aero


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The organization I would like to discuss is one I discussed last week, Enflite. To reiterate, Enflite is a small, veteran-owned business situated in aerospace industry, an organization that provides luxury business jet original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), completion centers, and retrofitters with high-end mechanisms and appliances (Enflite, 2022). Mastering the new logic of competition would exert the largest influence on Enflite’s operations over the next 5 to 10 years. The aerospace industry historically sees regular ebbs and flows, which presents a unique opportunity for growth after the significant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting chaos experienced in the supply chain (Roh, 2021). Planning and predicting could not have helped, as the first years of the 2020s were devastating for air travel, both commercial and luxury. According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) (2020), companies that are projected to be successful in the next decade will first and foremost compete on a learning scale, adapting to the changing environment, capturing new innovation and possibilities, merge or acquire through growth or integration, and outperform competitors with advanced learning. As Enflite’s competitors struggle with the same shortages in the supply chain, and similar opportunities with reinvigorated efforts by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Enflite must outperform to stay ahead. The organization performed to expectations in 2021, encouraging growth in 2022 by hiring over ten employees in the first two months of 2021, allocating more funds to R&D, and expanding its customer base through new relationships with three OEMs.

A trend that might be the most difficult for the managers at Enflite to accommodate is optimizing for social and business value. Hallsteadt, Bertoni and Isaksson (2015) discuss sustainability efforts of the aerospace industry, quoting the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe with their identification of sustainability as a significant influence in current and future airframe and aero engines. As a small-scale contractor and subcontractor for luxury business jet mechanisms and appliances, there is little to no media presence or public following requiring a push for sustainability for the social, political, and environmental systems Enflite participates in. Particularly with requirements from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Aerospace Quality Management, and the European Union Aviation Safety Industry (EASA), finding viable suppliers for conformed and certified materials and parts is of primary importance, with sustainability stretching to be considered even a tertiary consideration.

Designing a company of the future would be the foundation upon which Enflite could think strategically, as our sister company LifePort was able to split from us by gaining an entirely new set of higher end investors based on diversification in applicable skills within aerospace, acquisition through vertical integration (to include acquiring a machine shop), and significant growth in human resources and revenue generation. With sights set on investing in a CNC Machine, and a possible new employee to run it, Enflite is taking steps towards incorporating new technology. The strategy, I believe, must expand outside of the internal capabilities we can possess, looking towards potential in the supply chain to take control over more critical design aspects in order to reduce risks involving suppliers and raw material availability (Avoiding mass disruption…, 2020).

The aerospace industry, as mentioned before, has historically and consistently experienced swings in the market. Unless an individual possesses abilities throughout many aspects of the business, including knowledge and skill, one can become easily expendable in a downturn. Working for a larger OEM does not make this point any less mute, as it is even more difficult to be memorable and excel in a corporation in contrast to a small business. If I continue to stay in the niche market of the aerospace industry, I must continue to seek out development opportunities from within the organization itself, develop meaningful relationships with customers that may eventually aid in a transition to a new job (particularly with a high potential to move this year due to marrying military), and begin understanding more about the prospects and threats in the aerospace supply chain.

References

Avoiding mass disruption in the aerospace supply chain. (2020). Flightglobal.Com.

Boston Consulting Group. (2020). What will it take to win in the 2020’s? BCG.com

Enflite. (2022). LifePort / Enflite, LifePort, https://enflite.com/Home.

Hallstedt, S. I., Bertoni, M., & Isaksson, O. (2015). Assessing sustainability and value of manufacturing processes: a case in the aerospace industry. Journal of Cleaner Production108(Part A), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.06.017

Roh, M. (2021). Arconic anticipates full aerospace recovery by 2023-24. Metal Bulletin Daily, N.PAG.