The Canadian aerospace industry is an important part of the Canadian economy, contributing $28 billion to the country's GDP in 2016. In addition, the Canadian aerospace industry produced 208,000 jobs for Canadians in 2016. Between 2011 and 2016, Canada's aerospace industry, which includes commercial, space, and defense systems, increased by 20%. Bombardier Aerospace, Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd, and Goodrich are the primary contributors to the industry. Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc. (P&WC) is a major contributor to the Canadian aerospace industry's outstanding performance. Pratt & Whitney Canada Corporation spends an approximate of $500 million annually on research and development. The aviation industry is characterized by the continuous research to enhance the efficiency of aircrafts. The operations of Pratt & Whitney are global with presence in over 200 countries offering the new generation aircraft engines, helicopters and industrial applications. The contribution of Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp has seen the Canadian aerospace industry ranked the third in aircraft production in the global arena. Canada falls behind the United States of America and France in aerospace research and the development in global ratings.
Aerospace industry is diversified to include the distinct market and product segments. The growing incline towards customer-based production of products in the business environment has made innovation, research, and development at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp a priority activity. 80% of the Canadian aerospace industry productions are exported, thus, exposing the industry to the competitive global environment. Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp boasts of having innovated and introduced 100 new aircraft engines in the past 25 years (Pratt & Whitney Canada, 2017). The innovations at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp target the various models of aircrafts which require specific attributes to ensure efficiency. The changes at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp have allowed the company to maintain market leadership in technology in the Canadian aerospace industry. They are based on two key issues: achieving competitive excellence and green factory and engine program. Achieving competitive excellence at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp is aimed at ensuring business prosperity and profitability. The green factory and green engine innovation programs strive to enable Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp to design manufacture and operate aircraft products while ensuring health, safety, environmental and natural resource effects are minimized.
The innovation in the Canadian aerospace spearheaded by Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp focuses on business jets, aircraft engines, commercial helicopters, flight simulation, maintenance and landing gears. In its quest to enhance innovation, Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp opened its manufacturing center in Mirabel to focus on advanced technology and innovation in the aerospace industry. The state-of-the-art technological equipment at Mirabel Aerospace Centre are facilitated for engine testing. The Mirabel Aerospace centre is a special facility and among the biggest in North America. The state of innovation at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp is reflected in the Mirabel Aerospace centre where complete range of aircraft engines is tested. The Mirabel centre includes Boeing 747SP aircrafts to facilitate advanced testing in the facility. The Boeing 747SP aircrafts at the Mirabel is a kind of flying testing laboratories that allow for the simulation of invented engine operational status and record data. The manufacturing innovations at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp are based on the principle of lean manufacturing (Pratt & Whitney Canada, 2017). The innovation at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp has allowed the company to focus on next generation aircraft products in its facilities. Canada’s aerospace relies heavily on the facilities of Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. Mirabel aerospace centre will provide for the testing of Canada’s largest aircraft engines. The PW800 and the Bombardier C-series PurePower PW1524G engines will be assembled and tested by Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. The PW800 and the Bombardier C-series are among the next generation large business aircrafts.
Impacts of Innovation in the Industry
The innovation at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. encompasses the next generation aerodynamics and combustion. The aerospace industry is characterized by competitiveness in the production of eco-friendly engines to meet the contemporary climate concerns. There is increased concern on the environmental degradation caused by industrial activities and aircrafts in the aerospace industries. The world trading organization and other organizations including the United Nations have put in place stringent environmental regulations. Innovation have allowed for the increase in velocities in the engine combustion chambers to allow gas recycling. Aerodynamic technology allows for the increase of radiating and convection in the aircraft engines to enhance the combustion efficiency and reduce harmful gas emissions from aircraft engines (Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, 2017). The investment of Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. in research and development aimed at enhancing the engine combustion has increased the acceptability of the company’s engines globally. The environmental standards require aircraft manufacturers to produce engines that are quieter and produce minimal greenhouse gases. Innovations in the aerodynamics and combustion technologies address the emerging environmental concerns as the world move towards environmental preservation.
Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. is enhancing the innovation in the engine aero performance technology. The aircraft engines ought to perform efficiently to address the concerns on the fuel consumption. Modern aircraft gas turbine systems aim at ensuring high efficiency, fuel flexibility, and low emissions. The improvements at Pratt & Whitney include enhancements in turbo-jets, turbo-fans and turbo-shaft engines to enhance aircraft engine performance. The innovations at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. are guided by the physics principles. The modeling of innovation based on physics has assisted in reducing developmental redundancies in Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. products. The physics-based modeling has also improved aircraft products at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. speed to the market. The manufacturing process is taking less time due to the efficiency created in the use of fuel, machinery and materials. In an attempt to increase productivity and enhance products, Pratt & Whitney has invested in the research on the manufacturing technologies. The high-precision manufacturing technology might mean low production speed. Pratt & Whitney has invented manufacturing machines with smoother interpolation and feed rate verification during production. The use of smoother interpolation with the feed-forward control systems reduces the lapses in the production at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. The Mirabel aerospace centre is equipped with the diagnostic technologies to enhance the detection of malfunctions, safety, and engine reliability. The leverage placed on the diagnostic technology at Pratt & Whitney is consumer-oriented. The clients of the aircraft products have placed a great priority in the safety of the aircrafts (Pratt & Whitney Canada, 2017).
