Abu Dhabi: About 86 per cent of Strata Manufacturing’s Emirati workforce, which makes up about half the company, are women, according to Badr Al Olama, the CEO of the company.
“We’ve seen a huge growth, unprecedented. You can check any aero structure factory around the world and none of them have 86 per cent of their local population being women.”
“I believe it will be a bigger trend globally to actually bring in women into the world of manufacturing and contribute to stuff that probably years ago would not have imagined in aerospace manufacturing.”
The company which was set up in 2009 has more than 700 people working for it, with nearly 50 per cent of them being Emiratis.
Currently more than 400 people working at the shop floor, 200 of which are Emiratis.
The work involves handling sensitive material with trimming and cutting parts with specialised equipment. The manufactured parts undergo rigorous testing so that there are no defects, according to the company
Key facts about Strata:
* Built in Al Ain in 2009, the facility has 31,500 square metres of productive floor space
* Strate is focused on build-to-print production of primary and secondary aero-structures using advanced composite materials
* Delivered its first ship set in September 2010 — the A330/340 Flap Track Fairings (FTF) to FACC
Research & Development:
* Created Research & Development (R&D) department in 2015
* Six projects underway with the Masdar Institute, Khalifa University and the Petroleum institute
* Current projects include the development of specific technologies related to the robotic assembly of aircraft structures, advanced inspection techniques and optimised processing and machining of composite parts.
