Subcontractors - come in all sizes

Citation

(1998), "Subcontractors - come in all sizes", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 70 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1998.12770caf.004

Subcontractors - come in all sizes

Subcontractors ­ come in all sizes

When technical writer Robin Bloor interviews any industrialist, somewhere in the first half-dozen questions will be: "How many people do you employ?" An interview with Fang Haiyuan who represents the Catic Group in the UK, followed the usual pattern.

It was his response that threw Robin, "Approximately 500,000", he said. Now I know subcontractors are getting bigger, but something is definitely getting lost in the translation", thought Robin.

Fang Haiyan was right, Rob was wrong. The Catic Group consists of all the aerospace industry of China and that employs 500,000.

China is already a major designer and manufacturer of a wide range of aircraft in its own right. These include the F-8II supersonic fighter, Y7-100 passenger aircraft and Z-9A civilian helicopter. In addition, a wide range of engines, airborne equipment and missiles are manufactured.

Catic is not new to subcontracting, its current list of customers reads like a list of the world's aircraft builders. Boeing, British Aerospace, Douglas, Aerospatiale, Lockheed and Short Bros, to name but a few.

On the engine front, customers include Pratt and Whitney, Rolls-Royce, General Electric, Snecma and Lycoming.

Catic already supply the international aerospace industry with anything from machined components to major assemblies such as vertical fin and horizontal stabilisers.

With its established track record serving the US and European aerospace industry as its credentials, Catic is looking to supply quality components and other assemblies to the wider engineering world.

The group, which includes 34 major enterprises such as the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation also has 47 overseas companies and representatives spread over 30 countries. Currently it has active business relations with over 70 countries.

This demonstrates that the company is well versed in the machinations of international trade regulations which can simplify things for potential UK customers.

It was against this background that Catic took a small stand at Subcon '96. This was an ideal opportunity to present the Catic capabilities to a wider UK audience.

Such was the success, they will be back in 1998 looking to build on those initial contacts. As Mr Haiyuan said:

Catic is well recognised in the international aerospace market, but almost unknown in the wider engineering market. Subcon is an ideal platform to put our services in front of UK industry as a whole.

There are many other industries where Catic's aerospace expertise has proved highly relevant. For example, the move to aluminium construction for railway carriages where extruded section is used for floor-deck and sides. This requires the same long bed machining technology currently employed on air-frame structural components.

Another industry sector that is attracted to the skills Catic offer is the design and manufacture of instrument panels and control systems.

With such a workforce and diverse range of skills to call on, it's fair to say there is little that Catic cannot undertake.