approach. The first of these projects, Supply Chain Management*, concerned the restructuring of our supply chain and improving our external performances. The second, LAIP, was aimed at perfecting our production facilities by eliminating all causes of waste and helping all members of personnel become more efficient. One year after this launch, we are conducting our first assessment of the LAIP project.

LAIP : LEAN ACCELERATOR TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCEHOW CAN WE OPTIMISE OUR PRODUCTION FACILITIESTO SAFEGUARD OUR FUTURE?

For the past two or three years, the industrial and economic context has had a considerable impact on our production facilities at Messier-Dowty.

From an industrial point of view, the recovery of air traffic along with the emergence of new markets (in Asia and the Middle East) has led to an increase in orders from airlines and, thus, an increase in production rates. This has resulted in tensions at our plants and late deliveries.

Although airlines may be ordering more aircraft, they are also demanding that they should be cheaper. From an economic point of view, this forced price reduction associated with high raw material costs and the drop in the exchange rate of the US dollar, our main payment currency, is severely affecting our margins.

LAIP is a continuation of the Messier-Dowty Lean approach launched five years ago. This project accelerates that approach in order to improve the performance of our production facilities and, thus, make them more profitable.

1. LAIP: PROJECT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES

The goals of LAIP are company objectives (the most important being: 95% of deliveries on time and a 15% cut in costs in three years). However, to achieve those common objectives, specific objectives must first be defined for each plant. Achieving those individual objectives will then enable to achieve the company’s objectives. The first phase of the LAIP project consisted in a production facility diagnostic phase at each plant with the aim of identifying improvement objectives. After this first phase, the LAIP project team looked for solutions that were globally applicable as well as helping to achieve local objectives.

Altogether, four major solutions were adopted: 1) Visual Management: monitoring of key production

indicators, or KPIs, and deviation and improvement control loop

2) Autonomous Cell Organisation3) Team Effectiveness4) Overall Equipment Effectiveness

As operators are at the heart of these changes, the work had to be done with their participation and based on their competencies. The project was deployed at the four western plants and good practices were established on the basis of plant manufacturing activities.

2. LAIP: THE APPROACH

*For further information on the Supply Chain Management project, see the Focus Newsletter dedicated to this project that was issued on September 2006 and is available on the Intranet

The LAIP project has 2 major objectives:

1. Make sure our products are delivered on time

2. Reduce our production costs to maintain our margins

while continuing to improve quality and safety

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 10

BIDOS AND VISUAL MANAGEMENT

One Team Magazine : One Team Mag: What is visual management and what part does it play in the LAIP approach?

François Roby : The aim of the LAIP approach is to systematise the implementation of loops such as the PDCA cycle (Plan Do Check Act ) in the daily management of operations.

The key production indicators (known as KPIs) introduced at Bidos aim to develop our visual management by providing each team in the field with the tools and means to control its actions with respect to five axes of performance or families: 1) Safety, 2) Quality, 3) Lead times, 4) Costs, 5) Continuous improvement.

KPIs are standard indicators for the entire site and their purposes are to:• Make the operation of loops and islands more consistent,

and more operationally oriented; • Promote the autonomy of personnel, make them more

responsible and increase their reactiveness; • Strengthen personnel’s feeling of belonging to their loop or

island, and develop solidarity;• Increase process visibility

OTM : How do KPIs actually work?

FR : KPIs are concrete, factual indicators that are updated by personnel, on management charts in islands, every week or every day to follow events as closely as possible. They are used to monitor predefined values in each family:

• Safety = number of accident-free days, location of the last accident, 5S score;

• Quality = percentage of parts without deviation detected during self-checking, number of deviations per part noted during self-checking;

• Lead time = quantity produced / quantity planned;• Cost = OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) of the

bottleneck station;• Continuous improvement = Progress of action plans

(generally lean).

The following items are shown on the management charts: a) objectives and daily and/or weekly measurements, b) root cause analysis, c) action plan to achieve the objectives.

As from June 2006, several pilot schemes were set up on site: on the roughing and finishing loops of the IPS A320 rods line, the IPS straight rods line, the IPM universal blocks line, IBA assembly on A320 L/G at IBMC (painting, calibration-fitting).

OTM : What are the factors of success and areas requiring vigilance in this method?

FR : We are sure that this development of our visual management will enable us to make progress by raising the level of competencies of all personnel, whether they be management staff who are urged to assign responsibilities and delegate more, or team members who are encouraged to gradually play a bigger part in achieving progress.

However, KPIs can only be completely effective if the teams concerned adopt them completely, while bearing in mind that they are only control tools and can never replace improvement actions and the daily quest for better performance.

These KPIs, or key production indicators, foreshadow the industrial organisation of the Bidos plant as it will be by 2008-2010, when operation based on autonomous will have become a mature practice.

Introduced at IBMC six months ago, KPIs have generated many reactions.

>STRENGTHSThe main strength of KPIs is their visual character: « The information provided by KPIs is immediately accessible and understandable, unlike graphs and other curves which were previously shown on the sector’s communication notice-board.».

The second strong point noted is the degree of precision achieved in day-to-day work follow-up. For example, these indicators «provide a factual reckoning of our non-conformities».

>IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE Even at the beginning of the approach, ideas were put forward to optimise the utilisation of these indicators.At a first stage, the precision of some indicators should be reviewed.• «The indicator for work accidents is not accurate enough,

nor is the indicator for delayed parts.»• «We need more explanations about each indicator

level.».Another line of improvement entails regularly organising meetings with operators in order to analyse the level of indicators and root causes. This will make the team feel more involved and improve its internal communication.

FEEDBACK ON KPIS (KEY PRODUCTION INDICATORS)

Interview with François Roby

Interview with personnel from the IBMC island (painting and calibration-fitting), Marc Pedro and Jean-Luc Cabou (paint operators), Henri Sarthou-Garris (calibration operator) and Paul Bordenave (IBMC engineer).

KPIs were implemented on the A320 rods line, under the management of Arnaud Dujourd’hui, last May, on its two loops, roughing and finishing.

The main strength of the new indicators is undoubtedly their relevance in the field, in Arnaud’s opinion. «These indicators give accurate information on the loop’s operation. Compared with the macro-indicators provided by management control, KPIs give a much more detailed follow-up of our activity. They place us at the heart of the loop’s operations: at our level, we are looking at the number of parts to be manufactured every day, the productivity to be maintained or the quality to be complied with. (...) With KPIs, each one of us can see our individual contribution to collective results. When everything works well, we can all feel justly proud of having made our personnel contribution to the loop.»

The standard character of KPIs is also an advantage. «It is not a question of being able to make comparisons between our various lines but of clearly demonstrating that a single management logic is at work on the Bidos site. This is important to give meaning to our continuous improvement approach. In addition, operators who are transferred within the plant in keeping with the principle of mobility, will find that their new workshop uses a reference system they already know and this makes their integration easier.»

When KPIs were introduced on the A320 rods line, Arnaud presented them to the personnel. Thanks to this briefing, everyone concerned could gradually adhere to the approach. With practice, some indicators proved to be fantastic instruments for progress.«The analysis of factors preventing us from achieving our objectives provides a wealth of information: the lack of

versatility of some personnel who need additional training, the study of solutions to reinforce teams at bottleneck stations, or the lack of suitable tools at the right time: everything can be analysed in detail and then corrected.» Although Arnaud says he is satisfied with the operation of KPIs within his field in the initial months, he is aware that this system relies on the continued adherence of all concerned, especially for the entry of values required by the KPIs. This calls for management commitment to effectively solve the problems revealed by KPIs.

