Flying High

In September 2006, Airbus, an EADS company, announced its intention to set up
Airbus Engineering Center India (AECI), and Airbus training center at Bengaluru.
However, it was in April 2007 that Airbus set up a high-tech facility, with
around 120 engineers (all Indians); developing advanced capabilities for
modeling, and simulation of high performance aircraft such as A380 and A350 XWB.

Why India?

But what made Airbus select India for the engineering center? The first
thing that came into mind of Eugen Welte, chief executive officer, Airbus
engineering center was the availability of skilled professionals and talent
pool. According to him, India is the hub of talent pool, and setting up a base
in Bengaluru came as a natural choice for Airbus. What Airbus is bringing to
India is to nurture and develop the talent. Airbus decision to choose
Bengaluru was also influenced by the presence of some of the leading companies,
such as HAL, ISRO, and the Indian Institute of Science, apart from companies
such as Infosys and Wipro. Interestingly, some of the enterprise IT services
companies, such as TCS and HCL, also have a base in Bengaluru.

Going the OPD Way

Airbus has also planned to outsource some part of design to the outsourced
product development (OPD) companies in India. Incidentally, Boeing has also gone
for a similar model, where its India center coordinates work of more than 1,500
technologists, including hundred advanced technology researchers, from across
India. Airbus has some sub contractors, with the aim to utilize the local Indian
supply base. It plans to create clusters of sub contractors, and engineering
center would be the core of promoting these activities.

Research Areas

The Airbus center will focus on areas such as flight management systems and
aerodynamics. The engineering center offers support across all Airbus aircraft
products, without concentrating on any one particular area of competence. Other
area that it will focus on is non-specific design work, which includes flat
physics structure, simulation, and modeling of aircraft models. Apart from an
engineering center base in Bengaluru, the company also has two centers in the
US, one in Russia, and one in China.

Talent Attraction

Airbus considers its employees to be its biggest assets. Some of the Airbus
first employees in India are a testimony to their companys HR initiatives.
Krishan Chugh, head of fluid dynamics department, who recently joined the
organization says It has been a dream come true for me to be appointed by
Airbus. The best thing about the company is that it has given me the freedom to
innovate, and provides training on specific technologies. Another key factor to
work in Airbus is the attractive compensation package it offers. The minimum
qualification that one possesses in Airbus is a Masters degree, either in
aerospace or mechanical engineering. The average age in the center is
twenty-nine which indicates the kind of experienced professionals it recruits.

Aggressive Expansion Plans

Airbus plans to increase its employee base to 400 by 2012 from the current 120
engineers. The company also found that there was a tremendous synergy between
sales and R&D teams to contribute towards development of the Indian market.

PC Suraj

surajp@cybermedia.co.in