B/E Aerospace, a leading manufacturer of cabin interior products for commercial aircraft and business jets, recently selected Donnelly as the injection molder for a variety of first-class and business-class aircraft seats.

"B/E Aerospace sought out Donnelly because of its innovative tool change processes and material delivery systems which enable them to produce short-runs," stated Janice Kandefer, VP Strategic Supply Chain Management, B/E Aerospace.  "Donnelly's innovation and expertise provide us a high level of confidence they can meet B/E's requirements."

Donnelly was awarded the business in the early stages of part design, and was therefore integrally involved in concurrent design phase of this program.  In this way, Donnelly was able to ensure the parts were designed for optimum moldability and part aesthetics were not sacrificed. They were able to recommend and identify the number of gates and their locations, hiding all knit and flow lines in areas not visible to passengers.

The first phase of the project was awarded to Donnelly in October, 2006 and involved more than 40 part numbers and the building of 21 molds. Assembly of these seats, which serve three different aircraft, begins this May.

Based in Alexandria, Minn., Donnelly’s 230 employees are dedicated to setting the standards in the custom injection-molding marketplace for “How Short Run Is Done.” The company’s focus is on providing its OEM customers with value added engineering, and highly customized manufacturing and customer support services.  A strong customer service orientation ensures outstanding customer satisfaction.
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