ARANEE JAIIMSIN
C.C.S. Engineering Co Ltd, the only Thai aerospace parts manufacturer, is pursuing a bid to supply parts for the Boeing 787, which could double its sales revenue in the future.
Managing director Boonjaroen Manoburachailert said the aerospace parts business earned around 500,000 baht per month.
The C.C.S. Group is expected to record 750 million baht in sales this year from C.C.S. Engineering, C.C.S. Advance Tech Co Ltd and C.C.S. Packaging Co Ltd.
''Our aerospace parts business is still small but we are attempting to build it seriously,'' said Mr Boonjaroen.
The company has participated in a bid to supply 29 parts for the Boeing 787 to Goodrich Aerostructures Group, which has a contract to make 150 parts for the US company's new passenger plane.
C.C.S. is now studying the technology and cost involved in making an additional 121 parts for the aerospace industry.
Mr Boonjaroen said that if the company won the Goodrich/Boeing bid, its revenue from aerospace parts would grow to one million baht per month.
More important, he said, was the stability such a contract represented since it would generate orders for 10 to 20 years.
While it awaits the outcome of the Goodrich bid, C.C.S. will apply for the first article inspection (FAI), a common practice among automotive manufacturing and aerospace parts businesses.
Normally, it takes around two months for a single part to be certified.
Aside from manufacturing parts for the Boeing 787, the company also hopes to secure new orders from other tier-one aerospace parts manufacturers, such as General Electric. Currently, the company supplies 50 parts to GE.
Mr Boonjaroen said the aerospace parts made by C.C.S. were quite basic but the documentation process was very extensive and exacting, requiring compliance with international aerospace manufacturing standards.
In addition, international organisations prohibit aerospace part makers from outsourcing to other suppliers in order to prevent errors.
A scarcity of skilled labour is one factor that could prevent the company from expanding production. The company employs 700 workers but needs more technicians who are fluent in English.
The company would need to invest at least 20 million baht in 2010 in heat treatment processes to produce additional aerospace and automotive parts.
The investment budget in 2008 would be at least 60 million baht for all lines.
Mr Boonjaroen said C.C.S. Group's revenue was expected to reach one billion baht next year from 750 million this year. The company plans to list on the stock market in the next five years.
C.C.S. Engineering will promote its aerospace parts business at
Metalex 2007 a trade exhibition for metal parts technologies, in
mid-November.