Improved Processes Could Mean More Work For Plant

When Vought Aircraft scored an important contract in 2005 to build cabin sections for Sikorsky's Black Hawk helicopters, the company thought the deal would amount to a financial windfall for its plant in Grand Prairie, TX. As it turns out, though, so far it's been anything but.

"Black Hawk has been a lot more challenging a startup than anybody thought," Vought CEO Elmer Doty told the Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram recently.

That may be something of an understatement... as in the two-and-a-half years since winning the contract, Vought has struggled with quality and production issues. In 2006, the company only delivered about two dozen cabins; in 2007, the company improved to 53, though many of those were delivered late.

Sikorsky awarded Vought the five-year, $600 million contract to build Black Hawk cabins, as part of its own $7.5 billion Pentagon contract. Under the deal, Vought is contracted to deliver at least 355 cabins for the US Army UH-60M, and Navy H-60S Seahawk models. The company also has separate contracts to build cabins for older UH-60L models, for sale to foreign governments.

This year, Vought says it expects to deliver over 70 cabins... with over 80 expected in 2009, bringing its production rate roughly in line with the contract terms. Once Vought proves it is capable of meeting Sikorsky's expectations, the company may earn even more work.

"The more we can build, Sikorsky would like to have it," said Dennis Orzell, VP and general manager of Vought's aircraft structures division.

Fred Moore, a senior mechanic on the Grand Prairie production line, said Vought workers had problems early on with adapting Sikorsky's designs and processes to work at their plant. "My biggest challenge in the beginning was understanding Sikorsky's specifications and language," Moore said.

Initially, Vought tried to do things their own way... but when that didn't work, they completely revamped the production lines. The added challenges of producing cabins for three different Black Hawk models -- each with similar designs, yet sporting their own unique differences -- also created problems. And Vought, like many other aerospace companies, is also finding it hard to recruit qualified workers.

"We've put a lot of our best people out here to try and speed up improvements," Orzell said.

Sikorsky spokeswoman Marianne Heffernan said the company has noticed the improvement. "Vought has achieved significant milestones by delivering the first article of the UH-60M cabin for the Army, and the MH-60S AC120 cabin for the Navy, both of which had significant configuration changes from previous Army and Navy cabins," she said in an email to the Star-Telegram.

FMI: www.vought.com, www.sikorsky.com