Interview with Arnaud Dujourd’hui, manager of IPS A320 rods line

SECURITY QUALITY LEAD TIME COST CONTINUOUSIMPROVEMENT

PAGE 11 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

OTM: What led you to develop the Quick Response Team concept (QRT)?

Serge Rière: Bearing in mind that delivery times are critical for our customers, it is essential for us to implement a system allowing the production department to reduce its lead times as much as possible and give ordinary operators a more active role in solving problems concerning their machines. That is why we have developed the Quick Response Team concept, to make sure that any problem leading to a production stoppage will be solved as quickly as possible and that we will be able to satisfy customer requirements as regards deliveries.The QRT system was officially launched on 8 February 2006 and the opening ceremony was held in the plant on our annual Roadshow day. Launching the project in the presence of members of the Executive Committee demonstrated how important it was for our plant.

OTM: What exactly does it entail?

SR: The Quick Response Team or «Red Team» (as all the team members wore red shirts) was formed with the aim of providing our operators in the workshop with immediate assistance for any problem that could stop production.

This Quick Response Team, or QRT, is made up of production engineering personnel, a Quality Assurance (QA) representative and a team manager.

Each machine in the shop is fitted with a red light and an audio warning device. If an operator has a mechanical or programming problem on his work station, he must press the button on the side of the machine. This triggers the audio alarm and illuminates the red light on the machine. The visual and audio signals are transmitted to the QRT office where each machine is identified, on a main panel, by a number and an indicator light which comes on when the alarm is triggered. A member of the team can therefore identify, at a glance, which machine has the problem and can immediately go to the help of the operator. At the work station, the QRT member can solve the problem, but the operator is the only person authorised to switch off the alarm by pressing the button on the side of the machine, indicating the end of the problem.

MONTREAL: AUTONOMOUS CELLS AND MULTI-MANNING

OTM: What is multi-manning?

Jean Blondin: The multi-manning of machines or equipment can be exercised on several levels and can be adapted according to the risk factors for specific operations on equipment. I’ll try to give you an example for each level of application:• Example of the lowest level of application: An operator

simply watches over more than one item of equipment without taking direct action on the operations carried out, except in the case of a program alarm.

• Example of an intermediate level: The operator may shut down one piece of equipment to carry out work on another, such as when changing tools.

• Example of a high level: The operator has full control over more than one item of equipment at a time and is free to carry out work on one piece of equipment without shutting down the others, i.e. leaving that equipment to run without any supervision.

In other words, multi-manning is simply a means of making full use of the technical potential of our equipment, the skills of our operators and our know-how in terms of programming and production engineering.

This highly productive mode of work organisation is one of the means that will enable us to remain competitive, cut the costs of our products, safeguard the future of jobs and investments and, in that way, contribute directly to growth.

OTM: How was multi-manning introduced in Montreal and how was it received?

JB : At a first stage, we gave details of our plan of actions, and explained the concept and its sound basis. We involved operators in pilot projects to demonstrate the concept’s advantages and identify the constraints and risks. This joint work was successful thanks to the operators who, owing to their excellent knowledge of operations, were able to put forward more suitable operating proposals for each type of equipment. As a result, we created a number of multiple control modes and operating levels (i.e. three operators for four items of equipment, multiple tasks, staggered breaks, etc.).The fact that we involved operators and gave them the opportunity to suggest concepts taking their experience into account while reducing risks and preserving their areas of comfort was a big help in securing the acceptance and generalised introduction of this concept at the Montreal plant.

OTM : What results have been obtained so far?

JB : The results are very encouraging. We have created new production capacity which will enable us to take on a good part of coming increases in volume. We have about fifteen machines and items of equipment systematically operating at various levels of multiple control. By the end of 2006, we had exceeded our target with gains representing more than 20,000 hours of production, representing a productivity improvement of 11%.

Interview with Jean Blondin, General Manager of the Montreal plant

MARTIN BRUNET, MACHINE OPERATOR, MONTREAL Feedback on multi-manning

OTM: What do you think of multi-manning?Martin Brunet : I understand perfectly well that multi-manning enables us to increase our plant’s productivity, as fewer personnel are required to produce a given number of parts. This means that costs are cut and I hope it will allow us to maintain our growth and make our jobs safe.

OTM: How does it actually work?MB: We conducted an initial two-week test and realised it could be done in certain conditions. But it is obvious that it cannot be used for all operations: some are too complex or risky, such as when the tolerances are very strict or during finishing stages. So we had to classify our cutting tools (and, therefore, operating sequences) according to their risk level using a colour code (green for no risk, yellow for low risk and red for high risk) and adopt an operating mode taking that into account. When, for example, we are using machines with two green code tools, we can operate both at once. But, when we have one red and one green, we have to stop the machine with the red code when a fitting job has to be done on the machine with the green code.

OTM: What difference has it made to you?MB: It is more tiring physically, as we move about more and have more handling operations to do. It also requires more care and attention because we have different parts on the machines, and that means different tools, programs, measurements and so on. This therefore increases the risk of errors and, as machine operators are conscientious professionals, they are all afraid of producing a part that has to be scrapped.»This also means training is needed to make sure we become fully acquainted with all the operations we are less familiar with.

OTM: What are the pros and cons?MB: Pros: As I’ve already said when answering the first question, it helps us boost productivity, be more competitive and, so, protect our jobs. Cons: Apart from the increased risk of errors, the shop layout wasn’t planned for multiple control. The machines aren’t facing one another, for example and, as our machines are unfortunately difficult to move, we have to move between two work areas, which isn’t an ideal situation. In addition, to avoid any increase in accident risks which could result from this practice, safety has to be integrated in the analyses. There is also a risk of unfairness: some of us will have to do multi-manning and others won’t, depending on the equipment we work on.

OTM: What suggestions do you have to improve the concept?MB: Apart from training, there should be standardisation from one work station to another and steps should be taken to further improve the documentation of operations. Machine programs should also be standardised. We have already suggested a specific sequence to reduce risks and save time. Thought should be given to standardising cutting tools and reducing their number (by conducting several operations with the same tool). In other words, we will be needing a lot of support from the methods department.

TORONTO AND THE QUICK RESPONSE TEAM Interview with Serge Rière, VP Operations, and Dave Mette, Operator

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 12

Installing and implementing the red light and audio alarm for each machine was relatively simple. This new process and its deployment plan were presented to the teams at cascade meetings. The operators were informed that they should press the button on the side of their machines «whenever they could no longer do their job».

Our operators in the workshop like this new concept. It allows them to get assistance when they need it to solve any problem disrupting production without having to look for someone to help or leave their machine. The setting up of QRTs has halved the response time when problems occur on machines.

OTM: What do you think of the setting up of the Quick Response Team?

Dave Mette: As far as I am concerned, the main advantage of this concept is that you can quickly get assistance to find an effective solution when a problem arises on your machine. Before this system was introduced, we had to go and look for the right people to solve the problem. Now, they come to us, so we save valuable time. In this way, we receive the necessary assistance when it is required. I’ve used this system whenever I’ve needed it and, in general, the response to the questions or problems have been effective. OTM: What are the pros and cons?

