Melbourne SME Production Parts has gone into voluntary administration citing lack of work and the strong Australian dollar as key contributing factors.
Managing Director Peter Nicholls has confirmed the business is for sale.
Production Parts was one of the first Australian SMEs to win work on the Systems Development and Demonstration (SDD) Phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program, manufacturing components for both the F-35 aircraft and the F-135 and F136 engines.
The company had also won contracts to manufacture Super Hornet components for Boeing as well as for the Tiger ARH and MRH 90 helicopters (for Eurocopter) and MU90 lightweight torpedo for Thales.
Peter Nicholls had become a standard bearer for Australia’s defence and aerospace SME sector, and particularly the smart, high-technology firms competing worldwide to win export orders in the Global Supply Chains of the major prime contractors.
He told ADM a general slow-down in defence spending had been compounded by factors such as the cancellation of the Rolls-Royce-GE F136 engine program and, in particular, Australia’s extremely strong dollar which had undermined the competitiveness of local firms in the global market.
It’s understood Production Parts is not alone in its travails.
Industry sources say half a dozen SMEs have gone into voluntary administration in Victoria alone over the past year or so, while other businesses such as the Australian subsidiary of UK firm Dytecna have closed their doors completely.
The news of Production Parts troubles spread quickly, generating a wave of sympathy towards the firm, which is widely respected for its innovation and technical and marketing strengths.
But what it needs, like other companies in the same sector, is the promise of more work, soon.