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Triumph Group Completes Acquisition and Improves Training
Wayne,
PA – June 2, 2003 – Triumph
Group, Inc. (NYSE:TGI) announced today completion
of the purchase of the assets of Parker
Hannifin’s United
Aircraft Products Division, located in Forest, Ohio. The
acquired business, renamed Triumph Thermal Systems, Inc., (TTS)
is projected to add approximately $17 million of revenue for the
ten months of fiscal 2004 and be accretive to earnings.
About
130 employees at the Forest plant will now work for Triumph
Thermal Systems. Established in 1929, the company specializes in
the design, development, manufacture, sale and service of heat
exchangers for the aerospace industry. Products
include Plate Fin, Tubular, and Surface Heat Exchangers, Liquid
Cooling Systems, Electronic Cooling Systems, Oil Reservoirs and
High Temperature Bleed Air ECS Heat Exchangers. The company also
operates a FAA certified repair station in Forest. Triumph
Thermal Systems will become part of the Triumph Aerospace
Systems Group.
Richard
C. Ill, President and Chief Executive Officer of Triumph Group,
Inc. said, "We are pleased to have acquired Triumph Thermal
Systems. The technology and proprietary products of
Triumph Thermal Systems, which provides temperature-conditioning
solutions through specialized heat transfer technologies, are
complementary to other products supplied by our Aerospace
Systems Group and expand the products and services we can offer
our hydraulic systems customers. We are also pleased
that the company will continue to be led by Michael Perhay and
his management team. We sincerely appreciate the
efforts made by all parties, including United
Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers,
Local 1033, to enable us to complete this transaction.”
WELDER
TRAINING AT TRIUMPH RESULTS IN COST-SAVINGS
Harry
Lamoreaux, Materials Process Engineer has been working to
improve the welder training program within the Forest, Ohio
plant.
Precision welding is a critical process in the production
of the custom engineered heat exchangers made at the facility.
“Formerly,
newly hired welders would take about 120 days of on-the-job
training in the plant to meet the standards as they learned
techniques from the older employees,” says Harry.
“They would pick up bad habits along the way.
Working with Hobart Institute of Welding Technology, we
have received consistent, high quality training and have reduced
that training time to as little as 23 days, thus saving the
company approximately $20,000 per person.
The formal Hobart training also introduces trainees to
best practices in safety, technology and proven welding
techniques.”
TTS
now uses a three-step process to train new welders.
This includes an initial in-house evaluation by Mr.
Lamoreaux.
They are then enrolled in a two-week Basic
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding course at Hobart.
Following the GTAW training, they receive a few days of
specialized training as they work with Inconel®, aluminum, and
stainless steel and then must each pass seven certification
tests administered by the Hobart Institute certification staff
based on the American Welding
Society standard AWS D17.1-2001 Specification
for Fusion Welding for Aerospace Applications.
Preliminary
results on the effectiveness of the formalized welding program
are very encouraging.
The operators have improved on yields through X-ray, die
penetrant and visual inspections.
Production is very pleased with the flexibility of the
welders and compare them favorably to the 40-year welders they
have replaced.
Harry
himself was Hobart-trained, so he knows well the quality of
training his employees are receiving.
“In
1974, I came to Hobart and took basic oxyacetylene and shielded
metal arc welding.
I then went to work and some ten years later returned to
take the rest of the program,” Harry continues.
“As recently as 2001, I earned the AWS certification
for Certified Welding Inspectors and Educators following the
HIWT course, Preparation
for AWS CWI/CWE Welding Inspector/Educator Examination.”
Triumph
Group, Inc. headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, designs,
engineers, manufactures, repairs and overhauls aircraft
components and industrial gas turbine components and
accessories. The
Company serves a broad, worldwide spectrum of the aviation
industry, including commercial airlines and air cargo carriers,
as well as original equipment manufacturers of aircraft and
aircraft components and power generation equipment. The
Company also distributes, processes and fabricates metal
products.
The
Triumph Group, Inc. employs approximately 4,000 people in 41
operating locations, 19 states, and two countries.
More information about Triumph can be found on the World
Wide Web Site at http://www.triumphgroup.com.
Statements which are not historical facts, including statements
regarding the effect of this acquisition on the Company’s
sales growth in the aircraft manufacturing industry and
aftermarket and its ability to successfully take advantage of
new manufacturing systems, contained in this release are
forward-looking statements under the provision of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
including statements regarding the outlook for continued
opportunities for future growth. The company wishes
to caution readers that several important factors could affect
the company’s actual results and could cause its actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward
looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the company. Further
information regarding the important factors that could cause
actual results to differ from projected results can be found in
Triumph’s reports filed with the SEC, including our Form 10-K
for the year ended March 31, 2002.
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