DM: As with any new measures, there are pros and cons, and there is room for improvement. The QRT really provides the operator in the workshop with better quality and more effective assistance. There have been cases, however, where modifications or corrections specified when a problem occurred have not been implemented by the next time the same type of job is started.

OTM: What further improvements could we make? DM: My suggestions include having a quick response team with a higher level of experience, especially in the aeronautics field and M-D operation. Furthermore, we could sometimes find solutions more quickly by making better use of the information and the experience of the operator who has reported a failure on his machine.

Feedback on the Quick Response Team,with Dave Mette – Operator, Toronto

GLOUCESTER AND OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS (OEE)

OTM: What is the Overall Equipment Effectiveness - or OEE - concept?

Mark Evans: The aim is to get the best from our machines and work stations by modifying the ways in which we work.

OTM : How does this concept apply in the day-to-day concept? Darren Jarvis: Each main machine (considered as a bottleneck) is linked to the OEE via the intranet. During all three shifts, the operators analyse and log all machine stoppage periods. For each downtime, they record the type of event, its date and its duration. All the information is stored in a database which can be used to obtain reports every day, every week or every month, in order to analyse the efficiency of equipment and the various types of downtime.Shift managers and supervisors analyse the data collected every week and transmit the results to KPI consoles in the workshops.

OTM: What is your opinion of the OEE concept?

DJ : Being in favour of «lean» activities, I think it is essential to measure and analyse OEE in order to improve efficiency in the shop. The concept is very useful when it comes to identifying fields of improvement, as it is based on the collection of objective data 24 hours a day. The idea is to analyse downtimes over a certain period, identify the most frequent cases or the longest to solve, and set up a plan of action aimed at reducing their impact on production flow.

OTM: In what fields is OEE currently being developed at the Gloucester plant?

DJ: The concept is now clearly understood by the shift managers and operators who use the system. More and more often, they check the statistics and link the measurements to what occurs on a day-to-day basis.The system is currently being improved in order to obtain better visibility of the data collected, so that we can produce action plans and start to make improvements to machines.The next stage will consist in integrating the OEE system and the shop data collecting system (Kaba). At present, operators must record the information twice: once in the OEE system (which logs machine operations) and a second time in Kaba (which monitors operator activity). ME: Yes, we must improve our information system as regards tools and data collecting systems, and switch from the «manual» processing of data to a more automated processing system. This would allow us to save valuable time and make better use of the skills of our teams.

OTM: What impact do you think LAIP will have in the future?

ME: By developing and improving productivity, we increase our competitiveness which, in turn, will give us a good capacity for future investment. This is an improvement circle that we want and that we must play a part in.

Interview with Mark Evans, VP Operations, and Darren Jarvis, LAIP Director

February 8th 2006 : Ribbon cutting session with the M-D Executive Committee for the official launch of the QRT in Toronto

CONCLUSION2006 was the LAIP launching year and the initial results are encouraging. The project is continuing in 2007 with complete deployment in all plants, with special attention being paid to internal cycles and preventive maintenance.

We are all concerned by LAIP and are all contributors to its success. It is only by improving the competitiveness and effectiveness of our production facilities that that we will be able to satisfy our customers’ requirements, preserve our profit margins and, therefore, the continued existence of our industrial facilities. We must develop good working practices in our plants in order to optimise our machine operating times and, above all, draw maximum benefit from the experience and knowledge of all personnel.

PAGE 13 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

«If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favourable to him». Seneca’s famous phrase reminds us that to get results, you first have to set clear objectives and goals. The Messier-Dowty Personal Development Plan(PDP) process is our key management tool serving this purpose.

MY PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN ON LINE« A MAKEOVER FOR ONE OF MANAGEMENT’S BASICS »

Imagine a world without shared objectives...This seems difficult to envisage nowadays given the fact that organisations are becoming more and more complex. Based upon the cascading description of the company’s strategic objectives, individual interviews have become indispensable: it is now essential to set objectives that are understood, accepted and shared by internal customers and colleagues. In an environment where priorities are changing and the pace of activity is increasing, individual interviews are becoming a real “gift” that a manager offers his/her employee and the employee offers him/herself. Each person takes some time to focus on him/herself and his/her team in order to clarify priorities, understand his/her environment and expectations in terms of career progress. At Messier-Dowty, we have chosen to use an IT tool instead of the traditional pen and paper because we want to make the most out of the tools available (i.e. intranet) thus saving time, improving reliability and precision. Obviously, computer tools will never replace personal relationships which are far more rewarding than electronic information exchanges. So although there is nothing revolutionary about computerising the PDP, it is a new technological feat that Messier-Dowty is in the process of achieving thanks to the commitment of each of us. Get your diaries out to arrange your PDP appointments for the start of 2007!

Claude MathieuGroup Vice President Human Resources

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ANNUAL MEETING If results first depend on setting objectives, the quality of the results obtained depend on the quality of the objectives set and the heart of the PDP process is of course the annual meeting. This meeting, which takes place at the beginning of the year, allows for all the different aspects driving individual and team performance to be discussed openly between manager and team member: results achieved during the year and new objectives for the year to come, competency needs, training and personal development requirements, career expectations and internal mobility. The quality and the nature of the discussion between the team member, his/her manager and when appropriate his/her matrix manager, are key to future success of the team member realisation of his/her objectives.

TWO STAGES OF MYPDP PROCESS

Team member, manager and matrix manager can all contribute to objectives setting and can launch validation. Once validation launched, the order of approval is as follows:1) Team member, 2) Manager 3) Matrix manager

HR

MATRIX MANAGER

MANAGER

TEAM MEMBER

MANAGE PROCESS AND WORK ON OUTPUTS(TRAINING PLAN, MOBILITY,...)

JANUARY

Preparation Approval Mi-year review Approval

FEBRUARY JUNE SEPTEMBER21

Discuss

Review objectives year N and Set Objectifs

Year N+1 Launch approval

Approve

Approve

Approve

Launch approval

Approve

Approve

Discuss

Mid-yearreview

Approve

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 14

- 1,400 MD users concerned- 1 Project Manager per site- 7 sites (Bidos, Gloucester, Montreal, Seattle, Suzhou,

Toronto, Vélizy) on 3 continents- Protected and encrypted data (in accordance with CNIL

regulations - the French Data Protection Authority)

- No specific password (single sign on)- The tool is used by major international groups (Thalès,

Société Générale, etc.)- 99% system availability guaranteed, 24 hours a day, 7

days a week

Are you ready?Members of the M-D Executive Committee acted as guinea pigs and completed their interviews online on 6 December 2006, as part of the deployment phase of the project. Therefore, the CODIR was the first to use the tool to enable the company’s strategic objectives to be deployed. What about you - are you ready?

FOLLOW THE PDP PROCESS FLOW> THE PDP PROCESS HAS 2 SIMPLE STEPS 1. January-February: review of previous year’s results and setting of objectives

between team member, manager and matrix manager (where applicable) for year to come

2. Mid year: objective progress review

Today, the Messier-Dowty approach is for team members to propose their objectives based on the strategy presented to them by their manager and then for manager, matrix manager and team member to discuss the objectives proposed prior to final validation by the team member’s manager. Following these two steps is the key to setting clear and agreed objectives aligned to business needs.

