InterviewAlex Vlielander Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS – Chief Customer Officer
Aeromorning: Is Wich Novelties presenting Liebherr-Aerospace for Le Bourget Airshow 2025?
Regarding the current state of innovation and what is available in the Liebherr product line, we refer to the shift towards lighter, smaller size, and more electric aircraft. This means that we are moving from an analog pneumatic environment to a more electrical electronic aircraft. That's the direction our system is moving forward.
Aeromorning: Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS items are being developed for the next few years?
As for innovation tomorrow, I think the issue here needs to be understood as a supply chain organization, as we are part of a larger ecosystem.
Of course, landing gear is a different story. It is independent of what technology status will be. But will it become more electric aircraft than we have already seen? Power plants will be a certain kind of driving force. So, how do you see hydrogen?
It would be more electricity, is it a more sustainable fuel type environment? I think that will help determine what the next generation of technology shows us. So at this point, it can wait more and see how we are developing.
Of course, as an engineering company, we anticipate and develop programs that we think are interesting. However, at this point, I don't think it's reasonable at this point to share exactly what you're working on at this point.
Aeromorning: What are the strengths and competition of Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation?
As European OEMs, obviously we are compliant with reach, compliance, and other environmental management and compliance we face. We don't wait until people tell us what to do. Once we see the upcoming specs, we anticipate and try to find alternatives so that we don't have to be engaged at the last minute.
The more you begin to adapt to compliance changes, the easier and cheaper it will ultimately become. So, for us, it is important to understand which direction we are going, and to predict as much as possible what the final regulations will look like, and implement them.
As relatively small OEMs, I think we were able to continually acquire new businesses for agility. The smaller it gets, the more agile it becomes. Also, we have our unique perspective on the product lifecycle, so for us it is not interesting to us to produce new technologies, new products before offering them to aircraft OEMs.
For us, it's even more. Also, we are talking about product support throughout our lifetime. So I think Excel is developing, designing, producing and supporting the products of real operators, such as airlines, cargo operators and individual operators.
So I think a key success factor for Reaver is that it can provide products at the time of establishment through its maturity, and once the product enters the field, it offers aftermarket support.
Aeromorning: What about the supply chain?
Clearly, it had a serious impact on the supply chain, which meant small and medium-sized businesses, as it came out of Covid, like all other system or component suppliers at the lower level, or Tier 2 or Tier 3.
Sometimes I struggled to continue investing and source parts. So we took a step forward to supporting Subtia. Sometimes they even made it by purchasing stock in advance or succumbing to people by supporting the production process.
All I can say to you is that I believe the worst constraints on the supply chain are over. That means there are still issues with the supply chain. However, it is not a structure. What I'm going on right now is that most of the supply chain is on track.
However, the availability of personnel to complete the product has been completed. For example, there were a lot of work stoppages before because there were no parts. Now that the parts are available, you can complete the parts, but there is not enough talent to complete the backlog.
Another thing we think needs to be aware of is that there is a very fragile supply chain.
As a result, a small amount of production and driving can be a risk to sub-suppliers, and we consider a larger production run in a car environment, for example, not that advantageous.
Therefore, our important concern for the future is to ensure that raw material suppliers are still interested in developing and producing lower quantities. Are we back to pre-standard Covid in terms of supply chain health? I think the Telltail sign will come when the Airbus can go to Rate 75.
They of course produce in Toulouse, in Hamburg and in China. If Airbus can clearly produce 75 aircraft per month, if that's what they're aiming for, then it can certainly be said that the supply chain has recovered.
Aeromorning: What about predictive maintenance on Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS?
Health monitoring and predictive maintenance algorithms allow operations to be smooth and uninterrupted. This means that you can remove the product on time and provide services before it causes operational disruptions.
It is worth mentioning Liebherr's health monitoring algorithm, and even the predictive maintenance algorithm. As designers, manufacturers and product maintainers, we believe we have a very good position in developing health surveillance. Basically, that's what I'm explaining.
We monitor the condition of the product and say it will fly safely. And the step is of course the predictive failure algorithm. Here, a fault pattern can be established based on the critical input of data provided by the air flamer download.
And perhaps the component will actually predict removal of the component before the wing removal actually fails, leading to delays, flight cancellations. Therefore, predictive and health monitoring algorithms allow operators to optimize reliability on the wing.
Aeromorning: How does Liebherr compete with big companies like RTX, which can provide a complete system?
Therefore, for us, it is not interesting to manufacture new technologies, new products and provide them to aircraft OEMs. It's more than that for us. Also, we are talking about product support throughout our lifetime.
So I think we are where Excel develops, designs and produces. And we support the products of real operators, such as airlines, cargo operators, or individual operators. So I think the key success factor for Reaver is that it can provide products at its founding through its maturity and that it can provide aftermarket support when it is on-site.
NadiaDidelot on aeromorning.com
