MACH Initiative goes international: major milestone reached in Wallonia

FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 15, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Aéro Montréal and Skywin are pleased to announce that they have taken an important first step in taking the MACH Initiative and its framework for excellence global.

During a press conference by Jacques Daoust, Québec's Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Exports, the two organizations revealed that the first cohort of Walloon companies is now in place. The four selected companies recently completed audits to establish their MACH performance labels.

The MACH Initiative is the result of Aero Montreal's Supply Chain Development Working Group's efforts. The MACH Initiative's aims to maximize the performance of the Québec aerospace supply chain and increase its competitiveness internationally. Based on a program designed to enhance the competitiveness of suppliers, including a performance label, the MACH Initiative provides a framework for excellence that enables suppliers to position themselves, identify improvement opportunities and act upon them. By leveraging the special collaborative bonds between customers and suppliers, aims to develop a base of more productive SME subcontractors with distinctive skills that are better aligned with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers and who champion the best business practices and new innovative production technologies in order to strengthen the supply chain.

This project, for which a million euros are being invested by the Walloon Region for the years 2014-2015 alone, is the result of an agreement signed between Aéro Montréal and Skywin at the Paris Air Show in 2013 through the collaboration of the Québec/Wallonia-Brussels Permanent Joint Commission and the Walloon and Québec governments. The audits, which were conducted by Aéro Montréal's partner, Sous-traitance industrielle Québec(STIQ), concluded that the levels of maturity of the Walloon suppliers are comparable to those obtained by Québec suppliers during their first cycle within the Initiative in Québec.

"This pilot project has allowed us to verify that the needs of foreign companies are similar to those of Québec companies and that the model of the Initiative and its Framework for Excellence can be used without any problems in other parts of world," said Suzanne M. Benoît, President of Aéro Montréal."This step is crucial in the establishment and recognition of the MACH performance label which will in a few years be a standard recognized by the world's prime contractors. We are excited about our collaboration with Skywin Wallonia and we look forward to continuing with the next steps."

"This partnership between the Walloon and Québec aerospace sectors will be further strengthened in the near the future with the establishment in 2015 of joint research and development projects carried out in collaboration between CRIAQ and Skywin," said  Etienne Pourbaix, Director of Skywin Wallonia.

Added Pascale Delcomminette, the new general manager of the Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency (AWEX),"Skywin has, for the greater benefit of Walloon companies, been able to take advantage of Aéro Montréal's experience to implement an initiative that will have a significant impact on the sector's competitiveness by accelerating change. I hope this partnership between Aéro Montréal and Skywin Wallonia opens the door to many more collaborations between the organizations and Québec and Walloon companies in terms of exports and knowledge transfer."

« Our government is proud to have the Québec's aerospace cluster among its key partners, to ensure the development of Québec's aerospace industry. With major projects such as these developed by Aero Montreal, including the development of the MACH Initiative in Wallonia, our industry can increase its competitiveness and its influence internationally », said the Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Exports of Quebec, M. Jacques Daoust.

The audited companies will begin developing their improvement programs in the coming weeks with their sponsors for the duration of the Initiative, among others. A second cohort of approximately six companies should be put in place in spring 2015.

About the MACH Initiative partners

Aéro Montréal, Québec's aerospace cluster, is a strategic think tank that groups all the major decision makers in Québec's aerospace sector, including companies, educational and research institutions, associations and unions.

Aéro Montréal's mission is to mobilize industry players around common goals and concerted actions to increase the cohesion and optimize competitiveness of Québec's aerospace cluster. It aims to foster the growth and expansion of the cluster so as to ensure that it may continue to create wealth for Montréal, Québec and Canada.

The MACH Initiative stems from work carried out by Aéro Montréal's Supply Chain Development Working Group.Its objective is to optimize the performance of Québec's aerospace supply chain to enhance its global competitiveness. The MACH Initiative aims to accelerate change within our companies in order to strengthen the structure of the supply chain. To do so, the Initiative relies on special collaborative links among customers and suppliers in order to ensure the implementation of strategies and projects that will help fill gaps in Québec's integration capacity.

Skywin Wallonia, the Belgian aerospace cluster, is a group of companies, training centres and public and private research entities engaged in a partnership initiative designed to build synergies around common and innovative projects. The objective is to create as well as maintain jobs in Walloon companies active in the sector. Skywin Wallonia represents some 6,900 direct jobs and more than € 1.2 billion in sales, 90% from exports.

 

SOURCE: Aéro Montréal

Caroline Julie Fortin, Director, Communications, Aéro Montréal, Tel. : + 1 514 987-9334, Cell. : + 1 514 616-8655, Caroline.julie.fortin@aeroMontréal.ca; Etienne Pourbaix, Director, Skywin Wallonia, Tel : [phone], Mob : + 32 496 261226, [email protected]; Pascal D'Astous, Political attache, Office of the Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Exports, Tél. : [phone]