In an interview with the Jakarta Globe in his Bandung office on
Wednesday, Budi announced that Dirgantara Indonesia is pushing ahead
with a joint venture with its long-time partner, Airbus.
“I hope to see Airbus Indonesia next year,” he added.
Dirgantara Indonesia’s partnership with Toulouse-based Airbus dates
back to the 1970s, when the former acquired a licence to manufacture the
light helicopter NBO-105. The local company has produced a total of 120
of the helicopters to date.
Additionally, the aircraft manufacturer also produces components and parts for several Airbus aircraft models.
The global aircraft industry is dominated by Airbus and its American
rival, Boeing, and Budi noted “there are few places you can go in the
industry without partnering with either Airbus or Boeing.”
Budi said such a partnership will build trust and confidence from
consumers as well as improve Dirgantara Indonesia’s technological
capabilities.
“We can build an aircraft under our own design or brand, but will
people trust us enough to buy it?” he said, acknowledging the fact his
company still lacks the capability to develop software and electronics
equipment installed in modern aircraft.
“Our engineers are very qualified in the field of aeronautics, but we
still have to learn a lot more in terms of developing the brain of an
aircraft,” he said, adding that Dirgantara Indonesia wants its future to
run a similar course to that of China’s leading computer manufacturer,
and the company’s “best example,” Lenovo.
Beijing-based Lenovo started out as a local manufacturer for American
IBM up until the former acquired the latter’s personal computer
business in 2005. Today, Lenovo is the world’s largest producer of
personal computers.
Budi said Dirgantara Indonesia is currently in the process of undergoing stages of rejuvenation.
“The size of our workforce will be bloated for the next three years
because we are asking our ageing engineers to stay and teach the younger
ones.”
Dirgantara Indonesia does not have plans to expand its current
facilities, but the company plans to purchase new equipment that would
double or triple its production capacity, according to Budi.
The 38-year-old manufacturer incurred losses for years after the
International Monetary Fund asked the Indonesian government to abandon
the expensive program as part of their requirement for a bailout in the
aftermath of the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
After a series of capital injections by the government, totalling Rp
1.4 trillion ($120.4 million) in 2012, Dirgantara Indonesia began seeing
profit, booking net income of Rp 10 billion last year.
The company has also started to regain trust from the country’s
lenders to acquire funding, having received “a credit line from local
banks of around Rp 4 trillion,” Budi said, adding that what the company
needs most at the moment is to stay productive.
“We need projects to keep our engineers busy.”
Dirgantara Indonesia has several projects under its wings, including a
joint venture with South Korea in developing the KF-X/IF-X jet fighter,
which is expected to boost the company’s technological know-how,
according to Budi.
Source : JakartaGlobe
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