SPEEDING UP THE FLOW TO PROVIDE TIME FOR DISCUSSIONMessier-Dowty currently uses a paper document to record the decisions agreed during this annual meeting. Quite often, this paper document has to move from one person to another and numerous copies have to be made to ensure that the different outputs of the process are transmitted to the process stakeholders (team member, manager, matrix manager, local HR, etc.). Moving the paper along the management chain can be time consuming and open to error with different versions of the same document being created by the different contributors as the process progresses. What’s more, in an international organization such as ours with teams spread over different sites, setting and recording objectives between a manager on one site and a team member on another, the process can be even more challenging. MyPDP will speed up the information flow and allow more time for meaningful discussion between manager and team member.

MYPDP ON LINE: AN ELECTRONIC DASHBOARD FOR MANAGERS AND TEAM MEMBERSThis is why Messier-Dowty decided to initiate the myPDP on line project. The objective of myPDP on line is simple: provide managers and team members on all sites with an intranet-based tool which records and visualizes the PDP process workflow as the PDP moves through the different PDP phases. Since January 2007, team members on all sites can record the objectives set with their managers during their annual review through the electronic PDP form on myPDP on line on the MD intranet site. The new tool is simple to use and reproduces faithfully the PDP that currently exists. This tool will be accessible by clicking on the MyPDP on line logo on the MD Intranet.

MYPDP: MEETING BUSINESSS NEEDSFocus groups were held on all sites to adapt the new tool to team members and managers needs and more than 150 suggestions were made, of which over 100 were accepted and acted on. Some of the comments:

«MyPDP on line is a management tool supporting the discussion between manager and team member during the PDP review.»

It does not replace a face to face discussion. It will provide a management dashboard which will track the different outputs of the PDP process as the year progresses thereby ensuring that the results expected are delivered.

PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN6 GOLDEN RULES TO REMEMBER

6

The review should lead to an individual performance and development plan to which both parties are committed.

5

Objectives should be S.M.A.R.T and prioritised, making clear which are most important.

4

Encourage the employee to do most of the talking.

3

Self-evaluation by employees is key to the Performance and Development Plan.

2

The average length of a well-prepared interview should be about 1 hour.

1

Prepare for the interview, making notes to save time and avoid omissions.

Joseph NooneMyPDP on line Project Manager

Information sessions have been taking place on all sites since November 2006 to show all team members how to use my.pdp on line.

For more information, feel free to local contact your myPDP on line project manager.

• Joseph Noone, MDI • Alan Muntadas, IS • Florence Baumassy, Vélizy • Hervé Nachbaur, Bidos • Lena Marsh, Gloucester • Anouk Rivard, Montreal • Sarah Thesenvitz, Seattle • Joanne Warford, Toronto • Tommy Fei, Suzhou

This article was written in collaboration with Joseph Noone.

MONPDP – SOME KEY FACTS

The PDP discussion remains the key and the tool will help (all sites)

A powerful tool to meet IPT and cross site team needs (Gloucester)

Doing the PDP electronically should help make the process leaner (Toronto)

Having past and present PDPs in one place will make the process more effective (Montreal)

Specific information sessions will help managers understand all the functions of the tool (Bidos)

Simple, easy to use, meet our needs (Seattle)

Clear, user friendly and intuitive (Vélizy)

Good tool for meeting with managers on other sites (Suzhou)

PAGE 15 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

LIVING WITHOUT ACCIDENTSOver the past few years, M-D has initiated a global process aimed at improving health, safety and the environment. This process was confirmed by the ISO14001 certification of most of our sites and by several initiatives in work health and security. Although our process has now been confirmed and integrated into SAFRAN Group’s HSE policy, Messier-Dowty wanted to go a step further and continue to make improvements. Therefore, at the beginning of 2006, it introduced an initiative called “Living without Accidents”. Emmanuel Calderara, HSE Manager at Bidos and HSE Coordinator MDI, tells us about this essential initiative.

1. MESSIER-DOWTY’S “LIVING WITHOUT ACCIDENTS” INITIATIVEThe aim of “Living without Accidents” is to continue integrating health, safety and the environment into our everyday activities at all levels of our organisation. It also involves improving our performance in Health, Safety and the Environment by reducing/removing

risks to health and safety, by improving working conditions and by reducing our environmental impacts.

The initiative “Living without Accidents” involves:>Increasing HSE transparency >Integrating HSE activities into all our everyday activities at

all levels of our company>Increasing everyone’s responsibilities and involvement with

regard HSE>Reducing the number of accidents : a Frequency Rate

objective of 8 by the end of 2006 and a severity Rate objective of 0.1 by the end of 2006

>Reducing the number of occupational illnesses

2. TRENDSBetween 2002 and 2003, our Frequency of Accidents with Stoppages (T.F.A.A) went from 13 to 10, indicating a very marked improvement in our safety results. However, for 3 consecutive years, this rate has stagnated at about 10. Therefore, we must cross this plateau to improve our Health and Safety performance.To achieve this, the HSE team is working with the different departments, helping them analyse the risks and improve safety and the environment at work. If Emmanuel and his team of preventionists are busy finding solutions, all the company players are also cooperating. This can involve changing handling movements, making machines more accessible, ensuring that all employees take their safety and the safety of their colleagues, etc. into account on a daily basis. Administrative duties are also concerned by risk prevention. Using these findings, the work areas can be adapted.

3. 2006 INITIATIVES AND RESULTSIn terms of transparency and feedback on HSE:>For each accident with a stoppage, an analysis is made

by each site. The accident analysis report is then given to the MDI executive committee, to the HRM and to the HSE managers on all the sites. The aim is that everyone should share and benefit from the experience feedback.

>After each accident, managers give an experience feedback to the operators, in order to protect them from any risks.

>At each production department, indicators, including safety indicators, are posted and passed on by the local manager.

>At cascade meetings, a summary of each site’s safety results is presented. Communicating these results is an

essential aspect. An HSE leaflet, taking up the main lines of the project, was produced at the beginning of 2006 and distributed to all Messier-Dowty employees.

> An HSE logo “Living without Accidents” was created when the leaflet was published to promote the initiative and help us keep in mind that even one accident at Messier-Dowty is an accident too many!

In terms of treating safety risks and improving working conditions:A plan of action has been implemented at each site including, for example, modifications to work stations. See example below: the modification enables operators to adopt an ergonomic posture and prevents the risk of musculo-skeletal disorders.

Overall, there has been a significant improvement to results with the frequency rate dropping by about 30% since the beginning of 2006. However, these results remain fragile and have to be confirmed over a long period. Therefore, objectives have been set to consolidate the initiatives taken in 2006.

4. A PLAN OF ACTION FOR 2007The plan of action for 2007 includes four main objectives:>Reinforcing managers’ commitment by conducting safety

audits on-site. Each manager being responsible for the health and safety of his/her teams.

>Continue dealing with risks and improving working conditions while at the same time training operators to ensure safety at their work stations.

>Anticipate HSE risks for new projects by reviewing safety and environmental aspects right from the design stage. This will enable us to assess possible risks and control them. This review particularly concerns technical and improvement projects like the LAIP project.

>Focus on high-risk activities: encouraging employees to adopt safe behaviour at their workstations by wearing protective clothing or goggles if necessary. For example, a person blowing on a steel turnings machine should wear protective goggles.

