It was in September of this year that Montana Aerospace was distinguished with the renowned “Spirit Award”, the innovation prize for suppliers presented by Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita. With the conclusion of a further new contract with Airbus for the production of aluminum extruded profiles, the efficiency of the aviation supplier was once again confirmed. The multi-year contract with Europe’s largest aircraft manufacturer begins in 2023.
Montana Aerospace will supply Airbus with structural components for fuselage and wings for Airbus A320 to A350 with components up to 18 meters long. The products are manufactured in the company’s large diameter aluminum extrusion lines. With the Airbus’ order, Montana Aerospace “3rd Heavy Press” – the first of its kind in Europe – will begin series production.
“Montana Aerospace has invested heavily in the expansion of competencies and capacities in recent years, mainly in Europe and Vietnam. With this new order we feel confirmed in our strategy of also expanding the extrusion business in Europe in order to serve our customers locally and to support them in implementing their ambitious increase in build rates”, according to Kai Arndt, CO-CEO of Montana Aerospace AG who continues: “This year three new extrusion presses have successfully passed the test stage in Romania alone. In addition to the large-sized extrusion plant, we were able to put a titanium press and a production line for the manufacture of seamless drawn tubes made from special alloys into operation very quickly. All three systems will start series production in 2023 and will provide a substantial part of our sales and earnings development.”
Europe’s unique Aerospace Heavy Press
Montana Aerospace is a leading specialist in the extrusion of high-strength aerospace alloys and has seven extrusion plants throughout the world with more than 25 presses in operation, including large-sized extrusion lines for the production of aluminum structural components up to 30 meters long. Two of these special presses are located in plants in the USA and in 2023 another large-sized press will go into series production in the plant in Romania. The third “heavy press” was built and commissioned in just 18 months and is the first of its kind in Europe. With the establishment of the large-sized extrusions division in Romania, Montana Aerospace now also supports its European customers in their local4local procurement strategy.
A big investment program with 600 million Euros
In addition to the expansion and development of the extrusion business in Europe, Montana Aerospace has also invested heavily in the development of its one-stop-shop strategy over the past 48 months, expanding its service and product portfolio in the area of complex, critical components, as well as strengthening its material expertise in the composites area. Montana Aerospace is currently in the final stage of this extensive investment program with a total of over 600 million Euros.
New standards in sustainability
Montana Aerospace’s strategy in the extrusion business also includes the manufacture of extrusion billets. In the Montana Aerospace foundries, customer-specific alloys are made from a minimum of 70% recycled raw materials (aluminum scrap), and 100% of our own aluminum waste is fed back into the process. The energy consumption in the production of what is known as secondary aluminum is also a fraction (approx. 5%) of what is required in the production of primary aluminum. Together with the advantages of the one-stop-shop for reducing delivery routes, CO2 emissions are saved throughout the entire production process.
Montana Aerospace and Airbus have been collaborating for over 20 years.
About Montana Aerospace AG
Montana Aerospace AG is a leading manufacturer of system components and complex assemblies for the aerospace industry, with worldwide engineering and manufacturing operations. The Company has approximately 7,200 highly skilled employees at 32 locations on four continents – designing, developing and producing ground-breaking technologies for tomorrow’s aerospace, e-mobility and energy industries made of aluminium, titanium, composite, copper and steel.
Disclaimer
Statements contained herein may constitute “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of the words “may”, “will”, “should”, “plan”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “intend”, “project”, “goal”, “aim” or “target” or the negative of these words or other variations of these words or comparable terminology.
Forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s or its industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake publicly to update or revise any forward-looking statement that may be made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.