Aerostructures company Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM) is intent on becoming a tier one supplier to the world's airframers.
CTRM group chief marketing officer Wan Abdullah Halim said the company has made significant progress since its founding in 1990, steadily accumulating contracts with Airbus in the 1990s and Boeing during the past decade. He estimates the company's orderbook runs at seven billion Malaysian ringgit ($2.2 billion).
Traditionally the company has specialised in producing composite parts, such as the leading and trailing edges of the Airbus A320's wing. Increasingly it is trying to move up the value chain. It was a risk-sharing partner on the A380 programme, designing and producing the fixed-wing leading edges.
Today the company's factory in Malacca produces for a range of major programmes. As part of Malaysia's purchase of four Airbus Military A400M transports, for example, CTRM produces the aircraft's control surface panels, fairings, landing doors, empennage parts and engine cowlings.
Other aircraft with CTRM components are the Boeing 737, 767, 777 and 787. The company also has work on developmental types such as the Airbus A350, Bombardier C-Series and Mitsubishi Regional Jet.
"Diversification is key to driving revenues," said Halim. "We would like to move into fuselages and eventually become a tier one supplier."
CTRM is 98% owned by Malaysia's ministry of finance and 2% by state-oil company Petronas. Halim said the shareholders give the company a free hand to develop its business and that it is profitable.
Source: Flight International
