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| The End of an Era - Closure of an Aerospace Company |
| 2006-04-13 |
| Stanley Aviation closing down Note, article is not correct in number of jobs affected, it is many more. Many more still, if you also include some of our vendor base who will be affected via cuts or even closure in some cases because of the closure and moves. An Era of a major player in the Aerospace industry and especially the defense industry is coming to an end. Stanley Aviation, which has been in business since 1948 (and well before via Robert (Bob) Stanley during WWII and before, is being shutdown after nearly almost 60 years in the industry. Eaton a large global manufacturer aquired Stanley Aviation from Cobham Plc (UK) in November of 2005 has reached the decision to transfer manufacturing to low cost manufacturing country or countries. You've probably not heard much about Stanley, which has a rich history in the industry and American Defense as it was a quiet but important player in the industry. This is not like some little plating company or machine house shutting down. For example some of our projects past and present: Ejection Seats, Bell X craft, Nulcear Range Finding and Computation (before computers), parts on the moon, major components of many aircraft, fuel air and ECS systems for commercial and military, various systems for sea launch ICBMs, F22, F35 (JSF), C17, UAVs, other military planes, Space Station, etc, etc, etc, etc. Eaton is not to blame for this, there are other issues, however, it is indeed a very sad day for Aviation and especially American Aviation that Stanley is ceasing manufacturing activities. This is the reality now that the American Aerospace Industry and even general manufacturing in America face ... simple math. We cannot compete with $2.50 - $10.00 per / hour shop rates that the Low Cost Countries can deliver. The myth that China, India, Mexico, et al are not quality or mature manufacturers is just that, complete myth. They've recently started to crush ITAR / Export concerns and issues, a major roadblock for any Military transfer to an LCC and quality is no longer a concern. As I've mentioned before, there will be a major shift when an industry / country make nano-manufacturing a reality. If the US is not first, we will face major problems. This is true given the problems our manufacturing base already faces. |
| Posted by:Jaish Snesh4007 |
| #6 :( |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-04-13 21:36 |
| #5 Yeah, there are a lot of us that are falling. Most will not know of Stanley, nor really 'get' what they've done for Aerospace, that is the shame. Same for many other companies. It is very sad to go to the Areospace Campuses in LA area ... many skunkworks facilities and many of the old school Areospace Campus facilities are now sound stages or other uses. |
| Posted by: bombay 2006-04-13 18:22 |
| #4 felt worse when Ryan left San Diego - you may have remembered Ryan: Spirit of St Louis? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-04-13 18:05 |
| #3 Yeah, Telecom has had it rough for a long while now ... feel for you there. Areospace is a cyclical industry, and we've been able to buck the cycles and major events like 9/11 up until now. The LCCs are catching up to our processes, standards, quality but crushing us on labor rates. This is going to occur at much quicker pace now the once 'untouchable' military aerospace manufacturing is also being offloaded out of America. Military Areospace, some of our most advanced manufacturing is now bleeding out of America too ... if this can go, anything can. |
| Posted by: bombay 2006-04-13 17:57 |
| #2 Jaish Snesh4007 = Bombay ... not sure why name didn't stick. |
| Posted by: bombay 2006-04-13 17:51 |
| #1 Telcom workers like myself have been having this happen for over a decade. It's STUPID. The problem is that pols and the public don't give a damn when something bad happens to folks with a larger than average salary. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-04-13 17:48 |