The Middle East is now a key growth market for supply chain and logistics specialist Farsound Aviation (Stand 2235). The UK-based group recently appointed Jameel Ul Rahman as its new Abu Dhabi-based business development manager.

It is now more than three years since Farsound Aviation was established as a parts supply business alongside its sister company Farsound Engineering, which does machined and sheet metal fabrication. The company found that manufacturing clients were increasingly asking for parts such as gaskets, fasteners and bearings that went with these sub-assemblies and that led it into the service and support sector.

“We are very engine-focused, and engines account for about 90 percent of our [spares and parts] business,” explained Farsound Aviation managing director David Skinner. “Service is what sets us apart. Maintenance, repair and overhaul work is very erratic and parts needs are hard to predict, so we work closely to understand what our customers will need and hold the right inventory for them, in some cases at their own facilities.”

Farsound holds AS9100 certification, as well as approvals from individual customers like Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. This means the company is accredited to buy parts from these manufacturers, helping to achieve a parts availability rate of more than 99 percent most of the time. In the UAE, its main customer today is engine support group TS&S (formerly ADAT).

“The art of this business is knowing what customers need before they know it and being one step ahead, which takes a lot of cost out of the process in terms of money and time,” concluded Skinner.