The corporation is the trend-setter in the Canadian and the global aerospace industry. The focus of the innovation at Pratt & Whitney is focused on the creation of product efficiency and business opportunity. The contribution of in the development of the aerospace industry is beyond the focus on innovation. Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. is also focused in service delivery for its customers across the globe. The company boasts of the most comprehensive and the largest customer service system in the aerospace industry (Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, 2017). Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. has customer centers in Singapore and Montreal, designated to overhaul and repair the facilities and distribution centers across the globe. Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. has numerous field support representatives, mobile repair technicians with the ability to arrive on site within 12 hours of reporting time. The customer service systems at the company are creating an impressive benchmark for other competitors in the aerospace industry to emulate. As at the fiscal year ending December 2016, Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. had over 14,000 customers across the globe. The company has over 800 exchange and rental engines. The customer training facilities provided by Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. ensures that customer support at the company remain unmatched in the Canadian and global aerospace industry. The focus on the customer service is ensuring that customers in the aerospace industry are getting the value of their money.
Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. is leading the companies in the aerospace industry in developing quieter, cleaner and fuel-efficient aircraft engines. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the corporation is leading in the observation of noise and emission standards. The new engines at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. have eliminated chlorinated solvents and mercury in the product parts. In addition, the company has reduced 90% of aircraft parts containing Cadmium and 80% of parts containing lead. Chlorinated solvents, mercury, cadmium, and lead are materials of concern known for environmental and health degradation and discouraged by environmental regulatory organizations. Pratt & Whitney is leading the industry in the research and development by establishing partnership programs in research with institutions and universities in Canada. In an attempt to ensure environmental conservation, the organization is working with the Canadian National Research council and the Canadian universities to develop noise predicting tools in engine exhaust ducks and combustors to curb noise pollution. Additionally, the Mirabel Aerospace centre is built to include a solar wall and energy conserving lighting system. The facility at Mirabel was certified Gold by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The improvement at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. are changing the aerospace industry’s outlook as far as environmental conservation is concerned (Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, 2017).
The innovations leading to the new technologies at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. are highly contributed by the need to enhance business growth, profitability, and sustainability. The global business environment is embracing technology. Through changes, the company can create product differentiation in the competitive aerospace industry. The consumers of products on all levels prefer the quality products at affordable rates. The innovations in the manufacture of products at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. have allowed the company to produce quality products at a low marginal cost. The alterations in the manufacturing process, product efficiency, and market strategy have allowed to attain market leadership status in the aerospace industry. The market demands in the aerospace industry necessitated innovation by Pratt & Whitney Corp. to ensure that they meet the customer preferences. In addition, the enhancements at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. resulted from the continued stringent environmental standards in the aviation industry. The need to produce quieter, low-emission, and fuel-efficient planes resulted from the need to conserve the environment as a requirement for the licensing of aerospace companies (Pratt & Whitney Canada, 2017).
Definite Response to Innovation
The innovations at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. have allowed the company to realize the consistent growth in the industry. The company is available in more than 200 countries across the globe. The corporation also has customer service centers and product distribution centers at strategic parts of the world. The upgrades at Pratt & Whitney are beneficial as evident in the performance of the company in terms of growth. The company has also expanded its activities and operations to meet the increased demand. The market share of Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. has increased drastically over the past years due to customer loyalty and preference. The customer service delivery is appealing to many customers who seek efficiency. The aircrafts and engines produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. are majorly commercial. The company has grown into the international status with a segmented market structure to cater for customers at various geographic areas as seen in the company’s centers in Montreal and Singapore. The market reaction to inventions at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. has been an increase in the demand for the company’s products. The increment in demand coupled with a rise in market share and consumer loyalty is because of desired innovations that meet the consumer preferences.
Management Structure and Competition
Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. has been able to restructure its management structure to respond to the increasing business operations, specialty units, and geographical coverage. The organizational structure at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. involves functional, product, and geographic managers to ensure that the different functional areas, products, and geographical areas are optimally utilized to bring forth revenues to the company. The competitors of the company include GE General Electric, Rolls-Royce, and CFM international. The rivals of Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. are posing a threat to the global leadership position of the company. However, the company is experiencing a competitive advantage emanating from the diverse technological innovation and quality customer service delivery. The competitors have the effect of reducing the market share and the apparent revenues for Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. it is upon the management at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. to further its development and market research strategies to sustain a competitive advantage currently enjoyed by the company.
Conclusion
The innovation activities at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. are based on the creation of eco-friendly, fuel-efficient, and customer-specific aircraft products. The company is also a global leader in the aerospace industry due to its comprehensive service delivery infrastructure. The various innovations at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. have been necessitated by the need to establish a sustainable business based in the current and the next-generation technology. Several materials used in the production of aircraft products are subject to health and environmental concerns. Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. is focusing on eradicating the use of harmful materials through technological innovations in the aerospace industry. The influence of Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. in the Canadian and the global aerospace is apparent through the state-of-the-art facilities and up-to-date innovation that meet the regulatory standards. The reaction of the market towards innovation is always positive as consumers seek to consume differentiated products which guarantee the value of money. The growth and exemplary performance of various companies is always attributed to the managerial strategies employed by the given company. Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. ought to further its innovational activities and market development to maintain its global leadership in the aerospace industry.
References
Aerospace Industries Association of Canada. (2017). Pratt and Whitney Canada Corp. Retrieved from http://aiac.ca/members/pratt-and-whitney-canada-corp/
Pratt & Whitney Canada. (2017). A united technology company. Retrieved from http://www.pwc.ca/en/.
