UAE Manufacturer to Create 3D-Printed Parts for Etihad
Jackie Reddy January 26, 2017
Strata will collaborate with multinational Siemens to produce cabin interior components for the country’s flag carrier.
Strata Manufacturing, a company based in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, has announced that it will be collaborating with German conglomerate Siemens to provide 3D-printed parts for the cabin interiors of Etihad’s fleet.
This pilot project will see Siemens offer consultation on the selection of materials as well as testing and process preparation. Once produced at Strata’s Al Ain factory, the parts will be certified by Etihad Engineering’s design team.
Speaking of the collaboration, Assem Khalaili, Siemens Middle East’s executive vice president for industry customer services told The National, “We see great opportunities for 3D printing as a disruptive force in manufacturing and expect it to play a key role in a globally competitive, increasingly digitalized industrial landscape in the Middle East.”
Should the project prove to be a success, there is a possibility that the partnership between Strata and Siemens could expand into a three-year venture. This could see Strata produce more complex plane parts for businesses throughout the wider Middle East and North Africa region. The paper reports that this could lead to wider training opportunities for Emirati citizens.
Speaking to the paper, Badr Al Olama, Strata’s chief executive, said, “Our goal is to deploy this technology on practical applications that will allow development of local knowledge building in various aspects of this technology that will lead to future innovations that can benefit the broader aerospace industry.”
Launched back in 2010, last year Strata took a $1 billion order to produce flaps for Airbus A350-900 wings as well as for the horizontal tail plane of the Airbus A320. The manufacturer also clinched a contract to produce the vertical fins for variants of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