The “Living without Accidents” initiative should become an integral part of our

company’s culture.

It should be present in our minds and actions on a daily basis: it requires everyone’s commitment and action at all levels in the field. Don’t hesitate to ask for support from the HSE teams present at each site! Their job is to increase staff awareness, train staff and implement preventive and protective action.

Find SAFRAN Group’s policy on health, safety and the environment on Nectar, the Group’s intranet.

Emmanuel Calderara, aged 38, is a graduate of the Ecole Centrale de Lyon and has a postgraduate degree in Industrial Management obtained at Bordeaux University. He draws on skills and know-how acquired first of all at Martell (Cognac), which enabled him

to work for 9 years running in France and the United States on technical, safety, quality and environmental aspects. He was a Quality, Safety and Environment Manager in the chemicals industry in Le Havre before joining Messier-Dowty’s Bidos site in September 2005.

From left to right: Kim Toomer, Marie-José Maurel, Emmanuel Calderara, Sandra Pineau standing in for Laura McDonald and Alain Beaulieu, at an HSE meeting in Vélizy on 28th November 2006 (Li Ryan is absent from photo)

Alain Beaulieu (Montreal) +1 450 434 34 00 extension 246 • Kim Toomer (Gloucester) +44 (0) 1452 711587 • Laura Macdonald (Toronto) +1 905 683 31 00 extension 1332 • Marie-José Maurel (Vélizy) +33(0)1 46 29 79 45 • Emmanuel Calderara (Bidos) +33(0)5 59 89 6093 • Li Ryan (Suzhou) +86 512 625 205 58 extension 8813

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 16

AJAX, ONTARIOSKYWARD-BOUNDDowty Aerospace settled in Ajax in 1949. Messier-Dowty is now the town’s second largest private sector employer. Like Messier-Dowty, drawn by very attractive economic, social, commercial and environmental conditions, many aeronautical companies have chosen to set up business in Ontario. After Montreal, Toronto is the country’s second largest aeronautical centre. Let’s have a quick overview at this rapidly growing, world-ranking aeronautical cluster.

>It was at the end of the 18th century that the first European immigrants began settlement in what is now know as Ajax and which was at the time comprised mainly of farmlands nestled on the shores of Lake Ontario in Pickering Township.

>In 1941, the largest defence industry in North America was located in this area to provide supplies for the Allies in World War II. Defence Industries Limited (D.I.L.) Pickering Works was a shell filling plant which before 1945 had filled 40 million shells, employed over 9,000 people, had it’s own water and sewage plants, a school

population of over 600, 30 miles of railroad and 30 miles of road. The entire D.I.L. plant covered 2,985 acres and attracted people from across Canada.

>The name Ajax was chosen for this war-born community as it honoured the first significant British naval victory of World War II. In December 1939, the HMS Ajax, HMS Exeter and HMS Achilles engaged and routed the powerful German battleship, Graf Spee at the Battle of River Plate in South America. The history of Ajax is everywhere as most of the streets in Ajax are named after the crew and officers of the HMS Ajax.

>In 1945, after the war, numerous veterans returned home and thousands of students needed accommodation. So the University of Toronto leased the D.I.L .factory to house this new flood of engineering students. By 1949, the last year of the University of Toronto Ajax Division, some 7,000 engineering students had received their basic training there.

>In 1949 Dowty Aerospace started operations in Ajax, and with its arrival the word spread that Ajax was a town with good attraction for industry. By 1979 there were 196 industries operating within the town.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AJAX

AREA & POPULATION> The Province of Ontario• 12.5 million people make it Canada’s most populous and

dynamic province.• One quarter of Canada’s total population is located within a

160 km (100 miles) of Toronto. It is the country’s largest city with over 4.7 million inhabitants.

> The Durham region• Located in the centre of the “Golden Horseshoe” area

(which spans from Oshawa to Niagara Falls) in Ontario, the Durham region is part of the Greater Toronto Area (or GTA).

• It has a surface area of about 2,590 km2 (1,000 square miles) with a population of roughly 700,000 people.

• The main cities are: Ajax, Brock, Clarington, Oshawa, Pickering, Scugog, Uxbridge & Whitby.

> Town of Ajax• Located 12 kms east of Toronto, it counts 90,000 inhabitants

and has a surface area of 67.7 km2.

CLIMATEModerate winters and warm summers are the norm for the Durham Region. Temperatures across Canada are given officially in degrees Celsius (°C) with the Fahrenheit equivalent (°F) often added. Averages of –6 to –10 C° in the winter and 18

to 24 C° in the summer are common across the region. These can vary significantly though with wind chill factors (going to a cold –20°C) on some winter days and humidity in the summer taking us well over 30-35 C°.

GDP PER INHABITANT IN THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO• Approximately 42,653 Canadian $CAN

MAIN SECTORS OF ACTIVITY > The Province of Ontario • Ontario is Canada’s leading manufacturing province,

accounting for 52% of the total national manufacturing shipments in 2004. Ontario companies control 43% of the country’s corporate profits.

• This Province is the country’s undisputed centre for business, attracting many of the world’s largest companies. As part of the North American manufacturing heartland, it is favourably located to serve major Canadian and U.S. markets.

• 106 million people live within a day’s trucking distance of Toronto with a personal income totalling US$2.7 trillion.

• A global leader in several key sectors such as automotive, plastics, aerospace to information and telecommunications technology and the life sciences) with a long history in supplying the world with innovative, high-quality, top value goods and services, it is one of the fastest-growing regions in the advanced industrial world.

> The Durham region and the town of Ajax • Durham is reputed for the strength of its manufacturing

sector which is continually undergoing rapid diversification.• The town of Ajax is one of the region’s major employers. It

has 1,645 companies employing 41,600 staff (i.e. more than 46% of the total population)

• The main industries present in Ajax are the automotive, advanced manufacturing, aerospace and plastics.

> BASIC FACTS ON THE GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 18

85 YEARS OF HISTORYAlthough the province of Quebec generates over half of Canada’s aerospace production, Ontario is not to be outdone. Aircraft design, development and production have been an important part of the Toronto area’s history for over 85 years.

Canada’s first aircraft factory opened in Toronto in 1915. Since then, 11,200 aircraft

have been delivered to customers in over 100 countries.

The first Canadian flying club was established in Toronto in 1928 and the GTA developed into one of the leading centres of aviation and aerospace education in the country.In the 1950’s, Canadian aerospace scientists design and test the Avro Arrow, the world’s fastest (Mach 2.0) and most advanced supersonic jet fighter of its time.

WORLDWIDE SUCCESS

Ontario’s aerospace products are in such high demand that $6.2 billion worth of aerospace

related revenue was generated in 2004 alone. From bush planes to space robotics, the 350 Ontario-based aerospace firms have a long history of developing innovative products and technologies. Today, they are world leaders in turboprop production, business and light aircraft assembly, environmental controls, landing-gear systems, small turbine engines and more. With expertise in aircraft integration, complete system engineering and assembly, these firms provide a wide range of aviation design, manufacturing and product support to the global aerospace industry.

After Montreal, Toronto is the country’s second biggest aeronautical centre. It is also one of the world’s seven largest aerospace assembly centres and the world’s leading producer of regional commercial turboprop aircraft.

