Liebherr-Aerospace: a long time supplier to Bombardier Aerospace.

TOULOUSE –  Words count : 3714 – Reading time : 14 minutes.  For most people, Liebherr is a name on the top of a crane.  Very few know that it is also a leading supplier of systems for the aerospace industry including the Bombardier C Series nose and main landing gears and integrated air management system.

Luckily Liebherr is far more and I had the chance to discover it last October by being invited to visit Liebherr-Aerospace facilities in Lindenberg and Friedrichshafen in Germany as well as in the ones in Toulouse and Campsas in France.

Born in the post-war Germany.

In 1949, Liebherr invented the first mobile tower crane.

In post-war Germany, many parts of Germany need to be rebuilt. Hans Liebherr managed his parents’ building firm in South Germany. He recognized the need for tools and machinery for the building industry and domestic construction. In 1949, he founded Hans Liebherr Maschinenfabrik (engineering works) in Kirchdorf an der Iller, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and together with design engineers and tradesmen, he developed the first mobile tower crane. The TK 10 was designed to be transported easily and was simple to set-up at the construction site. As successor models follow, crane production at Liebherr picked up pace and the construction company turned into a manufacturer of construction machines.

Between 1952 and 1954, Liebherr has expanded its products range.

At the end of the 1950s, gear wheels for the manufacture of gearboxes were hard to find and in order to produce cranes, Hans Liebherr started making hobbing machines himself to produce gear wheels.

When Hans Liebherr hired a cable excavator in 1953, he noticed the poor power-to-weight ratio. Eight months later, he presented the first hydraulic excavator in Europe, the L300 which was four times lighter than the models on the market. In 1954, series production of the powerful machine began.

In 1954, Liebherr moved from construction machinery to refrigerators.

For Hans Liebherr, the impetus behind new areas of business is sometimes derived from personal contacts. From the branch manager of his local bank, the businessman learned about a refrigerator-making factory that was for sale.

By examining the product, the sales figures and the markets, Liebherr recognized the enormous potential of appliances. At this time, only one in every ten households in Germany had a refrigerator and with the economy growing, demand was on the rise. Hans Liebherr decided not to buy the company but instead built his own production facilities at the Ochsenhausen site in Southern Germany. In 1954, the first refrigerator was built there and series production began just one year later.

The range of construction machinery was extended in 1956 to include machines for the production and transportation of concrete, which Liebherr builds from that point on in Bad Schussenried.

In 1958, Liebherr started expansion in Europe and Africa.

Established as a company in Germany, Liebherr commissioned the first factory abroad in the 1950s. To gain a foothold in the British and North American market, the company built a production site in Killarney, Ireland. Initially, tower cranes were built here, followed later by container cranes, shipyard cranes and special cranes. In South Africa in the 1960s, he founded the first branch of the company outside Europe.

In 1960, Liebherr started aeronautical activities

Through participatory involvement, Hans Liebherr’s commitment in the area of aircraft technology began at the end of the 1950s. In March 1960, he set-up the Liebherr-Aero-Technik GmbH company in Lindenberg, in Allgäu, Germany. From the outset, the aim was to develop and manufacture in-house. The intention was for the company to advance from being a license holder to a developer and producer of its own components and systems; from an equipment manufacturer to a system provider. In 1996, the company changed its name to Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH.

Liebherr Group.

Liebherr Group, based in Bulle in Switzerland, is still entirely owned by the founder’s family.

Toulouse, France based Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS is one of eleven divisional control companies within the Liebherr Group which sales topped 9,0 billion Euros with more  than 42000 employees:

Earthmoving Equipment

Mining

Maritime Cranes

Mobile Cranes

Tower Cranes

Concrete Technology

Machine Tools & Automation Systems

Aerospace & Transportation Systems

Components

Domestic Appliances

Hotels

Liebherr-Aerospace.

Liebherr-Aerospace is a leading supplier of systems for the aviation industry and has more than five decades of experience in this field. The range of aviation equipment produced by Liebherr for the civil and military sectors includes flight controls and actuation systems, landing gear and air management systems as well as gears and gearboxes and electronics. These systems are deployed in widebody aircraft, single-aisle and regional aircraft, business jets, combat aircraft, military cargo and training aircraft as well as in civil and combat helicopters.

In 2016, Liebherr’s aerospace and transportation systems division employed around 5,433 people, an increase of 3,0% compared to the previous year. It has four aviation equipment production plants at Lindenberg in Germany, Toulouse in France, Guaratinguetá in Brazil and Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. These production sites offer a worldwide service with additional customer service centers in Saline, Michigan and Seattle, Washington in the USA, Laval in Canada, Hamburg in Germany, Moscow in Russia, Dubai in the UAE, Bangalore in India, Singapore and Shanghai in the People’s Republic of China.

