Aircraft systems maker Latécoère is marking its 100^th anniversary on June 21. The Toulouse-based company will use the Paris Air Show as an opportunity to highlight its latest achievements (Hall 2b Stand C185).

Prominent among the new equipment on display is a prototype for a new electrically-controlled aircraft door called the Next Generation Equipped Door (NextGED), which was unveiled for the first time at the More Electric Aircraft convention held in Bordeaux. According to Latécoère, the electrical controls (replacing mechanical controls) make opening and closing the door easier and more reliable in all weather conditions.

“An [aircraft] door is subject to many constraints, such as how safely it opens in the case of a crash or when weather conditions are extreme,” explained Serge Bérenger, innovation and research director at Latécoère. There still work to be done on the cost of such a door, and its weight. The company plans to make the technology available for new generation aircraft only, since the cost of retrofitting them is prohibitive.

Also on display by Latécoère this week at Le Bourget is a video surveillance system that allows flight crew to see who is outside the aircraft door. The company has developed new cabling for areas such as landing gear and engines that need to withstand extreme temperatures and vibration. It also is introducing new ways to organize, install and support cabling using automation.

The French company is a specialist in technology for connecting aircraft systems, which accounts for just over one third of its revenues (which reached €665 million, or just under $735 million in 2016). Most of the rest of its business comes from aerostructures (such as doors and fuselage sections).

Mitsubishi Aircraft recently selected Latécoère as a partner to provide the electrical wiring interconnect system for its MRJ regional airliner. The partnership has been tasked with solving various problems that the Japanese airframer has encountered with the wiring architecture for the program.

Under the leadership of CEO Yannick Assouad, Latécoère seems to have turned around a financial situation that had been somewhat challenging in recent years. In 2016, revenues increased by 5.3 percent and operating profits leapt up by 153 percent to €47.9 million ($53.9 million). In fact, aerostructures income declined by 4.4 percent, while that from cabling grew by 10.1 percent.

“This is the result of our 2020 transformation plan, which is reinforcing our competitiveness,” said Bérenger. One key aspect of the 2020 plan is the construction in the Toulouse area of a highly automated factory that is capable of producing 600,000 door components each year with around 150 personnel. Numerous individual tasks have been automated, and the factory is largely operated by a digital network.

“Our objective is to achieve a 10-fold reduction in the production cycle time, compared to today’s low-cost factories,” stated Bérenger. The new factory is due to enter service at the start of 2018 and will replace current manufacturing operations in North Africa, the Czech Republic and Poland.