Middle East growth presents welcome industry challenge

With much of the Western business press currently preoccupied with the fall out from the high profile 'credit crunch', investors and business leaders across a range of sectors are getting ready to feel the pinch.

However, for Dubai International Capital-owned Doncasters Group Ltd., a leading global manufacturer of precision components and assemblies to the aerospace industry, nothing could currently be further from the truth.

As Eric J. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Doncasters Group Ltd., explained: 'The early years of the 21st century presented the aerospace industry with a series of unpredictable challenges, not least of which were the Enron scandal, with its subsequent pressure on global financial markets, and the tragic 9/11 attacks on the USA.

'These, combined with the challenge presented to traditional manufacturing nations by increased outsourcing to lower cost economies, threatened the very future of the industry and, in order to survive, companies had to shape up or get out.

'At Doncasters, we were not immune to these pressures and undertook a comprehensive review of our activities and strategy to ensure we became as lean and efficient as possible. While this was not an easy process, the improvements and efficiencies we put in place, combined with a commitment to a culture of continuous improvement, have seen us thrive, generating a 40% increase in sales since 2000.

'Today, while there may be legitimate concerns about a potential economic slow down in the industry's traditional heartlands of North America and Europe, the rapid growth in demand from the Middle East and Asia - now responsible for nearly one third of aircraft orders - offers significant new growth opportunities.

'This means that, from what was a position of uncertainty and rapid change, the new challenge facing Doncasters, and the wider industry, is a more positive one - gearing up to meet this demand.

'While capital expenditure will inevitably be required, the key to ensuring a smooth transition will undoubtedly lie in global capability, ensuring clients are not over-exposed to the economic peculiarities of any single region and allowing companies to strategically utilise sites around the globe to maximise capacity and offer best value.

'For example, at Doncasters - which has sites across the UK, Europe, USA, Mexico and China - we have recently been able to offer clients the benefit of dollarisation, which has provided some protection from the historically high Euro and Sterling exchange rates we have seen in recent months.

'Dealing with the challenges of the early part of the century was certainly not easy and gearing up to meet these more welcome challenges will present its own issues. But, as one of those companies that survived the upheavals of the early part of the century, Doncasters, and the industry as a whole, is now substantially fitter to meet those challenges.'