Race to stockpile parts pushes UK’s aerospace suppliers to the brink

A race by aerospace giants Rolls-Royce and Airbus to stockpile parts before Brexit is pushing some small suppliers to breaking point.With just over four months until it leaves, and political bickering continuing, Britain is yet to sign off on its divorce terms with the European Union, forcing companies to prepare for a disorderly exit from the world’s largest trading bloc.Supporting over 120,000 jobs, the UK’s aerospace sector is the second largest in the world and depends on smooth cross-border trade.This makes it vulnerable to any checks and delays that would snarl up supply chains and throw an industry-wide ramp-up to meet surging global demand off course.A string of suppliers have told Reuters they are either stockpiling parts, producing extra goods to be stored by their customers, or holding out to see whether a deal can be struck.Bitrez, a speciality chemicals manufacturer based in north west England, said some customers now ask suppliers to provide material to their premises, with the customer only invoiced as the stock gets used.“Most of our larger customers have imposed or pushed for consignment stock deals so this has allowed them to increase stocks and provide a buffer,” Paul Jones, MD of the £24mn-turnover company said.“Brexit is the driver for it.”Such demands put pressure on the cash-flow of small companies and Paul Adams, head of aerospace at consultancy Vendigital, said that was one of the biggest short-term risks for smaller aerospace suppliers.“When you’re talking about adding time to a process what you’re really talking about is consuming cash, mainly in the form of inventory, but also possibly resources to help with that,” he said.Even this sort of stockpiling would only realistically provide a limited extension due to restrictions on space and cost implications.And not all companies have the capability or space to step up at all.“The aerospace guys have started stockpiling stuff, we’re seeing that,” said Tony Worsley, the managing director of Elder, a manufacturer of metal and polymer components.But the family-owned, £4mn turnover company with 30 employees, can’t stockpile all the materials it will need if a no-deal Brexit leads to days or weeks of supplies at UK ports.“I haven’t got the space, the resources,” he said.Britain’s aerospace sector includes small engineers across the country producing parts for the wings of the Airbus A320 plane, the Rolls-Royce engines which power passenger aircraft, and the F-35, one of the world’s most advanced fighter jets.The industry had already been on a steep production curve as the likes of Airbus, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Pratt and Whitney and others race to meet demand for jets, particularly from China.Weaker cash positions in smaller firms can add to the risks embedded in the supply chains of larger quoted companies, which are already rising due to the output hikes.Global commercial aircraft production will reach 1,800 planes by 2022, up over 20% from 2017, Deloitte has said.Andrew Mair, head of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, a regional industry body which represents about a quarter of the UK’s sector, said the recent ramp up meant it was impossible for some small companies to produce extra inventory.“They can’t keep up with current volume requirements, they cannot stockpile,” he said.