Filling up
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Posted Date: 01/03/2008
Issue: Airside International March 2008
Publication: Airside International
Fast-paced expansion and infrastructure growth in the airport sector call for new technologies and sophisticated service provision to ensure activity runs as smoothly as ever. Vast numbers of aircraft come in and out of airports requiring maintenance and refuelling. Combined with airport expansion is the increase in regulations around planning and environmental targets, which give rise to the need for service provision to be incredibly reliable, innovative and flexible enough to withstand the pace of change.
Meggitt Fuelling Products (MFP) is a combination of two long-standing companies in the refuelling business. Whittaker Controls had been supplying a range of fluid control devices and systems for commercial and military aircraft since 1942 and it entered the aviation fuelling industry in 1993. Having established itself as the largest provider of ground fuelling products and services in North America for commercial and military aircraft and tanker refuelling, it was acquired by Meggitt PLC – an international aerospace, defence and electronics group – in 1999. Then, in August 2005, Meggitt PLC acquired UK based Avery-Hardoll and merged its fuelling products and services with Whittaker Controls in California to create Meggitt Fuelling Products. Rob Baker, Vice President, Marketing and Sales, for Whittaker Controls, says it is the combination of these two companies, as well as their stronghold in both the US and the UK, that has led to the success of MFP and given it its cutting edge. “Both organisations have a long legacy and their brands go back at least 40 to 50 years so brand recognition has always been there,” he says. “We have two factories – one in California and one in the UK. From these factories, we are able to service the entire world, which is done through our distributors who are strategically placed in areas around the world. Also, our distributors are exclusive to our products.”
The company designs and manufactures a range of products for airport refuelling services. It provides meters for measuring liquid displacement, couplings for quickly connecting and disconnecting hoses and pipelines under pressure, and control valves to help keep fuel safely contained. It also has an aviation tank for standard ground applications, including low pressure versions for refueller trucks. The lightweight hose end pressure controller is easy to use and is suitable for all aircraft. The intake coupler complies with all API standard specifications and is designed for long life, low weight, low pressure drop and adjustable smooth opening and closing.
Its range of products is designed to ensure that airports can work under pressure in extreme conditions and in different temperature ranges without any possibility of fuel leakages or spillages. The art of refuelling is made as simple and as safe as possible to ensure accuracy and efficiency for turning planes around quickly. MFP has two main types of refuelling products for airports specifically. It provides a mobile product, which is essentially a fuel truck driving around the airport. All the components of these trucks are mobile and generally the mobile equipment is sold to companies which are building a refuelling vehicle. There are a number of refuelling vehicle manufacturers in the airport industry and MFP has developed a close relationship with them over time.The second product is fixed into ground facilities. It contains a control valve or control product that is used to control the flow of fuel. The fixed equipment is provided directly to airports.
“Once the manufactured goods are delivered, we have people on site at the airport or people in the factory who can provide extra support over the phone,” says Baker. “We provide constant service. It’s a frequent process particularly because of high turnover in personnel, such as mechanics and refuellers, so we’re constantly making sure people are trained up.”
Baker says that it’s the constant provision of training and customer support that makes the organisation unique. But he adds that the organisation’s emphasis on networking is equally as effective. “We try to establish a close relationship with major stakeholders such as airports, oil companies, airport companies and airlines and they will have some kind of influence on how fuelling is accomplished at airports around the world. Therefore establishing relationships with these stakeholders is important,” he says. “We then follow up our relationship building by training all distributors and these stakeholders on our equipment.”
More recently, Meggitt has been awarded work in Narita, Tokyo, to supply hydrant valves, which are a component of the refuelling system. “This was hard fought competition,” says Baker. “The products [required by customers] tend to be changeable so if MFP could not supply a fuelling component they could change to another supplier fairly easily, so the way we differentiate ourselves is through our support and product availability to manage that competitive advantage.” Meggitt may well indeed have a competitive edge, but how does it challenge and update itself to ensure it remains that way? Baker explains that the way to do that is to come up with innovative designs that embrace the digital phase and simultaneously meet environmental pressures.
“The technology in this particular market has traditionally been very stable. It has not changed very much over the last several decades but that is changing now because a lot of industries are moving towards user electronics and digital equipment,” he says. “So a lot of MFP capital is being invested into updating technology. Another major initiative is to deliver more environmentally friendly products in terms of the materials we use – this is where the market pressures are now.” But the company’s aspirations reach even further than that. One of the approaches to product improvement, naturally, is to look at the cost of ownership to see if it can be reduced even further, but the other goal is to reduce dramatically the number of times the equipment needs to be overhauled. “Obviously some customers are kinder to the products than others, so the number of times a product is overhauled depends on the customer,” says Baker. “But, if a product is currently being overhauled three times a year then we will aim to get this down to once a year.” But it also depends on the product. A fuelling nozzle may be overhauled two to three times a year as opposed to the hydro valve which is overhauled every two to three years. More advanced digital technology could ensure the equipment lasts for longer without need for being overhauled, explains Baker.
The company has an aggressive research and development programme to bring new products to market and improve existing equipment, which more recently has led to a new line of industrial couplings. Its spacious test facilities allow for improvements to meter calibration, valve testing and hose and gauge testing for the aviation industry. It also provides an on-site repairs and maintenance service to customers and can respond to breakdown emergencies, providing spares or reconditioned equipment to allow for immediate turn-around before the customer’s original part is returned. “We have got to stay engaged and make sure products are properly used,” says Baker. “The equipment is inherently very safe and it’s gone through decades of product improvements to get it that way.”
Meggitt provides a truly far-reaching service, catering for airports in the US, Europe, the UK and Japan. However, given its global outlook, its aim is to win new customers in new countries with quickly progressing economies.
“In some of the emerging economies around the world, such as Asia and China, where they will be emerging commercially, one of the necessary things to do to help them is to provide infrastructure. India will also take a lot of our attention over the next five to 10 years. We will be increasing our presence in these developing countries.”
So what strategy will he put in place to achieve these aspirations for the future? He puts it simply: it’s about marketing and nurturing relationships. “We market products through advertising campaigns but as it is a small and tight knit industry, keeping a close relationship with oil companies year-on-year is one of the best marketing tools we have,” he says. “The major challenges for us will be putting some more technology into these products to keep them at the most competitive level and servicing the emerging developing economies with this infrastructure will be challenging.” It may be challenging, but Baker has no doubt that Meggitt is geared up for success.
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