Aerospace & Defense

Overview

L.E.K. Consulting’s Aerospace & Defense practice has a 30-year legacy of working with clients to drive innovation and growth across all aspects of this large and diverse industry sector. Public and private aerospace equipment, aerospace aftermarket, defense industrial base and defense procurement organizations rely on our strategic counsel to identify and exploit new opportunities, improve existing operations, and develop strategies and processes to secure successful positions in highly competitive contracts.

We assist clients with their strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, product development strategy, contract economics, commercial bid and procurement strategies, procurement systems reform, and global market evaluation. Our work results in accelerated decision-making for our clients across diverse segments of the aerospace and defense industry, serving organizations involved in aerospace equipment, the aerospace aftermarket, the defense industrial base and defense procurement. We are also the No. 1 strategic advisor to the aviation industry worldwide; we have completed more than 500 air-transportation projects across aerospace and defense, airlines, airports, and travel.

We help clients address their needs in the following areas:

Aerospace aftermarket consulting

Our strengths in financial modeling, negotiation support and contract pricing guide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service providers and senior executives in the aerospace industry to reduce costs and to price contracts effectively for a competitive advantage. We also advise clients on how to expand their aftermarket activities to enhance their topline growth and market reach.

Aerospace equipment consulting

We have a well-deserved reputation for providing quality analysis that helps aerospace equipment companies develop portfolio strategies that drive growth. We also help our clients improve their manufacturing performance and develop new businesses.

Defense industrial base consulting

We are a trusted advisor to governments as well as public and private clients on projects involving industrial assets that are of direct or indirect importance in the manufacturing of equipment to provide critical national military capability. We combine strategic analysis with operational, financial and risk modeling to empower our defense clients to respond to rapidly changing market forces and requirements.

Defense procurement consulting

Defense expenditure is a major commitment of public money in many countries, but processes to convert spending to effective outputs have proved very difficult to achieve. L.E.K. has been called upon to undertake high-profile and impactful assignments in the defense industry —including reviews of government spending as well as evaluations of major changes in the structure and operation of defense agency procurement. Our work has also focused on improving the effectiveness of the interfaces among the armed forces customer, delivery agency and industry tasked with developing and delivering capability.

Examples of our work

To learn more about how we help clients create value in the aerospace and defense sector, please refer to these additional insights and case examples:

• A major Asian carrier commissioned L.E.K. to improve the efficiency of its maintenance process. We re-engineered the airline’s internal MRO practices, which resulted in a net recovery of three aircraft in each maintenance cycle.

• A niche landing-gear manufacturer engaged L.E.K. to develop a strategy to supply the commercial, business aviation and helicopter markets. L.E.K. also assessed opportunities in adjacent segments such as hydraulic systems and identified and analyzed acquisition targets.

• L.E.K. scoped out the design-and-build strategy for a class of naval combat ships on behalf of an industrial client. The factors included overall demand, capability and build-strategy assumptions, site options, purpose and activities, investment options, decision criteria and phasing, and organizational design.

• A government ministry and munitions manufacturer employed L.E.K. to conduct an independent review of its contract to supply medium-, heavy- and small-arms ammunition at a benchmark price. L.E.K.’s analysis uncovered assumptions in the contract that resulted in a misunderstanding of the agreed price, and helped negotiate a new agreement between the two parties.

• An MRO provider engaged L.E.K. to support the renegotiation of a long-term MRO service agreement for maintenance and supply to a major European government’s defense department. Working with L.E.K., the client demonstrated that its costs were competitive, and that productivity targets could be achieved within the existing contract structure. The client successfully renegotiated its contract, worth over $100 million.

• In a separate engagement, L.E.K. devised a business plan to grow the international air-traffic-control business of a U.S. aviation agency based on its assessment of the global and regional trends in this sector.

• L.E.K. worked with an industrial client to identify how a consortium bidding to deliver military technical training can modernize the curriculum and facilities to provide better integration, responsiveness, alignment and cost-effectiveness.

• L.E.K. supported the U.K. Ministry of Defence and Bernard Gray in a wide-ranging and independent review of defense acquisition with the intent of making “recommendations to secure better value for money in major acquisition programs.” Working with the review team, our experts provided high-quality, objective and independent analytical work that helped the review meet its brief.

• In partnership with the world’s largest aerospace company, L.E.K. assessed the Middle East MRO marketplace and developed a business plan for support services and a joint-venture operation.

• L.E.K. helped a major general aviation OEM identify a gap in the personal-/business-aircraft market and design and launch a new aircraft based on an existing platform to target this gap. The new aircraft was a major success for the company, becoming one of its leading products and profit centers.

• L.E.K. examined the structural attractiveness and competitive dynamics of the aerospace ERO sector for a U.K. aerospace/automotive client and assessed the dynamics of individual engine component repair opportunities (plasma arc welding, brazing, etc.).

• A major tier 1 supplier asked L.E.K. to help develop a new system concept to support a supply-contract bid for a new wide-body commercial airframe program. Leveraging our deep experience working with airline clients, we helped the company define new features and capabilities for the system as well as quantify the incremental value creation these capabilities would offer. We also supported the company in developing its negotiation strategy for the contract.