TAL to make floor beams for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

07 February 2008

Mumbai: The Boeing Company has announced that it has entered into an agreement with India-based TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Ltd., for the manufacture of structural components for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner airplane program.

Under the agreement, TAL Manufacturing Solutions will build floor beams for the 787 using new technology with advanced titanium and composite materials. These floor beams will be used on the 787 Dreamliner and provide for a best-value solution and significant weight savings.

''Boeing is proud to welcome Tata into its family of world-class aerospace suppliers and we are confident that this partnership will help Boeing and Tata leverage mutual best-value capabilities,'' said Carolyn Corvi, vice president and general manager of Airplane Programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. ''This partnership between Boeing and Tata will further increase the value of the 787 to our customers, helping make it the world's leading commercial airplane.''

TAL is India's premier manufacturing solutions provider to the automotive and auto-ancillary industry with revenues over $36 million. Its origins can be traced back to the mid 1960's, though TAL was formed by the merger of the resources of the Machine Tool and Growth Divisions of the Tata Motors – Pune facility in March, 2000.

The floor beams for the 787 airplane will be produced at TAL's new facility in Nagpur, India, and then transported to Boeing partners in Japan, Italy and the United States for further assembly.

''The production of Boeing's structural components by TAL indicates technical and manufacturing excellence within the Group,'' said Ravi Kant, chairman, TAL and managing director, Tata Motors Ltd. ''We believe that this agreement has the potential to develop into a more broad-based alliance that would enable both organizations to utilize the best and most competitive resources within themselves and thereby offer greater value to customers.''