N3 completes its first full fiscal year with positive results, Lufthansa Technik Group
Release Date: 2009-04-20
Strong dispatching and new engine types in the portfolio
N3 Engine Overhaul Services GmbH & Co. KG in Arnstadt, Thuringia, has successfully completed the company’s first full fiscal year. The joint venture of Lufthansa Technik AG and Rolls Royce plc sustained its position despite difficult market conditions and achieved a slightly positive result. The company, specialised on repairs and overhauls of three-shaft turbofan engines of its stakeholder Rolls Royce, strongly increased its dispatching to 60 engines in 2008.
Besides overhauling engines of the Rolls Royce Trent 500 series, powering the Airbus A340-500 and -600, in April 2008 N3 expanded its portfolio onto the Rolls Royce Trent 700 model used on the Airbus A330.
“During the last two years we have demonstrated that our process landscape is well established and working”, said Wolfgang Kühnhold, Director and General Manager of N3. “For the current year we plan to further optimize our processes and increase our productivity to further shorten the turnaround times.”
During the current year, N3 plans to further increase its dispatching, estimating an overhaul of around 80 engines throughout the year with an average turnaround time of 65 days. In 2010 the Arnstadt based company will further expand its portfolio with the inauguration of the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engine used on the Airbus A380.
Due to stabilization of its processes, N3 could significantly reduce the turnaround times for engine overhauls despite the high quality of services provided. In 2008 N3, since July 2007 certified according to DIN EN ISO 14001 for a successful implementation of an environmental management system, achieved an average turnaround time of 70 days.
The test runs following the overhaul routine outlined the outstanding quality of the services carried out and not even a single “return to shop” event occurred. Alongside with the testing of overhauled and repaired engines N3’s test stand is also used for checking newly-produced Rolls Royce BR710 two-shaft engines for business jets.
“We are very happy, that our joint venture with Rolls-Royce, already in its first full year of operations, was integrated so well in into our group-wide engine overhaul network”, said Dr. Burkhard Andrich, Head of Lufthansa Technik’s engine services division. “The high quality of services provided, alongside with the continually reduced turnaround times reflect the outstanding work of our employees.”
To maintain the high quality of services provided, N3 is actively engaged in the training of young people. Since 2007 the company is offering mercantile apprenticeships which were in 2008 supplemented by technical apprenticeships for young men and women. To date N3 is training ten apprentices to work as aircraft engine technicians or industrial clerks.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | Lufthansa Technik Group |
| Country: | Germany |
| Url: | http://www.lufthansa-technik.com/applications/portal/lhtportal/lhtportal.portal?requestednode=395&_pageLabel=Template7_8&_nfpb=true&webcacheURL=TV_I/Media-Relations/Group-News/N3_erfolgreiches_2008_US |