LORD Corporation has announced the addition of Fly-by-Wire (FbW) aftermarket repair capabilities at its Cambridge Springs, Pa. facility in an effort to expand aftermarket support for long-time client Airbus.
LORD has supported Airbus since 1984 out of their repair center in Saint-Vallier, France. The addition of this new repair station will ensure faster service, reducing an average return from 40 to approximately 15 days.
“Having LORD FbW products repaired at a LORD repair station allows us to provide the turnaround times that customers expect because we are the original component manufacturers,” said Mike Penfield, Cambridge Springs Manufacturing Engineer. “This enables us the control to ultimately improve customer satisfaction.”
The repair station, ready to operate, is equipped to handle cockpit equipment used on the Airbus fleet. Starting with three part numbers this summer, the station will expand to support more than 50 part numbers in 2019. FAA Certification is expected June 23.
According to Penfield, the Cambridge Springs facility was ideal to meet this market need because of its history of both producing and repairing LORD Electromechanical Systems.
“The Cambridge Springs team is well-suited with its skillset, experience and enthusiasm,” said Patty Foote, Manager of LORD Aerospace and Defense Product Support Engineering. “The team has a proven track record during the last 10 years of using in-house technical capabilities to deliver on complicated and important initiatives.”
Frederic Ponchon, LORD Fly-by-Wire Sales Director, noted that “the addition of a LORD FbW repair station in the United States will improve LORD Corporation’s service to airline and MRO customers for repair of cockpit control parts used in Airbus aircraft.”
In addition, SATAIR, a leading global provider of aftermarket services and solutions for the civil aerospace industry, has been selected to provide Airbus AOG support services for LORD FbW parts.
LORD Cockpit Control solutions provide functional and ergonomic interfaces between pilots and various aircraft systems. The flight control inceptors are compact and lightweight, seamlessly integrated into cockpit designs, and can be tailored to sidestick or yoke based cockpit layouts.
LORD Corporation’s Cambridge Springs facility was established in 1966 with just 60,000 square feet. Today, the plant is comprised of 190,000-square-feet of space on 17 acres. With a staff of nearly 90, the plant serves industrial, aerospace as well as oil and gas markets. Products manufactured at the plant include: Active Vibration Control Systems (AVCS), semi-active MR suspensions, Tactile Feedback Devices (TFD), Active Balancing Systems, monitoring products, as well as other general aviation, rail transportation, civil engineering, packaging and sealing products. New positions are being created to support the FbW operation.