According to Mr. Josef Gropper, Managing Director & COO Production, Purchasing and Asset Investments, Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS, achieved in 2016 sales of 1,280 million Euros, which constitutes a growth of almost 5 % compared to 2015. Employment rose by 3% to 5,433 employees. Like every year, as underlined Mr. Gropper, the Company has invested huge amounts of money into research and development (R&D), in excess of 17% of total sales, which is far above the industry average. In spite of the fact that Liebherr-Aerospace started in its Western European home bases, it is important to highlight that the Company has more than 20 operations in 10 countries worldwide and growing to enhance the proximity to its aircraft manufacturer and airline customers.

Liebherr-Aerospace business is to design, develop, manufacture and service highly integrated, high technology on-board systems for the aerospace industry, in five areas:

Air management systems

Cooling Systems

Ice Protection

Cabin Systems

Bleed

Pressurization

ACS/VCS

 

Flight control and actuation systems

Primary Flight Controls

Secondary Flight Controls

 

Landing gear systems

Nose Landing Gear

Main Landing Gear

Hydraulic Systems

 

Gears and gearboxes

Gearboxes

 

Electronics

Signal Electronics

Power Electronics

In each one of these businesses, Liebherr-Aerospace is one of the few worldwide companies able to provide full systems to its airframers customers.

Mr. Gropper affirmed that its Company is on-board most of the major aircraft programs that were launched over the last twenty years, supplying at least one major system when not two or three to the following programs:

Commercial aircraft:

America:     Boeing 747-8, 777-200LR, 777X

Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, CRJ1000, C Series, Q400

Embraer ERJ135, ERJ145, E-Jets E1, E-Jets E2

 

Europe:       Airbus A300-600, A310, A320ceo/neo, A330ceo/neo, A340, A350, A380

ATR ATR42/72

RUAG Aerospace Dornier 228 New Generation

 

Rest of the world:

UAC United Aircraft Corp. SuperJet SSJ100

Antonov AN-74, AN-140, AN-148, AN-158

COMAC ARJ21, C919

 

Military aircraft:

America:     Boeing 767 Tanker

Embraer ALX, KC-390

FAdeA IA-63 Pampa III

 

Europe:       Airbus Defence & Space A400M, Eurofighter Typhoon, MRTT

Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000, Rafale

Leonardo Alenia C-27J, M-346

 

Rest of the world:

Antonov AN-132, AN-148

HAL LCA, HJT-36

KAI KT-1

 

Business aircraft:

America:     Bombardier Challenger 300/350, Global Express, Global 5000, Global 6000, Global 7000, Global 8000

Embraer Legacy 650, Lineage

Textron Aviation Hawker 750/850XP/900XP

 

Europe:       Daher TBM850/900

Dassault Falcon 50EX, 900, 2000/2000EX/2000LEX, 6X, 7X, 8X

 

Rest of the world:

IAI Israel Aerospace Industries G200

 

Helicopters:

Europe:       Airbus Helicopters AS350/355 Écureuil, AS365, BK117, H120, H130, H135/H135M, H145, H160, H175, H225/H225M, NH90, Tiger, UH-72A Lakota

Leonardo AW109, AW139, AW149/AW189, AW169, T129

TAI Turkish Light Utility Helicopters (TLUH)

 

Rest of the world:

Russian Helicopters Ka-226T

AVIC AC312

KAI KHP KUH-1 Surion

HAL ALH

 

Aero-engines:

 

Europe:       Rolls-Royce Trent 7000

SAFRAN Silvercrest

 

Military pods:

 

Cooling of various pods in the US, Europe, and others.

 

 

Liebherr-Aerospace investing in the future.

 

Liebherr-Aerospace is supporting the industry in its accelerated technology development. As already mentioned by Mr. Gropper, the private family ownership of the Liebherr enables the Company to deploy a long-term vision, which materializes into exceptionally high technology investment ratios. Through investment into technology, Liebherr helps all its customers to enhance the performance of their products like the Airbus A320neo, A330neo, A350, ATRneo, Bombardier C Series and Embraer E-Jet E2.

Nevertheless, thanks to its heavy investment in research and development, Liebherr-Aerospace is preparing technology rupture towards a more electrical aircraft.  To achieve this goal, the company is developing expertise and know-how in traverse technology like 3D printing, health management and acoustics. As underlined by Mr. Gropper ‘Our technologies will be there to make their next generation aircraft a reality!’.

