Quickstep starts US manufacturing trials

Western Australian-based composites technology developer Quickstep Holdings Ltd has commenced manufacturing trials with US companies GE Aviation and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation to evaluate the company's process for aerospace component fabrication.

The full text of a company announcement is pasted below

International advanced composites group Quickstep Holdings Limited (ASX: QHL - "Quickstep") has achieved a further key milestone in entering the North American aerospace market, today announcing the commencement of key initial manufacturing trials with North American aerospace giants GE Aviation and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation at its newly established North American Quickstep Centre of Excellence (NAQCE).

Quickstep said today (Friday) that it has completed commissioning of its QS20 composites production machine at NAQCE, located in the heart of the North American aerospace industry in Dayton, Ohio. Initial demonstration programs will immediately commence with these major US-based aerospace companies, which have already expressed strong interest in Quickstep's composites manufacturing technology.

The QS20 machine at the NAQCE is the first deployment of Quickstep's patented technology in North America - the world's largest market for advanced composites materials - and is consistent with the Company's strategy of establishing demonstration facilities near target markets to enable it to work more closely with potential customers.

Several North American companies have already committed to evaluation projects with Quickstep through the NAQCE, including leading advanced technology companies GE Aviation - one of the world's leading producers of jet engines for commercial and military aircraft; and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation - a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of military and commercial helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.

Both companies are exploring the potential of the Quickstep Process as a viable and effective alternative to autoclave-based manufacturing.

"Production rates are significantly increasing, given the success of our new GEnx engine," said Stephen Mitchell of GE Aviation's Technology Transition & Productivity Programs. "We have a great interest in exploring the limits and benefits of the Quickstep process as it relates to materials and specific components in addressing our production requirements."

Quickstep Managing Director, Mr Nick Noble, said the new centre would enable potential North American customers to effectively 'test' the Quickstep Process and evaluate the specific benefits it could provide for their
individual manufacturing needs.

"Through the NAQCE we can conduct curing trials using a wide variety of materials and components so eachcustomer can accurately compare the Quickstep Process with their current manufacturing methods," Mr Noble said. "We have already had strong interest in North America and we look forward to now inviting these companies to Dayton to see the Quickstep Process in action."

The NAQCE, located at the National Composite Centre's (NCC's) Dayton Campus for Advanced Materials technologies in Dayton, Ohio, is Quickstep's third operational showcase site, with similar facilities already operating in Australia and the UK. A fourth facility is currently being commissioned in Germany.

The Company's strategy of establishing international demonstration centres has already proved successful in
delivering new business, with Quickstep recently securing a manufacturing contract with a European aerospace
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and last week announcing a landmark Cooperation & Development Agreement with Eurocopter, the world's largest helicopter supplier. Both contracts were secured through initial work at Quickstep's European Centre of Excellence in the UK.

Mr Noble said the completion of the NAQCE was a key element in the Company's long term growth strategy.

"As the world's largest composites market, North America is a key focus for Quickstep and a primary component of our long term growth plan," he said. "We have already had a very positive response from our discussions with potential North American customers, and the NAQCE will enable us to work closely with these companies to fully qualify the benefits of the Quickstep Process for them."

Professor Andrew Walker, a leading consultant to global aerospace companies and the Chairman of Quickstep's Technology Advisory Board, said: "Quickstep's Technology Advisory Board estimates that by 2011, Boeing and Airbus will each need to manufacture an additional 840 tonnes of carbon fibre materials each month in order to satisfy demand for new twin-aisle and replacement single-aisle aircraft that are necessary to meet the world's rapidly increasing appetite for air travel. This additional production - amounting to almost 1,700 tonnes of carbon fibre per month - must be sourced from a manufacturing industry already operating close to capacity, making new and more efficient processing techniques an absolute necessity."