Meggitt Consolidating

Meggitt Equipment Group will invest more than $10 million in improvements to its Simi Valley campus as it consolidates facilities and prepares for an influx of new employees. The manufacturer of fire detection and suppression equipment for commercial and military aircraft next year will move 200 positions from a factory in Duarte to Simi Valley. When combined with the more than 300 employees already in Simi Valley, Meggitt will become of the largest employers in the city. Meggitt is currently in the design phase of transforming underused space into a manufacturing area for making fire suppression equipment and for back office administrative functions. The work will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2013, said Jim Duncan, senior vice president of strategy and sales for Meggitt Equipment Group. “This is a big project and there are a lot of moving pieces to get everyone together,” Duncan said. Meggitt Equipment Group is a business division of Meggitt PLC, a British-based global engineering services and manufacturer serving the aerospace and energy industries. The safety systems unit of the equipment group is located in Simi Valley. “Safety Systems is one of the jewels in the crown of Meggitt,” Duncan said. “On the detection (equipment) alone they have been one of the few companies making the products that they do.” The consolidation in Simi Valley is the result of Meggitt PLC’s April 2011 acquisition of the aerospace business of Pacific Scientific; the company had its HTL division based in the San Gabriel Valley community of Duarte. The acquisition increased Meggitt’s contribution to in-demand aircraft such as the Boeing 787, and Airbus A380, A350, and A400 M. Bringing Pacific Scientific HTL into the Meggitt fold is significant because Meggitt is one of a few companies making fire detection equipment and HTL is among a handful of fire suppression equipment manufacturers, Duncan said. “Together, the two are that much more efficient.” Providing part assemblies of both detection and suppression equipment is indicative of a shift taking place in the aerospace industry. Aircraft manufacturers increasingly are turning to suppliers to provide full assemblies, rather than individual parts and components. The shift also has resulted in suppliers of all sizes adapting new strategies to remain competitive. “Traditionally, the airplane makers did the integration and now they want they supplier to do this,” Duncan said. “We have stepped up to be one of those suppliers.” Meggitt earned $2.3 billion (U.S.) in revenue in 2011. The equipment group, which also includes avionics, cooling systems, heat exchangers and ammunition handling systems, brought in $531.4 million in revenue in 2011. About 46 percent of the company’s sales are for commercial aircraft, 40 percent for military customers, and 14 percent for energy and other industries. The company took over the Simi Valley location after an acquisition of Whittaker Corp. in 1999. That same deal also brought a facility in North Hollywood used by Meggitt Control Systems. City officials lauded Meggitt’s decision to fold the HTL business into the Simi Valley campus, which consists of three buildings totaling about 240,000 square feet. “They had a lot of choices of where they could have located the Duarte facility,” said Brian Gabler, an assistant city manager and director of economic development in Simi Valley. “We are happy they elected to remain here and (they) are confident in Simi Valley going forward.” City staff and representatives from Meggitt met June 29 to discuss the improvements to be made to the three buildings. The city will work with the architects to make sure complete plans are submitted to the planning department. Staff will visit the Duarte site to get an idea of the type of equipment that Meggitt will move to the city, Gabler said. “We are following up with them on workforce training on the anticipated positions they are recruiting for,” Gabler said. HTL will relocate all its manufacturing, engineering, human resources, finance and sales and marketing positions. Existing HTL employees will be given priority to transfer to Simi Valley, Duncan said, adding the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development also is providing assistance with training and relocation. “The result should be really good for Meggitt and the industry,” Duncan said. “We are doing something the customer wants.”