Editor’s note: When Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his counterpart, Geert Bourgeois, minister-president of the Flanders region of Belgium, visited Atlanta last year, aerospace wasn’t supposed to be on their list.
But apparently, the leaders weren’t concerned about adhering too strictly to their targeted industries of logistics, cybersecurity and financial technology.
Mr. Rutte took time out of a packed schedule for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Fokker Aerostructures Inc., a Dutch firm that has invested $3 million in Forest Park to make composite structures through a collaboration with defense giant Raytheon Inc. Using integrated robotics and advanced materials from Italian race car maker Dallara, Fokker was able to shave 25 percent off the cost of airframes for decoys that F-16s and other planes use in flight to confuse enemy air defenses.
Raytheon works with Fokker’s design and production teams in the Netherlands for initial product runs. They are then made at scale in Clayton County, close to the Atlanta airport. Fokker’s factory is slated to eventually create100 jobs.
Based in the city of Papendrecht, the company has worked with a who’s who of aerospace manufacturers in plants in various regions of the world. It had three quarters of a billion dollars in revenue last year and employs about 6,000 people globally.
The Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast caught up with Wim Jagtenberg, regional procurement manager at Fokker in Atlanta, as part of its series of spotlights on Dutch chamber members. The interview is reprinted with permission below with a few stylistic edits.
NACCSE: What is your business industry category or specialty?
Mr. Jagtenberg: Our business is designing and manufacturing structural parts for the civil and military aerospace industry. Our specialty is manufacturing integrated parts, ready for fitting directly on a final assembly line for any aeronautics customer, making use of Fokker composite technology within our designs and manufacturing facilities around the globe.
How do you describe your job to people outside the industry?
The aerospace industry is dynamic, always changing and very challenging due to price pressure because every individual is looking for a cheap flight. Technology and innovations are key if you would like to be successful and respected by customers.
Who are your main competitors and what differentiates you from the competition?
What makes you unique?
We believe that Fokker is making the difference because of our former (original equipment manufacturer) knowledge since we designed and built aircrafts from 1910 until 1996 in the U.S. and The Netherlands. Also Fokker is leading with our composite technology, especially on thermoplastics. Since 1996 we are designing and building integrated structural parts.
How was the business started?
In Atlanta we started a new manufacturing facility in the July 2015 timeframe. The grand opening was supported by the Dutch prime minister. Also we integrated the existing supply chain office into the same building. The reason we started manufacturing in Atlanta is because our U.S. customer agreed with Fokker to design and run first products in The Netherlands and manufacture volumes in Atlanta.
How many employees does the business have?
In total we have around 6,000 employees around the globe. In Atlanta we recruited currently 25 people, which will increase to 40 or 50 in the next years.
How did you end up in Atlanta?
Since we already had a supply chain office in Atlanta we remained in this area. Also the supply chain people are servicing six manufacturing facilities in Europe and 1 in Mexico. Time differences are important in this case and Atlanta is reasonably central from that perspective. Also Atlanta is a quick-growing area for business where qualified employees can be recruited easily.
What is your No. 1 business goal over the next year?
Our No. 1 business goal is to run excellent performance from our Atlanta plant servicing the connected manufacturing plants supporting organic growth. We are foreseeing two more significant product lines as well to come into our facility in Atlanta in the next two years and in our Mexico facility. This is mainly driven by Fokker Technology and strong performance.
What is the best advice you have received regarding doing business with the Dutch?
It is not difficult to run a business in the U.S. for Dutch people, but we have to respect certain domestic rules and while living in the U.S.; that is quickly understood. In the aerospace business a personal relationehip is very important and required to be successful.
Any other personal information you would like to share, e.g. hobbies, special interests, family, etc…
My wife and I both arrived in Atlanta June 2015 and we really appreciate living here. We like being active on our mountain bikes as well as trying to visit all of the most important and interesting places in U.S. in the next years.
Contact Mr. Jagtenberg at Wim.Jagtenberg@fokker-usa.com or on LinkedIn here. Learn more about the company at www.fokker.com.