According to Liebherr-Aerospace, 3D printing allows new geometries which are not possible today, with improved performance and compactness, reduced part count and weight. While maintaining 100% performance and function, 3D could give up to a 35% weight reduction.

The 3D technology has been already applied to the fabrication of spoiler valve blocks, venturis, jet pumps, pressure regulator valves, integrated actuators and landing gear brackets.

Together with Airbus, Liebherr-Aerospace have been the first company in the world to have flown a 3D-printed part on such a critical unit as a flight control actuator. That was a few months ago, on an A380 test aircraft, for the hydraulic block of the spoiler actuator. Over the last years, Liebherr have supplied numerous on-board 3D printed parts for a range of applications, some of them being prototypes like the A380 flight control actuator, others being serial production parts like cabin air distribution ducting parts.

Liebherr-Aerospace is aiming to a more electric aircraft in order to achieve reduced weight, noise and fuel burn while improving safety and increasing the overall efficiency.

Another particularly impressive illustration of Liebherr-Aerospace contribution to the next generation of flight is the electrical air conditioning technology that prepares the all-electrical aircraft of tomorrow. Last year, the Company has very successfully flown two fully electrical air conditioning systems, one on the regional turboprop aircraft ATR and one on an Airbus single aisle aircraft.

According to Mr. Gropper, one major aspect of the development of the aerospace sector in the coming decade will be the Industry 4.0 initiatives enabling Liebherr to achieve great progresses in quality performance.

In the workshops at the Liebherr-Aerospace facilities in Toulouse, robots help to decrease environmental, hygiene and safety risks like musculo skeleton disorder with regards to the employees. The robots perform heavy, repetitive and complex operations like brazing powder coating and CMT welding and are decreasing EH&S risks as MSD or dangerous expositions while increasing efficiency. Furthermore, animated instructions with 3D graphics have removed mountains of paper and increase and enhance continuously the training of Liebherr employees and the support of customers, the aircraft operators.

At the Lindenberg facilities, the reorganization of the management of the shop floors as well as the interfaces between man and machine generated very impressive results in the ability of the managers to detect potential quality issues and to react to them with the required velocity.

Liebherr-Aerospace has also introduced the Quick Response Quality Control (QRQC) with the objective in mind to improve efficiency and responsiveness in the management of quality escapes.  The process principles applied are: real place (in the production facility), real products (analysis of the problem with the product), real data (use facts and data), quick response.  Meetings do not take place in offices far away from the production floor, but directly on site, where the components are being manufactured. Daily cross-functional meetings solve problems with the real products and real data at hand.

This process is relying on:

-QRQC dedicated zones in the production facility

-Problem resolution by a cross-functional team and by daily cross-functional meetings

-5-Why Method

-Visual management

-Operators participation.

Liebherr-Aerospace is also working to strengthen its capabilities in electronics. To achieve this goal and building on a long experience in software and hardware development, Liebherr-Aerospace and its German sister company, Liebherr-Elektronik GmbH have further interlocked their capabilities for aerospace applications by integrating the hardware development of Liebherr-Elektronik into Liebherr-Aerospace Center of Excellence for Electronics Systems. Among this Center goals are hardware and software development, HW/SW integration and Electric Motor development.

In order to anticipate continuous cost improvement, Liebherr-Aerospace is using various technologies:

-Virtual test

-Digital value stream

-Smart machining

-Smart workplace

-Data analytics

-3D Master

-Cloud-based supply chain management

-Additive manufacturing

-Automated visual inspection

-RFID enhanced logistics.

For achieving costs reduction for airlines, Liebherr-Aeropace undertakes major investments in the development of Health Management Systems that will lead to less removals and aircraft maintenance and so less operational interruptions and less passenger compensation for delays.  In the end, it will mean an improvement in aircraft availability and less operational cost for airlines.

But reducing the cost of building an aircraft is just one side of the challenges facing the aerospace industry according to Josef Gropper, the other one being how to make the operation of the aircraft smoother, cheaper and more efficient, while reducing the carbon footprint of the airlines.

Liebherr management is convinced that digitalization is a formidable tool to contribute to operating commercial aircraft with higher reliability, lower costs, and lower emissions. The collection and analysis of big data will enable Liebherr to enhance substantially the maintenance operations of the airlines.

Liebherr-Aerospace in Germany.

