News
2021: End of year message
By Martin Knegt, Managing Director DCMC
The end of the year is always a good moment for reflection. What did we achieve at DCMC in the past year? What is the current state of our industry, which has been heavily affected by the worldwide pandemic?
Important industry developments
In a recent EU conference on the aerospace engine market, Aviation Week shared its prognosis for the recovery of the aerospace industry: based on aircraft deliveries, in 2024 the industry will reach the same level as in 2019, before the pandemic started. Other industry sectors, such as the wind turbine industry, may see a faster recovery powered by governmental investments to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to electrical power with lower emissions to reach the global CO2 emission goals.
These industry developments are important to DCMC, since, as part of this transition, many new products will use lightweight materials such as composite materials and hybrid structures. Without doubt, these products also require techniques for maintenance, inspection and repair that meet or even exceed the efficiency levels common to maintenance on traditional materials. At DCMC, in cooperation with industry parties and institutions, we focus on the development of these techniques and bring them to the MRO market.
2021: communication and connections
In 2021, we concentrated on communicating with the market to highlight our current projects as part of the EU-EFRO development fund OPZuid (ie PROJ-00730 Fieldlab DCMC). Last April, we organized a webinar which covered these projects and also included a panel discussion on the subject with industry leaders such as Boeing, the Dutch Air Force and the Netherlands Aerospace Group (NAG). The webinar, including videos of the projects, can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Meanwhile, we worked with groups of students from AVANS University of Applied Sciences (Breda, the Netherlands) to create ideas for expanding our network and attracting more partners. In October, we were invited by our partner Fokker Services Group to share their booth at the MRO-Europe in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At this live event, we met with numerous representatives of the industry and made new connections.
Installation of DCMC Fieldlab
An important recent development is the installation of the DCMC Fieldlab at Aviolanda Aerospace in Woensdrecht, the Netherlands. Alongside MRO organizations such as Fokker Techniek, LCW of the Dutch Air Force, educational institutions and a number of SMEs, DCMC is positioned in an MRO ecosystem that is expanding and transitioning to use new technologies in MRO, including composite maintenance. This all with the support from local municipal governments, the Province of Noord-Brabant and the regional development agencies BOM and REWIN.
Early next year, we expect to announce a new DCMC partner with which we will complete the journey of opening the DCMC Fieldlab at Aviolanda Aerospace. We look forward to inviting our relations to a live event without restrictions and demonstrate state-of-the-art composite maintenance in all its aspects, from training to recycling.
We hope to meet you in 2022 and, for now, we wish you happy holidays and a prosperous New Year.
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