Vergiate, Italy: Nestling in the foothills of the Alps mountains, the AgustaWestland factory for AW109 and AW139 has unlikely settings for a manufacturing unit. The lush rolling greens, grey mountains and majestic Alpine trees conjure up the image of a luxury holiday resort and not an assembly line for heavy-duty helicopters. Just outside the hangars are sprawling lawns with helipads (for flight testing), which seem to roll right till the edge of the mountains. The early September air is crisp and redolent with the fragrance of autumn flowers. If it wasn’t for the hustle and bustle of the factory and whirring of the helicopter rotors, it would have been really easy to lull oneself into believing that it was indeed a holiday. Communications Manager, External Affairs, AgustaWestland Geoff Russell, strolling outside the hangar and pointing towards the ethereal Alps, says “We shoot most of our publicity photographs here. With such a location, we don’t need to go anywhere.”
Perhaps, these are the perks of the job that ensure that productivity remains on an upward trajectory at AgustaWestland. To inspire the staff, a giant board inside the factory reads: 146 helicopters delivered in 2006, 174 delivered in 2007 and 218 delivered in 2008 from the Vergiate plant. Improved efficiency owes as much to training as probably to the working environment. And on both scores, the company is clearly delivering. It is this focus on both the software (human resources) as well as the hardware (technology) that has given AgustaWestland the confidence of claiming to be the ‘leader in a number of the world’s most important helicopter markets offering the widest range of advanced rotorcraft available for both commercial and military applications’. AgustaWestland pitches itself as a ‘total rotorcraft capability provider’ and not just a ‘helicopter manufacturing company.’ |