More than 200 companies offering a wide choice of product design, manufacturing and services are operating in the Toronto region, employing over 20,000 people. These companies include some of the industry’s major players:

• Canadian companies like Bombardier (regional aircraft and business aircraft) and Magellan Aerospace (engine repair and servicing, parts manufacturing).

• American companies like Boeing Canada (parts and technologies) Pratt & Whitney Canada (aircraft engines), Goodrich Landing Gear, Honeywell Interfast (environmental control systems, electrical power management).

• European companies like Thales (turnkey systems, engineering and integration) and Messier-Dowty (landing gear systems)

A PROMISING FUTURE

Being able to offer a skilled and experienced labour force is one of the keys to attracting companies and encouraging

them to invest in Ontario.

Therefore, many of the province’s universities and colleges have developed specialised aerospace training courses. Today, 18 universities and colleges offer 36 aerospace programs, from advanced doctorates in aerospace engineering to diplomas in aviation management, maintenance and service technology. Ontario is home to internationally respected Institutes and Faculties including: the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies, Carleton University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Queen’s University’s Faculty of Applied Science.

> ONTARIO AEROSPACE: WHERE INNOVATION SOARS

1949 • Company moved location from Montreal to Ajax to be

close to primary customer Avro Aircraft• Dowty Equipment of Canada takes over former munitions

plant

1953• Company awarded contract for Avro Arrow CF-105 main

gears the world’s first Mach 2.0 fighter• Enabled us to pioneer the use of ultra high strength

material used exclusively for steel components – with some minor modifications was later known as 300M and is still being used today.

1954 • North Plant - Manufacturing, administrative offices and

stores housed in 31,000 sq.ft.• South Plant – R&O, test and development housed in

40,000 sq.ft. on a 12 1⁄2 acre site• Dowty installs largest drop test rig in Canada capable of

simulating aircraft landing loads of up to 175,000 lbs.

1958 • Cancellation of Avro Arrow program by Canadian

Government

1964 • 25th anniversary of operations in Canada• Canadian company appointed headquarters of the group

in North America

1968 • Operations in Ajax consolidated at current site

1995 • Dowty Aerospace merged with the French aerospace

firm, Messier

1996 • Awarded first contract for complete landing gear system

for Bombardier Global Express

2004 • Delivery of 1000th ship set to Bombardier for the

Canadair Regional Jet 100/200

> MAIN MILESTONES SINCE THE CREATION OF THE SITE

A HIGHLY-EFFICIENT SECTOR...Canada’s aerospace industry has tripled its share of world production over the last 25 years and ranks 5th on the international scene. The aerospace sector greatly contributes to Canada’s economic and social well-being. With state-of-the-art new technologies implemented in almost all other sectors of the country’s economy, it has more than 400 companies and employs over 95,000 people in top-ranking, well-paid positions. Canada’s aerospace capacities encompass the full range of products and services, from the manufacture of complete aircraft and complex integrated systems to specialised processes and services.

In 2005, profits from Canada’s aerospace industries increased by 77%

compared to 2004.

...EXTREMELY INNOVATIVE...The sector generates 15% of national R&D activities. It thus plays a vital role in making Canada one of the most innovative economies in the world. One of the Canadian government’s declared aims is to make Canada one of the world’s five most active R&D countries. Since 1997, more than 15 billion dollars have been invested in research. Numerous government

programmes have been provided for the Canadian aerospace industry, including the National Research Council Canada (CNRC) which set up the Institute for Aerospace Research employing more than 280 full-time staff and boasting a budget of 35 million dollars.

... WITH MAJOR ASSETS!

Canada ranks first in the G7 as the most competitive location in the aerospace sector,

for investments and everything related to precision component manufacturing

and electronic sectors.

Many leading aerospace companies have chosen Canada as the best place for manufacturing and R&D. By setting up business in Canada, these companies have been able to benefit from numerous advantages, including: >Skilled workers who enjoy many work benefits> Sound economic foundations and privileged access to the

United States> Total and continuous commitment to research and

development

> FULL THROTTLE FOR CANADA’S AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Dowty Manufacturing (Ajax) circa 1958

> MESSIER-DOWTY AJAX

The Ajax site today employs over 500 personnel. M-D Ajax is full service facility with a broad range of capabilities including: small/medium-sized landing gear production, design and development of LG systems, integration of LG circuits, testing of LG systems, administration/management of programmes/marketing, research and technology, customer support.

The main programmes in production are: Bell-Boeing V22 Osprey; Boeing F18 E/F; Bombardier Challenger 300, 604/605, 850; Bombardier Global Express, 5000; Bombardier Dash 8 Q300; Raytheon Hawker 800/850XP, Hawker 4000

The main programmes in development are: : Bell-Agusta BA609; Dassault F7X; Sukhoi Superjet (Russian regional jet) family.

PAGE 19 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

Hubert Moebs’s career started fifteen years ago when he got a job at Aérospatiale. Eight years later, he entered the Safran Group by getting into Aircelle where he stayed seven years. In March 2006, he joined Messier-Dowty at our Seattle site as ILS Manager on the B787.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... HUBERT MOEBS SEATTLE

A great supporter of expatriationLike all self-respecting Bretons, Hubert has always felt the call of the open sea. Therefore, expatriation was quite a natural step for him. Seattle is his third experience, after living three years in Germany (at Aérospatiale) and two and a half years in England (at Aircelle). Hubert has managed to pass the «nomad» bug onto his wife Brigitte and their two children, Valentin, 12 years old and Clémentine, 11 years old.

The family has settled down in Bellevue, to the west of Seattle, which is “strategically” located half way between Messier-Dowty (Kent) and Boeing (Everett). This location also corresponds to a very strict school-zone map which allows his children, who are already bilingual, to go to an American state school that prepares the International Baccalaureate. This school takes in children from about thirty countries – it is a living mosaic of a town whose major companies include Boeing, Microsoft, Google and Nintendo!

A new company, a new job and new duties...In the morning, the time he gets up is dictated by the need to communicate with Europe. As there is a time difference of 9 hours with France and 8 hours with England, Hubert is often up at 5.30 am.

Thanks to car-pooling, it only takes just under half an hour to get to the Kent site: to avoid motorway traffic jams, an «express lane» allows cars carrying more than one person to get through faster and this saves a lot of time!

As ILS Manager and member of the programme team, he is in permanent contact with his opposite numbers at Boeing.

This dictates the organisation of the week, with one or two days spent at the Everett site. Some of the meetings are regular: in-house Messier-Dowty programme meetings and/or with Boeing, weekly meetings with Vélizy, monthly Product Support meetings with Boeing, etc. After working mainly within the world of Airbus, Hubert finds it rather interesting to be working for, but above all with, Boeing.Coordinating ILS activities also requires a sufficient amount of interaction. As ILS team members are not all located in Seattle, Outlook and the telephone soon became essential working tools!

He has lunch between 11.00 and 11.30 am. This may sound surprisingly early for a French person but it is because work started so early. Work usually finishes sometime between

5.30 pm and 6.30 pm. Once a week, a football match between colleagues is organised. It is “open to all enthusiasts”.

