AWI set to take off with Farnborough International Airshow appearance

The Brierley Hill company, which also has a manufacturing site in Yorkshire, has seen its aviation business rise to 10 per cent of its £18 million turnover and is expecting this to rise further with post Covid-travel volumes on the up.

Supplying the sector for more than 20 years, the business currently produces and ships Nimonic 90, Waspaloy, Haynes 282 and Inconel 600 to customers who then use the materials for fuselage frames, sealing rings and fuel pipes hoses amongst other things.

All grades are chosen for their heat and corrosion resistant properties and because they perform in some of the most demanding and harshest operating environments in the world.

“There is no margin for error in aerospace,” explained Tom Mander, managing director of AWI.

“That is why our commitment to providing the highest quality of round, flat and profile wire is so valued and it’s these core attributes that we’ll be showcasing at Farnborough on stand 1320.”

He continued: “It really is the ‘apex of aviation’ and will give us the opportunity to promote our wire in front of more than 75,000 visitors from 102 different countries – the diversity of delegate is of massive interest considering we export to 60 different nations.”

Alloy Wire International, which has held the aerospace AS9100 quality standard since 2013, is helping to support the sector’s move to lightweighting, with major plane makers and tier 1s keen to explore different material usage.

This is where the firm’s growing technical team and in-house testing capabilities come to the fore, providing clients with immediate support on key questions and results on switching from one alloy to another.

There has also been a major change in the desire for the supply chain to be greener and more sustainable and AWI is leading the way by being carbon neutral since 2021.

Tom concluded: “We’ll have six experts on the stand at any one time to offer that level of technical knowledge and we’re really looking forward to meeting up with existing and new clients to discuss their wire requirements.

“In addition to our excellent customer service, we have also just completed the installation of £200,000 of new equipment, ranging from two single block drawing machines and a four-spindle spooler to a three-hole dry drawing machine.

“This will give us the ability to reduce lead times even further, whilst also offering clients in the aerospace sector access to larger volume quantities.”