Bell Helicopter Awards $2.5 M Contract To Placeteco

Placeteco Inc. will be designing and manufacturing the interior of the Bell Model 429 Global Ranger for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limited (BHTCL), a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company. Evaluated at $2.5M, this mandate is for a five-year period and should provide employment to some 50 workers. BHTCL is proud to maximize the talent of Québec-based suppliers and further contribute to Québec's economic and regional development.

"Placeteco is a prime example of what BHTCL and the entire aerospace industry is in search of from its suppliers: a player who is able to deliver a final integrated product which will save us from having to manage several suppliers who are working on one and the same project. The scope of our international sales and tempo of our product development projects depend in part on this integration," stated Jacques St-Laurent, President, BHTCL.

According to Serge Francoeur, Placeteco's General Manager, "Obtaining this mandate to develop and manufacture composites for the interior of the Bell 429 aircraft will drive our design and development know-how even further. This results from the quality of the work handcrafted by all our employees and the excellent relationship we have succeeded in developing with our long time customer, Bell Helicopter."

"BHTCL encourages and will continue to encourage its Québec-based suppliers. A partner for some ten years now, Placeteco has once again broken away from the pack thanks to the skills and state-of-the-art expertise it is channelling into its Bell 429 mandate," added Michael Mancuso, Director, Supply Chain Management and Global Sourcing at BHTCL.

Development of the Bell 429 is moving full steam ahead and is on schedule. More than 200 orders and commitments have already been placed world-wide and a first flight of this model should be taking place in upcoming weeks. -- www.cnxmarketlink.com