A new country, a new life and new experiences...It is always fascinating to discover a new culture. So whenever possible, the family goes out to explore its new territory. It’s always pleasant walking around Seattle. Wandering around the stands at the famous and very lively “Pike’s Market” and taking in all the sights and smells is a great pleasure. The Irish Pub is also a popular place where colleagues get together to watch the World Cup football matches! When there is a long weekend, trips can be organised to more distant places: an Indian powwow in the Yakima Valley, a rodeo and parade in Reno, a boat trip to San Juan Island to admire the whales and otters for example. Our family of globe-trotters seems to like the American way of life. And if ever they feel a long way from home, the children can always use the Internet to keep in touch with their friends!

Interviewed by Gaëlle Busvel

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF...A MESSIER-DOWTY EXPATRIATE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... CHRISTIAN NADEAU BIDOSOriginally from Quebec, Christian joined the Messier-Dowty Montreal teams in 1998. In 2005, he was Director of Special Processes and Assembly when he was given the opportunity of being seconded to the Bidos site for three years. He arrived in the Béarn in December 2005 and is currently Head of the Cadmiage/OAC sector.

A busy scheduleChristian makes the most of every minute right from the time he gets up at 5.30am. His early morning routine is well established: after a shower and a good breakfast he’s off to the plant. When he arrives, he goes all around his sector greeting each of his colleagues. This is a special time, it allows him to sound out the day ahead, get the latest information and give some instructions. The start of the day is mainly devoted to organising production and solving problems. It is important to be rigorous, resourceful but also available. After lunch in the company restaurant, the afternoon flies by quickly. Once he has greeted and briefed the 2nd team, Christian deals with meetings and various other actions: quality, HSE, Nadcap, communications, training, the introduction of titanium, etc. Apart from his immediate colleagues, Christian’s main contacts are customers and suppliers of the Cadmiage/OAC workshop and the materials laboratory.

Before leaving the site at about 6.00pm, Christian tours the sector for the last time to make sure his staff have all the information they need to continue the production programme.

When he gets home to Lescar, near Pau, to his wife Marie-Claude and their two sons Emile (3 years old) and baby Thomas, he has a well-deserved dinner. He is sporty and at the weekends he goes cycling and running, sports he practiced regularly in Quebec.

A rewarding experience from a professional point of view...When Christian was given the opportunity of going away, he quickly decided to leave his “Canadian cabin” temporarily and go off to conquer the Béarn...and the Béarnais!Of course, this demanded a certain amount of adaptation because the two sites are very different – the size of Bidos to start with (the workforce is 4 times bigger than that of Montreal) and the number of contacts. When he arrived, Christian had to adapt to a new organisation, a greater number and variety of parts processed, and to very different programmes, processes and methods. This diversity may make the job more difficult but it also makes it very interesting. « I always compare the two ways of working and try to draw the best from each of them ».

Mais, ce qui a surtout surpris Christian ce sont les similitudes However, what surprised Christian most were the similarities in the methods of managing people. « Whether it’s Canadian or French, team spirit is always the same! »

...and from a personal point of viewChristian and his wife will definitely take home fond and very strong memories of their adventure in France. Their second baby boy was born in the Béarn. This made settling in even more complicated: what with the removal, the administrative formalities, the end of the pregnancy and the arrival of a new-born baby, the couple didn’t get much chance to relax at the beginning. However, over the last few months things have started to settle down and they can finally appreciate the beauties of their adopted region, between the sea and the mountains.

Interviewed by Gaëlle Busvel

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 20

Since January 2004, the number of M-D expatriates has more than doubled. At Safran, expatriation is mainly a way of promoting the group’s internationalisation.

Messier-Dowty is a good example in this field with 45 expatriate contracts in 2006, usually for a period of three years. Management of the group’s international

mobility is still in its early stages and the jobs proposed mainly correspond to companies’ requirements. However, if there is no job exchange for positions

abroad yet, people interested in working abroad should inform Human Resources at the PDP interviews or their local Career Development Manager.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... ANDY FARDON VÉLIZYAndy Fardon joined Messier-Dowty Ltd in Gloucester in 1980 and has had various duties there over the years. In February 2006, he left his native England, crossed the English Channel and settled down in Vélizy where he took up the position of Estimating Manager for M-D International. He has been seconded there for three years.

“I’m an Englishman in Versailles”Andy’s day starts at 6.30 in the morning with a nice cup of tea. Since he moved into his Versailles flat, Andy has tried to follow the French way of life, but some things are sacred for all self-respecting Brits: the morning cup of tea is no doubt the best example. When he arrived in France, Andy knew that the first six months would be the most difficult but also the most interesting period. Living and working in another language and another country obviously requires a period of adaptation. It is a well-known, universal fact that French life is based on meals. They offer people the chance of talking together and learning to understand each other. Therefore, to integrate and establish relations with his colleagues outside the four walls of his office, Andy has lunch with his team whenever possible.

At the office...Andy likes getting to the office early. He’s usually there by 7.30 am. This enables him to avoid the morning traffic jams and, above all, to take advantage of the peace and quiet of the early morning to prepare his day. He tries to make the most of every second of this first hour (reading e-mails, preparing

and prioritising actions that needs to be taken) because he knows that very soon he will be inundated by requests and the day will fly past before he has realised it. Andy has to analyse estimate requests from his colleagues, his internal and external customers and to provide solutions. There are numerous requests from all of the company’s departments.

Andy’s job has an international dimension. His teams are based in Vélizy, Gloucester and Toronto. He is very much aware of the fact that the aeronautics industry is extremely sensitive to the outside environment and that cost estimates must be constantly in line with the latest market fluctuations. You have to be attentive and know how to act fast. That is why he attaches such importance to the accountability of his teams and his human relations with them.

It’s not always easy to find one’s placeAndy’s working day finishes at about 6.30 pm. When he gets back to Versailles, he likes walking around and exploring his adopted town. This is a good way of burning off the calories and considering that Andy enjoys French culinary delights like cheese, wine and pastries, this can’t be a bad activity!

Andy admits that it is not always easy to be away from home. His two daughters, aged 18 and 21, stayed in England and he does not see them as often as he would like. When he walks down the street back home in Cheltenham, he always bumps into someone he knows, someone he worked with or went to school with. In the streets of Versailles, he often feels a complete foreigner, as if he did not really belong there.

Despite this, he readily admits that total immersion in a new country has its advantages and he does not regret his decision: « It’s an ideal way of learning a language and discovering a culture. You meet and work with people from very different backgrounds. It broadens the mind.”»

Interviewed by Gaëlle Busvel

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... DELPHINE CHIRON SEATTLEDelphine Chiron started her career at Messier-Dowty in October 2000 as an Engineer on Programmes A300/A380 then as Programme Manager on A380 NLG. Delphine has now been an expatriate working as Programme Leader on the B787 in Seattle, since August 2005. She lives with her husband Vincent on Mercer Island located on Lake Washington, half way between Messier-Dowty (Kent) and Boeing (Everett).

For expatriation to work, you have to: Adapt to a new life ...Delphine gets up at 5.30am, gets ready, has a leisurely breakfast then leaves home at about 6.30am. It takes her about 30 minutes by car to get to the Kent site. After a “real” espresso in the cafeteria just below the M-D buildings (despite all her efforts she just can’t get used to American coffee), Delphine starts her day by checking e-mails from Europe and then spends 2 hours on the phone with Gloucester coordinating work.

At 11.30am, Delphine goes to the cafeteria for lunch with her colleagues, most of whom are expatriates – Americans are not in the habit of stopping work for lunch during the day. In the afternoon, she takes up negotiations with customers again before leaving work at about 5.30-6.00pm.

