Aeromart Hyderabad: Airbus Applauds Indian Suppliers for High Quality, but Warns Expansion Will Test Capabilities
The panel made clear that entering the supply chain and retaining a place in it posed different problems.
HYDERABAD: India’s next phase in aerospace manufacturing would depend less on lower costs and more on certification, repeat quality, delivery discipline, specialised skills and the ability to support customers across countries, speakers said at Aeromart Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Airbus said the Indian suppliers it already works with record far fewer rejected parts than its wider supply base, but the panel cautioned that rapid expansion could strain quality unless companies prepare for higher volumes and more complex work.
The discussion formed part of the opening day of the three-day convention. Frederic Laganier of SNECI moderated the panel, which included Andreas Schwab of Airbus, Brad Bourne of Firan Technology Group Corporation, Sampathkumaran S.T. of HFCL and Frederic Combes of Capgemini.
Schwab said suppliers working with Airbus in India had reached quality levels above the company’s wider supply base. “Our yearly average last year was 350 parts per million, whereas the global benchmark is probably more in the range of 1,500,” he said.
The panel made clear that entering the supply chain and retaining a place in it posed different problems. Bourne said FTG, which is developing an aerospace manufacturing facility in Hyderabad, was still learning about the Indian supplier base and had found capable firms that lacked AS9100 and other approvals required by customers.
“We know what we want, but we need to find it,” he said. Schwab, meanwhile, said companies already supplying Airbus faced the pressure of maintaining quality as production volumes and the complexity of work increased. Several suppliers could double or triple their revenue in the coming years, which could test their quality systems.
Sampathkumaran said certification was necessary but did not automatically make a company a preferred supplier to a large aircraft manufacturer. Consistency, delivery performance and a proven record mattered just as much.
“Not everybody can become a Tier-I supplier from day one,” he said. Smaller companies may need to begin as Tier-II or Tier-III suppliers and move up after they build capacity and experience.
The discussion then turned to skills. FTG was examining local training options for electronic and mechanical assembly, Bourne said. Combes further added that India had no shortage of engineering talent, but companies needed greater knowledge of systems engineering, certification, traceability and international regulatory requirements. Digital twins, modelling, simulation and AI-based quality checks could help companies qualify faster, though safety and certification standards would remain unchanged.
Schwab said Airbus now had around 1,600 engineers at its Bengaluru engineering hub and expected its Indian operations to grow further as the company prepared for a new aircraft programme.