EADS North America and Airbus Americas seek stronger ties with U.S. Aerospace Suppliers

To further enhance the group’s procurement activities in the U.S. and strengthen their relationships with U.S. suppliers, EADS North America and Airbus Americas are setting up a joint U.S. Sourcing Office, based at Airbus Americas’ headquarters in Herndon, Virginia.

EADS and Airbus have already made a significant investment in their combined U.S. supplier base, spending over $11 billion annually in the U.S., while supporting more than 200,000 American jobs. Airbus procurement from U.S.- based suppliers currently represents over 40 percent of its total global aircraft-related purchases.

The new procurement office will facilitate closer contact with the group‘s existing supplier base as well as increasing their presence and facilitating new opportunities for additional procurement in the U.S. The team will be responsible for mapping out a U.S. sourcing strategy and implementing an active procurement marketing effort, as well as supplier screening, surveillance and development.

The office is part of the Global Sourcing Network, an EADS-wide organization dedicated to promote the globalization of the EADS procurement activities, with offices already open in China and India. The decision follows through on the EADS Vision 2020 to expand the group’s international footprint, gaining access to new markets and technology resources, as well as value-for-cost and multi-currency-based sourcing.

“This is a major step forward to enhance our procurement activities in the U.S. and be closer to the different players in the supply chain that form a critical part of our production process,” said Klaus Richter, Executive Vice President for the EADS Group Procurement. “U.S. suppliers are key partners on our commercial Airbus aircraft and numerous other projects and we plan on strengthening those ties, not only for existing contracts but also looking into the future,” he added. – 2 – Opening in January 2011, the office will be headed by David Williams, previously Head of Supply Chain & Quality Materials Procurement in the EADS-wide procurement team in Toulouse, France. Further expansion of the team is anticipated over the next year. He also will liaise with other divisions of the EADS group involved in procurement in the U.S.