Liebherr-Aerospace has two sites in Germany located in Lindenberg and Friedrichshafen, 3,1 km apart, both in Southern Germany on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the Bodensee) near both the borders of Switzerland and Austria.  Lindenberg is the second largest town of the district of Lindau in Bavaria, known for being an air health resort while Friedrichshafen is an industrial city. Every April, the Friedrichshafen Airport (FDH) is hosting the annual European general aviation conference and exhibition AERO Friedrichshafen. On the outskirts of the airport is located the Dornier Aviation & Aerospace Museum.

The Lindenberg site employs 2300 employees in the management and support functions, engineering and production is the Company’s center of excellence for flight controls, actuation systems, landing gear systems, hydraulics as well as system electronics. For its part, the Friedrichshafen site with its 340 employees is Liebherr-Aerospace’s machining center of excellence for flight controls /actuation components as well as gear and gearboxes.

In Lindenberg, under the modernization and extension plan called ‘Factory 2020’, Liebherr-Aerospace added a new assembly line, a new hall for test and qualification activities a new automated logistic line and a new surface treatment facility.

Revenues had steadily increased since 2012 with 544 million Euros to reach 701 million in 2016. No less than 16% of sales are dedicated to research and development. On the two German sites, employment is reaching 2673 originating from 30 different countries including 120 apprentices and 600 engineers.

Lindenberg and Friedrichshafen plants are designing and manufacturing the following integrated systems and key components:

Flight control actuation & hydraulics

-Primary flight control actuation

-High lift actuation

-Spoiler actuation

-Horizon stabilizer actuators

-Wing folding actuation

-Associated hydraulics and manifolds

Landing gear systems:

-Main landing gear

-Nose landing gear including steering

-Retraction/extension subsystems

-Supplementary gear systems

-Associated hydraulics and manifolds

Gears and gearboxes:

-Gearboxes for high lift systems

-Gearboxes for auxiliary power units (APU)

-Power gearboxes for aero-engines

Embedded electronics:

-Electronic controllers

-Cockpit controls

-Electro-hydraulic actuator

-Electrical back-up hydraulic actuators

-Power electronics

-Electrical drives

-Electrical active differential gearboxes

Key customers and programs are:

Commercial aircraft:

Airbus: A320, A330, A350, A380

Boeing: 777X

AVIC: C919

Regional aircraft:

Embraer: E-Jet E1, E-Jet E2

Bombardier : CRJ1000, C Series

AVIC : ARJ21

UAC : SSJ100

Helicopters :

Airbus Helicopters : H135, H145, H160, UH-72A Lakota, Tiger, NH-90

Leonardo: AW139, AW189

Military aircraft:

Airbus Defence & Space: A400M, A330MRTT, Eurofighter Typhoon, Barracuda

Recently, Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg was granted various contracts.  Boeing for the 777X wingfold system and LE/TE actuation, Airbus for its A320neo rudder servo control and Embraer for its E-Jet E2 nose and landing gears. Furthermore, Rolls-Royce and Liebherr-Aerospace established in 2015 a 50:50 joint venture to develop manufacturing capability and capacity for the power gearbox for Rolls-Royce’s new UltraFan® engine.

Liebherr-Aerospace in France.

Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS is the center of excellence for integrated air management systems, cabin pressure control systems, engine bleed air systems, air conditioning systems and anti-icing systems.

Some 1111 employees are working on the Toulouse site in management and support functions, engineering and production.

Recently, the refurbishment of the assembly hall, with fully re-organized workflows and workplaces has been completed. Investments had been made into a new manufacturing line for heat exchangers featuring new man-machine interfaces and increased automatization.

On the Toulouse site, has been launched the construction of a new power generation center on a piece of land bordering the current site.

In October 2017, Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS has added a new building at its site in Campsas in Tarn et Garonne, 30 km north of Toulouse.  The site specializes in manufacturing mechanical precision parts for air management systems.

The 3,300 m² site extension represents an investment of 6.5 million Euros and will allow the company to introduce new means of production in order to meet its customers’ requirements based on the increase of aircraft delivery cadences. The site specializes in manufacturing precision aircraft parts such as rotors for turbines and compressors, and high-temperature valve bodies. These are used in on-board air conditioning systems or engine bleed air systems, which are part of the range of products which Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse, Liebherr’s center of excellence for air management systems, supplies to aircraft manufacturers all over the world.

The Campsas plant employs 170 staff and will feature state-of-the-art production machinery at its disposal including for 3D printing. The recent investments in production equipment amount to 3 million Euros that will increase its production hours by 10 % in 2017.

The revenues of the France-based facilities reached in 2016 526 million Euros, an increase of 25,2% 420 since 2012.  Research and development expenditures are taking around 15% of the sales. Toulouse and Campsas workforce counts 1278 people which 30% are involved in research and development, 45% in manufacturing and 25% in support.

