What: A subsidiary of Crane Aerospace &Electronics, Eldec designs and builds a range of products for commercial and military aircraft, including power systems, sensors and gauges, and fuel pumps and meters. Its products are part of planes built by the Boeing Co., Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier and military aircraft makers.
Where: 16700 13th Ave. W., Lynnwood.
Employees: About 650, plus workers at units in France and the United Kingdom.
Founded: In Seattle in 1957; moved to Lynnwood in 1967; acquired by Crane in 1994.
Senior local executive: Tracy Simpson, vice president and general manager.
2004 revenues: Crane’s aerospace and electronics unit, which includes Eldec and seven other companies, had $512 million in sales, up from $429 million in 2003.
Notable: About 300 Eldec sensors are on each Airbus A380.
In addition:
* Crane is closing Eldec’s Bothell facility and shifting workers to Lynnwood.
* The company tried unsuccessfully to win Boeing contracts for the 787, but it has become a second-tier contractor, supplying 787 flight deck power systems to Honeywell.
* Embraer is an important customer. Eldec has received the Brazilian jet builder’s supplier of the year award four of the past five years.
* Among the company’s new product initiatives is “AirWeighs,” which allows pilots to calculate the exact weight of a plane by measuring the pressure on the landing gear.
Biggest challenge last 12 months: “Staying competitive,” Simpson said. “With the consolidation of the supply chain, and with the major carriers … (like Delta Air Lines) … on the verge of bankruptcy, it’s a big challenge just to survive.”
Biggest challenge next 12 months: The aerospace industry is changing, and manufacturers such as Boeing are looking to deal directly with only a handful of primary contractors. Those top-tier contractors in turn are looking to subcontract work to companies such as Eldec.
“You start working closer with people who in some cases were your competitors,” Simpson said.
Quotable: “Lynnwood and Eldec need to find the right place in the supply chain,” Simpson said. “We don’t have the critical mass, like Honeywell or Goodrich, to play that Tier 1 (supplier) role.”
Online: www.crane aerospace.com
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