Development of global supply chain

After having completed two prototypes, successful test flights, the final stages of the certification process, over 90 LOI (Letters of Intent) and sales of four helicopters, Marenco plans to ramp up production in Switzerland in 2017. In order to accomplish this, processes, production facilities and customer services had to be planned and realized in advance, so that a reliable start of production and a smooth industrialization can be guaranteed.

UNITY has supported Marenco since 2014 in all of its planning phases, particularly in the development of assembly processes and factory layouts for the final assembly, as well as the continuous implementation of sub-assemblies such as main and tail rotor blades, main and tail gear boxes including MRO facilities, and the manufacturing of the carbon fuselage. In addition, UNITY created a global supply chain concept and developed planning tools for daily operative applications.

Within the scope of these projects, production processes as well as resources were set up, equipment and necessary instruments were developed together with suppliers, and the required investment was calculated. Due to the highly complex assembly steps, critical processes and required resources were reviewed and verified using dynamic production simulation. Marenco is well within its time schedule after breaking ground in August 2016 for the construction of the first factory, where the final assembly of the SKYe SH09 Helicopter will take place. Through factory planning alone, UNITY made a 50% contribution that allowed Marenco to achieve their target costs.