In an effort to better serve customers, Ascent is consolidating the engineering teams from its longstanding Michigan businesses, Global Tooling Systems, Odyssey Industries, Brown Aerospace and Ascent Integration – North America into an Engineering Center of Excellence at its Macomb campus. This consolidated team will build on the existing strength of each organization’s engineering and design capability and bring it together under one roof for improved collaboration, process standardization, and manufacturing support. The size of the engineering team will be increased throughout 2018 and beyond, due to the high demand for complex integrated systems. The new Engineering Center of Excellence will compliment Ascent Engineering in Bothell, Washington, which was established as Ascent’s original Engineering Center of Excellence in 2013. The Bothell office has recently expanded its office space to accommodate a rapidly growing engineering team there as well.
The combined activities are part of a broader effort to harmonize activities across Ascent. Combining work streams across the company will improve planning, reduce outsourcing, lead to consistent work practices, and facilitate cross training. According to Michael Mahfet, CEO of Ascent Aerospace, “By leveraging our footprint, and standardizing our heritage expertise and work processes, we can serve customers at a much higher level and create a better working environment for our teams.”
Under Mahfet’s leadership, Ascent’s facilities across the portfolio have united around common goals and shared best practices. These changes have enabled Ascent to better serve OEM, Tier 1 and Tier 2 customers in the commercial aerospace, business aviation, defense, space launch and satellite industries.