Date:02/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/12/02/stories/2005120221800300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

ISRO chief urges aviation industry to cut production time, boost output

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair on Thursday urged the Indian aviation industry to gear up to be global players and not be satisfied by manufacture of only parts. The firms here should look at reducing production time to boost the production life cycle management and get competitive, he said.

Mr. Nair was inaugurating "Aerotech 2005," an event organised by the Society of Indian Aerospace Technology Industries (SIATI) here. He emphasised the need to use the combined strength of the aviation-related industries in research and development. Indian and overseas firms can work together to tap global opportunities, he said.

SIATI president C.G. Krishnadas Nair saw a huge opportunity for aviation firms here in the Government's decision to introduce the offset scheme while going for mega purchases. The Boeing aircraft acquisition deal was struck with a 40 per cent offset that worked out to Rs. 18,000 crores. A sizeable portion of this can be turned into profitable work in the sector for engineering software solutions, he said.

Aerotech 2005 focussed on the role of Information Technology in Aerospace Product Design and Development.

Dr. Nair said the aerospace industry's product development was driven by a wide range of CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM technologies offered by various engineering software firms.

With so many different technologies used for specialised applications, the challenge for the aerospace industry was to get the highest productivity at an optimal cost, he said.