Shah Alam, Malaysia – Malaysia may not be traditionally associated with the aerospace industry. However, UPECA Aerotech Sdn Bhd (UAT), located in Shah Alam, about 15 miles west of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, has established itself as a key supplier to a number of major aerospace companies from around the world.

Ronnie Young (left), Yew Seik Wai and Kavan Jeet Singh.

The path taken to this point, however, contained many challenges and hurdles, all of which were very real to the operations director at UAT, Kavan Jeet Singh. Tasked with overseeing the complete operations at UAT since its inception, Kavan is particularly proud of how UAT has evolved to where it is today under his leadership.

In 2009, UAT was awarded a significant 10-year contract for the manufacturing of wing and structural components by the European division of the world’s largest supplier of commercial airplane assemblies and components, Spirit Aerosystems, triggering expansion and the development of a vast range of special process capabilities.

However, Kavan points out, the stakes are always high when undertaking new aerospace programs. “You’re only as good as your last failure,” he says. That’s why detailed planning and risk mitigation are of vital importance.

“From the onset,” Kavan explains, “we realized that as an organization looking to gain credibility and traction within this industry, we had to move away from the tag of being just a low cost manufacturer. We needed to build the organization on a foundation that values innovation.”

He says the excellent infrastructure the country provides is an ideal foundation to allow UAT to compete globally in the aerospace manufacturing industry.

“The cost of labor is still comparatively low and the skill level of the workforce is adequate,” he says. “However, we must recognize that we will not be able to leverage our lower labor costs to remain competitive for long. The industrialized nations have done phenomenal work in technological advances to counter their high labor costs, and we have to learn from that. The challenge for us is to find the optimum balance between investment in technology and utilization of labor.”

Empowering Personnel

However, bringing improved outcomes wasn’t just about possessing excellent infrastructure. It was also about having the right people for the job.

“We have evolved UAT through having the right people with the right expertise in ensuring that we could deliver efficiently and effectively,” Kavan says. “Even after the millions we have invested in aerospace machinery, the employees are still our greatest asset.”

A key result of this shift in mindset was the establishment of the Product Development Center (PDC), led by its manager, Yew Seik Wai, with a team geared for intelligent engineering.

Demanding aerospace components need the best tooling package.

Yew, in collaboration with Ronnie Yong, UAT’s supply chain manager, was responsible for the engineering development and delivery of the first components. These functions were key to ensuring the development of the overall process for manufacturing readiness.

“In order to successfully execute the project,” Yong explains, “we were faced with a key challenge of identifying and acquiring the right cutting tools that were reliable and effective to enable the production of such a large number of unique parts.”

Yew and Yong spoke to various cutting tool suppliers. “There were many cutting tool suppliers keen to participate when news of the award of business spread within the industry,” says Yew. “After extensive review of the various proposals, we finally decided to award Sandvik Coromant the opportunity to jointly develop the aerospace engineering and act as our strategic partner in milling and turning operations.

“Within the working framework, Sandvik Coromant became an extension of UAT’s Product Development Center,” he says. “Together, we worked toward producing the critical first components as well as conceptualizing and designing the production process that would follow. We put a lot of faith in their ability to provide tooling solutions. This was important to allow the PDC to ultimately deliver the most efficient machining process to our aerospace production, headed by Allan Tan.

“The success we have today is a result of a combined and focused effort,” Yew emphasizes. “The collaborative effort between the PDC, Supply Chain, Production and our partner Sandvik Coromant does not just stop after the development phase. Our partnership will continue into manufacturing readiness, continuous improvements and hopefully a lot more cost savings.”

Partnering with Sandvik Coromant

With Sandvik Coromant on board, the first shipment of parts was delivered according to specifications within the span of only nine months. “There were many technical challenges faced along the way, due to the scale of the project and tight delivery deadlines,” Yew says. “Everyone contributed a tremendous effort to ultimately deliver a high-quality product with the most efficient manufacturing process.”

Kavan adds: “In this day and age, a business must continue to evolve to stay relevant. We cannot just rely on internal capabilities. That is why we need strong, capable partners to help us continually improve and remain competitive.”

Established in 2005, UAT has a bright potential for growth. Currently serving clients that include leading aircraft component manufacturers Spirit, Honeywell, Goodrich and Meggitt, UAT is anticipating a growth of at least 20 percent year- on-year for the next five years. Moving forward, UAT is focused on developing its key customer base and building on its current work packages.

In addition to conceptualizing and developing the production process alongside UAT, Sandvik Coromant was challenged to create a cost-optimized tooling package to improve UAT’s productivity. The tooling package was required to cut components in various materials such as titanium, stainless steel and aluminum. The challenge was further compounded by the need to rethink current solutions on critical aerospace components.

Raymond Tan, productivity improvement engineer, Sandvik Coromant, with Ronnie Yong (left), Yew Seik Wai and manufacturing manager Allan Tan.

The challenge was met throughout the process. “All the different features on the components were discussed in detail, and the most optimized machining techniques and programming methods were agreed upon, incorporating even some custom-made tools,” says Pulkit Datta, aerospace manager for Sandvik Coromant in Asia Pacific.

“All that led to minimal bottlenecks during the first components as well as regular production.” Sandvik Coromant serviced UAT through a team consisting of a central technical staff member, a machine investment specialist and a productivity improvement engineer.

“The success in the project can be attributed to the fact that we managed to understand UAT’s objectives and got involved right from the start,” says Pulkit.

UPECA Aerotech

UPECA Aerotech Sdn Bhd, based in Selangor, Malaysia, is a key player in the Malaysian aerospace manufacturing industry. As one of only a few Malaysian companies approved and certified by Airbus for metal component manufacturing, UPECA Aerotech produces a range of aircraft components that include aerostructures, avionic components and aircraft engine casings.

UAT currently employs more than 230 highly skilled employees and plans to grow to more than 300 employees within 2011. Achieving the AS/EN-9100 approval in 2007 for the Manufacturing of Precision Engineering & Aircraft Components, UAT manufactures components for significant clients, which include leading aircraft manufacturers Spirit, Honeywell, Goodrich and Meggitt, amongst others.

Originally published in Metalworking World 2.2011, a business magazine published by Sandvik Coromant.

Text: Jason Thoe
Photo: Sash Alexander