In the evening, Delphine discusses the day’s events with her husband before dinner. She goes to bed at 9.30pm because she has a busy day ahead the next morning.

Evenings and weekends are devoted to going out. The advantage of living in the USA is that shops are open seven days a week – this is very much appreciated by shopping addicts!! Delphine and her husband also take advantage of the local environment, going skiing in winter and improving their golf swing in spring.

Adapt to a new customers...The job of Programme Leader involves coordinating relations with customers, suppliers and the different M-D teams (purchasing, production, testing, ILS). The week is punctuated by in-house meetings, customer meetings and numerous telephone or Webex conversations. Delphine spends one or two days a week at Everett to sound out the mood at Boeing. She also makes regular trips to Wichita (Kansas) where Spirit Aerosystems is based. This is a partner of Boeing in charge of integrating the NLG into section 41 (nose fuselage). After starting out with Airbus, it takes time and a great deal of reappraisal to adapt to a new

customer because the culture and working methods of the two aircraft manufacturers are very different.

Accept certain constraints... By choosing to become expatriates, Delphine and Vincent had to accept certain constraints. To follow his wife, Vincent had to resign from his job in Paris. After waiting 3 months for his work permit, he got a job at Motorola Inc, in Redmond, a Microsoft stronghold. It is sometimes hard to cope with the 9-hour time difference and 12-hour journey that separate them from France. There is no way they can go back to Paris for the weekend for example. Fortunately, there is a host of new technologies that help them to stay in touch with their family and friends back in France. Long live progress!

Gaëlle Busvel

PAGE 21 . FEBRUARY 2007 . MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE

Working from home No sooner up than online! As soon as the alarm goes off at 6.30am and before having a delicious breakfast with lots of fruit and water to fill up on vitamins, Alexandra turns her laptop on to deal with the day’s urgent matters. As she works from home and is based on the other side of the planet, Alexandra has to manage all her phone calls with European M-D sites between 7.00am and 9.00am because of the big time difference. After 9.00am, the rest of the day is completely taken up with phone calls and regular visits to her customers.

Working at the customer’s company Two or three times a week, Alexandra goes to San Francisco airport to the offices of United Airlines, her main customer. When she gets there, she has a series of meetings. Alexandra goes around meeting all her contacts: Airbus representative, vendor management, engineering, quality team, etc. Each meeting takes quite a while because Alexandra starts by making a quick overview to take stock of the overall situation and then she works with each contact individually.

The lunch break starts at midday: she has a well-deserved 45-minute break with her customer-colleagues! Alexandra usually leaves the United Airlines site at about 3.00pm and goes back home where she continues working until about 5.30pm. This is when she can spend some time dealing with her customers’ requests by telephone or e-mail.

Working on a whole continentAbout twice a month, Alexandra takes the plane to visit her customers. She manages to rest a little during the long hours spent flying. Some visits can be done within the day but others can take a whole week. This is the case for TAM, a company based in Brazil. Each time she goes to visit TAM, Alexandra leaves on Monday evening and arrives in Sao Paulo on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she arrives at the company’s head office at 6.30am to catch the TAM bus that takes her to the Sao Carlos plant, their maintenance and repair centre which is a 3-hour drive from Sao Paulo. Thursday is devoted to meetings with purchasing and engineering teams at Sao Paulo until 6.00pm. She takes the plane back to San Francisco at 10.00pm and lands the next day at 12.00am. A real marathon!

Learning to relax!To keep this pace up, Alexandra needs to set some time aside for relaxing. Therefore, she goes to yoga classes three or four times a week. At the weekend, she takes advantage of what the town has to offer or goes away with friends to explore the region. During her seven-year career, Alexandra has only worked in France for two years. These experiences of expatriation have enabled her to discover different cultures. This is also a choice of life and career which corresponds perfectly to her dynamic character. Admittedly, this choice is not devoid of certain constraints: you are rarely at home and customer visits are tiring. Customer support staff are constantly striving to resolve problems and disputes. You have to have a strong character and never forget that the customer is always right!

Interviewed by Gaëlle Busvel

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... ALEXANDRA CAUSSÉ SAN FRANCISCOAlexandra Caussé started her career at Messier Services UK in 1999. After working for Messier-Dowty in Sterling for one year, she went to work as Customer Support Manager for M-D customers located on the west coast of the American continent and has held this position for two years. She lives with her boyfriend in a small, blue, wooden house in the Castro district of San Francisco.

The tribulations of a Frenchman in ChinaAt home...Over the past few years, the region of Suzhou has been growing fast and buildings are sprouting up like mushrooms. The Koroglu family live in a standard, ten-floor building in the industrial estate, just a step away from the huge Jinji Lake.

Up at 6.30 am, Arthur starts his day by giving little Jules his first bottle feed. This is a very special time for the young father and his son. Then, he makes sure he has a balanced breakfast with tea and fruit while watching the previous evening’s French TV news on TV5. Arthur likes keeping up with events in France. Once or twice a week, he goes on the Internet and via a webcam chats with his friends and family and shows them how Jules is progressing.

At the office...It takes Arthur just under fifteen minutes to get to the office. When he arrives, the first thing he does is check there are no problems with the parts produced or any new problems that need dealing with urgently. He then organises his day’s work according to production requirements. He is in charge of optimising processes and installations so part of his time is

devoted to studying technical improvements and testing new tools. His days are regularly punctuated by difficult technical negotiations with his Chinese colleagues.

«Negotiating is all part of a day’s work and this is what makes the job here so interesting. Working with Chinese people from a culture that is so different from western cultures requires a lot of diplomacy and patience.»

The lunch break starts at midday. With 45 minutes ahead of him, Arthur has plenty of time to go home and have lunch with his family and enjoy his wife’s typically French cuisine. In the afternoon, Arthur tries to deal with quality-related problems and make progress with the current projects. He leaves the office sometime between 5.30 pm and 6.00 pm. After dinner, the day ends as it had started with Jules’ last bottle feed.

The importance of expatriate networks ...Although some aspects of an expatriate’s life are very appealing, some difficulties do arise, especially in a country

where everything is so different. Expatriates can feel a bit lost in this new environment and all these families from other countries often come together to form a real community. So after work, Arthur often meets up with other expatriates over a cup of coffee. Almost every weekend social events between expatriates are organised. However, the Koroglus also want to take advantage of this unique opportunity to discover and understand Chinese culture better. With his Chinese neighbours, Arthur tries his best to improve his knowledge and pronunciation of Mandarin. You can’t become Chinese overnight though, and despite the fact that Arthur cycled a lot in France, he had to give it up in Suzhou. Apparently, westerners find it absolutely impossible to get around on Chinese roads!

Interviewed by Gaëlle Busvel

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... ARTHUR KOROGLU SUZHOUArthur Koroglu discovered aeronautics in 1999 when he joined Messier Services France in Molsheim. Five years later he flew to the United States and spent 18 months at the MS Sterling site. Having found this first experience of expatriation rewarding, he was keen to try it again so he joined the Messier-Dowty Suzhou team as a Technician with Technical Support and Special Processes. Arthur is now living in China with his wife Laure and their young son, Jules.

MESSIER-DOWTY MAGAZINE . FEBRUARY 2007 . PAGE 22

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February 2007