LANGKAWI: Aerospace manufacturer UPECA Aerotech Sdn Bhd (UPECA) has signed a RM763mil contract with US-based aerospace company UTC Aerospace Systems to manufacture precision machined components on their fan cowl assemblies over the next 17 years.

UTC Aerospace System's Aerostructures business unit developed the fan cowl for the General Electric and Rolls-Royce engines on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the fan cowl for the Airbus A350 XWB. The company awarded UPECA the components to manufacture, making UPECA the single-source producer of these parts worldwide.

This will be UPECA's biggest contract award to date and will cover all aspects of manufacturing development, design and fabrication of all jigs and fixtures, procurement of raw material, machining, testing, treatment and assembly of the machined components.

Under the agreement, the first-article components of the 787 fan cowl will be completed by May 2013, and A350 XWB component development will begin subsequently.

The contract was signed by Tim Martin, Vice President of Supply Chain and Strategic Initiatives at UTC Aerospace Systems - Aerostructures and Simon Yew, chief executive officer of the UPECA Group of Companies.

The contract award ceremony was conducted at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima 2013) and was witnessed by Mida chief executive officer Datuk Noharuddin Nordin.

Datuk Noharuddin said: We are honoured to witness this important milestone.

This project is a testament of the capabilities of the Malaysian companies.

Not only is UPECA is one of few Malaysian companies to achieve AS/EN9100 approval, they also carry approvals from Airbus, Spirit AeroSystems, Honeywell, Singapore Aerospace Manufacturing (SAM) and Meggitt, enabling them to produce a range of aircraft components that include aerostructures, avionics components, and aircraft engine casings.

We are proud to have UPECA as a partner in Malaysia, to support key machined aerospace products for United Technologies Aerospace Systems. These parts will be used on key Boeing and Airbus platforms. says Tim Martin.

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Local aerospace company inks RM763mil deal with US company