Toulouse facilities has responsibility for designing and manufacturing:

-Air conditioning systems

-Fuel inerting systems

-Avionics/electronics cooling systems

-Air quality systems

-Bleed air and ice protection systems

-Cabin pressure control systems.

It is designing, manufacturing, integrating and servicing:

-Air cycle machines

-Compressors

-Heat exchangers

-Smart actuators

-Pneumatic valves

-Air cycle air conditioning

-Controllers and power electronics

-Vapor cycle cooling pack.

Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse systems are found on many platforms:

Commercial aircraft:

Airbus: A320, A330, A380

Boeing: 747-8I

AVIC: C919

Regional aircraft:

ATR: ATR-42/72

Bombardier: Q400, CRJ, C Series

Embraer: E-Jet E2

AVIC : ARJ21

UAC : SSJ100

Business jets :

Dassault Falcon 7X/8X, 900LX, 2000LXS

Bombardier: Global 7000/8000

Helicopters :

Airbus Helicopters : H130, H160, H175, H225, Tiger, NH-90

Leonardo: AW169, AW189

Military aircraft:

Airbus Defence & Security: A400M

Boeing KC-46A Pegasus

Embraer: KC-390

Dassault Aviation Rafale

Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse has a solid customer base in all market segments. Recently, it has been selected to supply new generation air management system by ATR for the ATR42 and ATR72; heating and ventilation system and air conditioning system by AVIC for the AC312C/E helicopters.

Liebherr-Aerospace in Canada.

Founded in 1973, Liebherr-Canada is not only involved in Liebherr aerospace and transportation activities, but also in charge of sales, marketing and product support of other Liebherr products such as construction machines, mobile and crawler cranes, maritime cranes, concrete technology, mining equipment and refrigerators.

The Aerospace & Transportation Systems divisional office was created in 1997 within the Liebherr Group’s Canadian sales and service company, Liebherr-Canada Ltd. located in Burlington, Ontario, with the aim of supporting the division’s activities in North America. In 2001, the divisional office moved to its current location in a Liebherr owned building in Laval, a suburb north of Montréal in Quebec.

Liebherr’s activities in the fields of aerospace and transportation in Canada date back to 1993 when Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS, Liebherr’s center of excellence of air management systems, was selected as a supplier for the large cabin and long-range Bombardier Aerospace’s Global Express business jet. This was the starting point of a successful relationship between Bombardier and Liebherr in Canada.

As for aerospace and transportation, this office offers technical support, logistics support, technical publications, final assembly line, support and customer service for aerospace customers as well as business development and customer support for railway vehicle systems.

On October, the 12th, 2017, Liebherr-Canada Ltd, Aerospace and Transportation Systems Division has inaugurated its new facility in Laval. The site accommodates the final assembly and testing of the nose and main landing gears for the 100-130 seat twin jet engine Bombardier C Series commercial aircraft.

This 3.8 million Canadian dollars facility covers an area of 1,400 m² (15,000 square feet) and houses seven final assembly cells as well as test facilities for the C Series landing gear, thus enabling Liebherr to manage just-in-time deliveries directly to the aircraft assembly line located in Mirabel, Québec, 35km away to the North.

Since the summer of 2017, Liebherr-Canada Aerospace and Transportation Division took over the final assembly of Bombardier C Series landing gears components, thereby developing from a service organization to a service and assembly line.

In order to perform this new task, Liebherr expanded the Laval facility, set up assembly cells, bought new tools and sent teams of employees to Lindenberg for training.

The components of the C Series landing gears are shipped from Lindenberg while suppliers from the USA and Canada now ship directly parts to the Laval plant.

All the subcomponents are tested, quality-controlled, assembled and certified at Liebherr-Canada in Laval then delivered to the C Series assembly line.

Liebherr-Aerospace is on board most Bombardier aeronautical platform:

Challenger 300/350

-Flap system

-High and low-pressure ducting

-Integrated air management system

CRJ700/900

-Integrated air management system

-Low pressure ducting

CRJ1000

-Command-by-wire rudder control system

-Integrated air management system

-Low pressure ducting

C Series

-Integrated air management system

-Landing gear system

Dash8-400

-Cabin pressure control system

Global Express

-Cabin air humidification system

-Integrated air management system

-Nose landing gear shock strut

Global 5000

-Cabin air humidification system

-Integrated air management system

-Nose landing gear shock strut

Global 6000 / Global 7000 / Global 8000

-Integrated air management system.

 

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