Sponsored by Howmet Aerospace Success lies in differentiated technologies and business discipline.
Sponsored by Howmet Aerospace
Arconic Inc. Board Chair and CEO John C. Plant was instrumental in leading the strategy to separate the business into two standalone companies: Howmet Aerospace and Arconic Corp. Named Howmet CEO, John Plant was responsible for establishing the company while guiding it through an unprecedented industry downturn. Howmet manufactures components for jet engines, aerospace fasteners and titanium structures for aerospace and defense.
What was it like launching Howmet during such a challenging time?
When the decision was made to separate Howmet and Arconic, it was to make stronger, more streamlined businesses. Howmet is an iconic brand with an 80-year heritage in jet engines. We have differentiated technologies and a rich portfolio of intellectual property. Essentially, we had a very strong platform to build upon.
These fundamentals allowed us to turn industry challenges – the lingering effects of the 737 MAX grounding, the Covid 19 downturn and a protracted war in Ukraine – into opportunities. We developed a great deal of discipline, both commercially and operationally, and used it to invest in the business. By allocating our resources into building our manufacturing capabilities, we are positioned for the 2022-23 industry ramp. These investments, which began before Covid, exceed $1 billion over the last five years and were primarily in turbine airfoils as well as fasteners, rings, forgings, and large structural components. When combined with solid financial performance, Howmet is built for the long term.
How did you build this disciplined strategy?
It is about being confident in who we are as a business. We focus on the things that we are good at and seek to grow those above the market rate. That means focusing our management time and effort on making the good, excellent. We’ve allocated more resources to those parts of the business that produce higher returns for us, whether it's higher returns by our capital or higher margin. That is where we place our capital dollars and our engineering dollars. If you've tracked Howmet, you've seen how this translates into the results we've achieved.
What do you bring to customers?
Howmet has a heritage of market leadership, from airfoils, structural castings and seamless rolled rings to aerospace fasteners and aerospace defense structures. We're #1 in most of the markets we serve and approximately 85 percent of our revenues come from markets where we rank number one or two. I believe that's important when you think about the robustness of a company and what it can deliver.
We use these differentiated technologies to help customers solve difficult problems. Anything from a fastening system that improves composite aircraft safety during lightning strikes to novel cooling designs in airfoils allowing engines to operate at temperatures above the melting point of their alloys. Pair this with global reach and a commitment to delivering at the lowest cost we can, and it’s clear we’re able to support our customers for the long run.
What about sustainability?
The challenge in much of aviation is lightweighting components for better fuel efficiency. We specialize in titanium, aluminum, lithium, and superalloys that provide strength with lightness. For example, we collaborated with Boeing to develop titanium seat rails for the Boeing 787 composite airframe that improves fuel efficiency by 20 percent.
We also excel in enhancing the fuel efficiencies of jet engines by enabling them to operate at higher temperatures. Howmet delivers this through proprietary solutions like innovative cooling designs, proprietary casting technologies and specialized coating techniques. Additionally, we are working closely with customers to determine how they will implement sustainable aviation fuels. It’s an interesting puzzle and in many ways our components don’t know the difference between conventional fuel and SAF or even hydrogen. We’re focused on understanding customer requirements to ensure the components perform no matter the fuel. Ultimately, it is about enabling our customers’ sustainability goals.
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