(AOF) – Safran today inaugurated Safran Additive Manufacturing Campus, the group’s center of excellence in additive manufacturing, located in Haillan, near Bordeaux. The first thousand series parts produced using additive manufacturing at the Safran Additive Manufacturing Campus site have been delivered to Safran Helicopter Engines since June 2022. The site aims to deliver 4,000 this year and double this quantity in 2023.
This new 12,500 m2 site brings together in one place all the processes necessary for the production of additive manufacturing parts, from research and technology to their production, including industrialization.
More than a hundred engineers, doctoral students, technicians and journeymen with the highest level of expertise work for the group’s companies on the development of parts and their manufacture. For this, they have the most modern facilities, in particular additive manufacturing printers which, from a 3D digital model, transform metal powders into aeronautical parts.
Additive manufacturing is a real asset for the aeronautics sector because it allows the production of parts previously impossible to obtain by other manufacturing methods, often concentrating several functions. Additive manufacturing is also interesting from an environmental point of view because it greatly limits the consumption of raw materials and energy and significantly reduces the weight of parts, thus contributing to the decarbonization of the aeronautical industry, which is the priority of Saffron. It also enables a reduction in machining times, which translates into gains in competitiveness.
“The creation of this center of excellence is a strategic decision to bring together Safran’s expertise in additive manufacturing and accelerate the use of this breakthrough technology. We will be able to exploit the advantages of this technology to make our new, more efficient and in particular lighter products, which is key to achieving the objective of reducing the environmental impact of our industry”, underlines Olivier Andries, CEO of Safran. “Eventually, 25% of the parts of some of our engines will be able to be produced using additive manufacturing,” he adds.
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Key points
– Third aerospace supplier: world number 1 in civil aircraft engines, turbines and helicopter flight controls, power transmissions, aircraft engine nacelles, number 2 in space engines and number 4 in military engines… ;
– Activity of €15.3 billion, organized into 3 divisions: aeronautical and space propulsion (48%), equipment & defense (41%) then Aircraft interiors;
– Business model in 4 pillars: refocusing on civil aviation with the acquisition of Zodiac Aerospace, strengthening of propulsion and equipment, with the objective of becoming the world’s number 1 aeronautical equipment manufacturer by 2035, historic partnership with GM, until 2040 on the civilian CFM56 engine, gradually replaced by the Leap engine and ramp-up of services (57% of sales), better margins than the 1
time
go up;
– Non-operable capital (11.2% of shares for the State and 7% for employees), Ross McInnes chairing the 18-member board of directors and Olivier Andries managing director;
– Healthy balance sheet with net debt reduced to €425 billion at the end of June (leverage of 1.13), free cash flow of €1.7 billion and cash of €6.2 billion.
Challenges
– 2022 strategy to increase competitiveness and lead the more electric aircraft, with annual revenue growth of 4 to 6%, an operating margin of between 16 and 18% and R&D expenditure of between 6 and 7% of turnover;
– Innovation strategy driven by R&D in excess of €1.4 billion and financially supported by the French State, with a portfolio of +13,000 patents (540 applications in 2021): 2 “Safran Tech” R&T centers in Saclay and Gennevilliers: energy and propulsion, materials and processes, sensors, electrical and electronic systems, signal and information processing, modeling & simulation and future turbine blades / platforms with specific equipment for new generation materials / grouping of additive manufacturing in Haillan, with a view to their industrial deployment;
– Environmental strategy with reinforced 2030 objectives: 50% reduction vs 2018 in carbon emissions and 50% reduction in emissions related to employee travel / mobilization of the 400 main suppliers / disruptive “low-carbon” aircraft by 2035, integration of sustainable fuels / CFM RISE program to reduce engine emissions by +20%;
– Order book at 4 times annual sales and recurring after-sales turnover for propulsion (2/3 of revenues);
– Preservation of skills through the return to activity clause and more favorable market environment – return of air traffic to nearly 80% of 2019 levels and CFM flight cycles to 86%;
– Rotation of the portfolio with 3 recent acquisitions – Orolia, 63% of Celas and Aubert Duval – and the sale of the “Arresting systems” activity.
Challenges
– Impact of the Russia-Ukraine war: suspension of activities carried out in joint ventures (3% of revenue) and risk of titanium supply from the fall, including the charge for impairments, for €160 million, through cost savings;
– 2022 expectations: inflation and shortage of materials/components but gradual improvement in air traffic resulting in a 20% increase in R&D and 40% in investments;
– After a 24.5% increase in sales and a 59% increase in operating profit in 1
er
semester, 2022 objectives enhanced by a return to growth in turnover, between 18.2 and 18.4 billion, in profit with an operating margin of 13% and free cash flow of €2 billion;
– Expectation for 2022 of a return to the historical practice of a distribution rate of 40%.
The end of a duopoly?
For several decades, the American Boeing and the European Airbus have shared 99% of the world market for airliners with more than 110 seats. This market weighs more than 100 billion dollars per year. However, this duopoly seems to be weakened in 2022 for several reasons. First, for the first time, two medium-haul single-aisle aircraft, the Chinese Comac’s C919 and the Russian Irkut’s MC-21, are about to enter service. Added to this is the Boeing 737 MAX crisis. With the cessation of deliveries of this aircraft between 2019 and 2021, the production balance has been broken. In 2021 Boeing posted 340 deliveries, with Airbus remaining well ahead with 611.