The Aerospace Industry

109 Pages·2011·5.57 MB·Portuguese

The Aerospace Industry: a Descriptive and Prospective
Empirical Analysis for Portugal

Anabela Costa Reis

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em
Engenharia Aeroespacial

Júri
Presidente:
Prof. Doutor João Manuel Lage de Miranda Lemos
Orientador:
Prof. Doutor António Miguel Areias Dias Amaral
Vogal:
Prof. Doutor Pedro Manuel Urbano de Almeida Lima
Vogal
Eng. Francisco Silveira Botelho de Vilhena da Cunha

Dezembro 2011

Resumo
E
ste trabalho tem por objectivo propor alguns elementos centrais para a compreensão do
sector aeroespacial, em particular em Portugal. Através de um estudo empírico, baseado
na sistematização e análise de dados secundários, bem como a criação e tratamento de dados
primários abrangendo as organizações que operam em Portugal e que participam ou
pretendem vir a participar no sector aeroespacial, esta tese pretende contribuir para colmatar a
falta de conhecimento sobre a indústria aeroespacial portuguesa. Para tal, desenvolveu-se uma
caracterização geral da indústria, mais especificamente, uma análise comparativa entre as
empresas mais importantes para o sector aeroespacial em Portugal e as restantes
organizações que estão a tentar entrar nesta competitiva indústria.
Os resultados principais sugerem que as principais empresas portuguesas com actividade no
sector aeroespacial apresentam diferenças estatisticamente significativas relativamente às
restantes em termos de actividades de I&D e marketing desenvolvidas. Além disso, as
organizações-chave parecem cooperar mais com outras empresas e instituições. Os presentes
resultados acerca das diferentes características das organizações contribuem para a discussão
ao nível académico, ao nível da gestão organizacional das próprias organizações e no apoio à
formulação de políticas públicas direccionadas para uma indústria tão complexa como a
aeroespacial.

Palavras-Chave: Indústria Aeroespacial, Portugal, Aeronáutica, Espaço.

I

Abstract
T
his dissertation aims at providing some key elements for understanding the aerospace
sector, particularly in Portugal. Through an empirical study, based on secondary data
systematization and analysis and primary data treatment, covering the organizations that
operate in Portugal and that contribute or aim to contribute for the aerospace sector, this
dissertation aims at contributing to fill the gap of knowledge about the Portuguese aerospace
industry. A general characterization of the aerospace industry is therefore developed, with
particular focus on a comparative analysis between the main key-players in the aerospace
sector in Portugal and all the other companies that are trying to enter this competitive industry.
The main results suggest that major Portuguese companies with activity in the aerospace sector
present significant statistical differences from the remaining in terms of R&D development and
marketing activities. Moreover, core aerospace organizations seem to cooperate more with
other companies or institutions. Results on different characteristics and outputs among
aerospace organizations bring contributions at different levels, namely, to the academic
discussion on the topic; to organizational management and also to help guiding policy making
and the design of specific public policies aimed at such a complex industry like the aerospace.

Keywords: Aerospace Industry, Portugal, Aeronautics, Space.

III

Acknowledgements
F
irstly, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Professor Miguel
Amaral for all the unceasing support and availability through this investigation work. I
would like to show my deepest appreciation to Francisco Vilhena da Cunha for the valuable
highlights about this subject, providing me the support that I needed. I also would like to express
my gratitude to Professor Agostinho Fonseca for helping me to gather the necessary
information. I also would like to give a very special thanks to everyone at NEP, for all the tips
and tricks, and for the wonderful working experience.
This work has never been possible without the help of all the surveyed/interviewed companies
and institutions, whose kindness and interest was crucial to this work.
I also would like to show my deepest appreciation to INTELI, in special to Pedro Filipe for
putting considerable effort into earlier phases of the work. I am equally grateful to Emir Sirage
and Luís Serina for all the valuable insights about the space industry.
I wish to thank all my Friends, not colleagues, to whom I would be eternally grateful for
supporting me throughout the past years.
Finally, I would like to thank my family for their love and their never ending support through my
whole life and to the one who was at my side through this thesis.

V

Table of Contents

Resumo .......................................................................................................................................... I
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ III
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... V
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ VII
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ XI
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. XIII
List of Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... XVII
Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Motivation ......................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Research problem and thesis’ contribution ...................................................................... 2
1.3 Thesis Outline ................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 2 Aerospace Sector ......................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Structure of the aerospace sector .................................................................................... 7
2.2 International Context ........................................................................................................ 9
2.2.1 Turnover .............................................................................................................. 11
2.2.2 Exports ................................................................................................................ 12
2.2.3 R&D Expenditures ............................................................................................... 13
2.2.4 Employment ......................................................................................................... 14
2.3 An outlook for Portugal ................................................................................................... 14
2.3.1 Public Policies ..................................................................................................... 14
2.3.2 Relevant Projects and Agreements ..................................................................... 16
2.3.3 Market Structure and Evolution ........................................................................... 19
VII
Chapter 3 Data and Methodology ............................................................................................... 25
3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................ 25
3.2 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 26
3.2.1 Secondary data ................................................................................................... 26
3.2.2 Primary data ........................................................................................................ 29
3.3 Sample ............................................................................................................................ 31
Chapter 4 Results ........................................................................................................................ 33
4.1 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................. 33
4.1.1 Respondents Profile ............................................................................................ 34
4.1.2 Entrepreneurial Profile ......................................................................................... 34
4.1.3 Organizations’ main characteristics ..................................................................... 37
4.1.4 Organizations’ socioeconomic information .......................................................... 40
4.1.5 Innovation in the aerospace sector ..................................................................... 46
4.1.6 Aerospace sector evolution ................................................................................. 50
4.2 Aerospace key-players in Portugal: a statistical analysis ............................................... 52
4.2.1 Organizations’ main characteristics ..................................................................... 53
4.2.2 Organizations’ socioeconomic information .......................................................... 54
4.2.3 Innovation in the aerospace sector ..................................................................... 55
4.2.4 Aerospace Sector Evolution ................................................................................ 57
Chapter 5 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................. 59
5.1 The Portuguese aerospace sector key drivers ............................................................... 60
5.2 Main scenarios for the aerospace sector in Portugal ..................................................... 61
5.3 Limitations and Further Work ......................................................................................... 62
References .................................................................................................................................. 65
Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 71
I. ASD country members ................................................................................................... 71
II. DANOTEC associated organizations ............................................................................. 72
III. Portuguese Aerospace Organizations ............................................................................ 73
IV. Company Questionnaire ................................................................................................. 77
V. Institution Questionnaire ................................................................................................. 81
VI. Email sent with the questionnaire ................................................................................... 85
VIII