SAESL : Powering Flight, Connecting People

Through diversification, expansion, and innovation, SAESL has been redefining standards of service for 25 years. CEO, Chris Pattinson, tells us how the company has become an indispensable component of the Singapore aerospace ecosystem, keeping airlines flying to connect the world

POWERING FLIGHT, CONNECTING PEOPLE

At a time when the global aviation industry continues to grow at pace and new players are entering the market, SAESL stands out as one of the pioneers in the sector, with 25 years of experience, pedigree, and excellence behind it.

The company represents a joint venture (JV) between Rolls-Royce and SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC).

Today, the business finds itself at a unique point in its history as this year marks its 25th anniversary, which is a hugely important and proud milestone for everyone involved.

“SAESL was incorporated in early 1999, inducted its first engine in 2001, and recently delivered its 5,000th engine from the production line, marking the occasion with a major celebration,” introduces Chris Pattinson, CEO.

At present, the company hosts around 2,500 employees and serves customers worldwide, giving it a genuinely global reach rather than a purely regional presence.

Having started in 2001 with around 200 employees in a single factory, the company is now on a journey that will see it operate eight factories across Singapore, further cementing its position as the world’s largest maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility for Rolls-Royce Trent engines.

The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines known for models like the Trent 900, Trent 1000, Trent 7000, and Trent XWB.

Derived from the three-spool architecture of their predecessor, the Rolls-Royce RB211, these engines power a wide range of modern long-range and wide-body commercial aircraft.

Currently, approximately 25 percent of the world’s Rolls-Royce Trent engines pass through SAESL, propelling aircraft such as the Airbus A380, A330neo, and A350, as well as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

A REGION ON THE RISE

Right now, the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is a huge growth market for aviation, including India, China, and the wider Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

Singapore sits at the apex of that growth and is widely recognised as a thriving epicentre for the aviation sector.

“You only have to look at the country’s ambition in aviation, including the construction and commencement of Changi Airport Terminal 5, a massive, 1,080-hectare (ha) mega-terminal which is expected to double air traffic in Singapore by the mid-2030s,” Pattinson excites.

This level of ambition and investment creates major opportunities for engine MRO manufacturers such as SAESL.

“From our location here, we are surrounded by many of the biggest players in the aviation sector, which reflects the strength and energy of the industry in Singapore.”

For SAESL, being based here is a significant advantage because the regional growth is substantial and there is a real sense of buoyancy across the market.

As Pattinson is keen to point out, another important factor is the nation’s overall stability.

“Having worked in the US and extensively across Europe, I can see that Singapore offers a strong foundation built on political and economic stability. That matters enormously in a long-cycle business such as ours,” he adds.

With a government that is genuinely pro-business, the speed at which SAESL can mobilise, change, and adapt to macroeconomic trends, as well as internal trends, is vital to the company’s success to date.

These favourable attributes allow the company to remain nimble and react to any fluctuating industry trends and developments it encounters.

“That is undoubtedly why the growth we are seeing across the MRO sector in APAC is so strong right now,” affirms Pattinson.

STABILITY AND TALENT

During a product lifecycle, an engine is built, fitted to an aircraft, and flown for several years before returning for planned maintenance, after which it goes back into service.

These engines last for decades, so operating in a stable environment is extremely valuable to companies such as SAESL.

“When you combine stability with the growth taking place across the region, Singapore becomes a powerful place to position SAESL,” Pattinson confirms.

Elsewhere, technology is another major trend right now, and Singapore, including government agencies such as the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), is strongly pro-business, which is particularly important in today’s rapidly changing world.

Companies face pressures now that did not exist before, so being in a business environment that supports progress, growth, and innovation is a real advantage.

“It is a pleasure to do business in Singapore alongside like-minded partners who share a high level of ambition and pace,” he gushes.

Finally, the most important ingredient of SAESL’s location is the people.

Indeed, Singapore has a strong and plentiful talent base, supported by its universities, polytechnics, and institutes of technical education.

“This rich and diverse pool of talent adds real value to companies such as SAESL, particularly in high-end aerospace manufacturing. We have access to highly capable people, which is exciting, especially as artificial intelligence (AI) and other new aerospace technologies emerge over the next decade,” enthuses Pattinson.

Undoubtedly, being positioned in Singapore gives SAESL a strong platform for future success.

NEXT PHASE OF GROWTH

Over the past 25 years, SAESL has delivered 5,000 engines, but this is just the beginning of its next phase.

“We’re now in the process of undergoing a bold transformation of the company and investing USD$190 million to increase our production capacity to 400 engines per year,” Pattinson reveals.

This ambitious target represents a 40 percent increase in engines coming off the production line, as well as a doubling of the work content in the factory.

SAESL is building two new factories in Singapore, a development which is hugely exciting for Pattinson.

“We’re also growing our team from 2,000 employees to 2,500, creating 500 new skilled jobs across the wider ecosystem. That is a real testament to the success and foundations we have built over the past 25 years,” he emphasises.

Alongside, the company is driving significant technological development across the business.

This involves introducing high levels of automation and AI across the company, implementing new systems and enterprise planning capabilities, and advancing repair technology.

“I am really proud of our teams because we are developing some of the most advanced repair technologies that exist today – there are only a handful of companies in the world that can do what we do.”

Through the company’s links in Singapore, including with the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), SAESL has made huge strides in areas such as additive manufacturing.

“This allows the repair of different engine components using laser powder, 3D printing, and additive manufacturing technologies that, quite frankly, do not exist amongst many of our competitors,” Pattinson acclaims.

These advancements are currently being applied across different areas of the company, and much of it is enabled by two key factors.

The first is that SAESL is differentiated by having Rolls-Royce, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), as its partner. The second is being located in Singapore, where there is highly capable talent and a pro-business government that has enabled the establishment of world-class research labs.

“We have a hugely exciting journey ahead, and it is important we continue on that path because this is setting up the next 25 years of SAESL’s success,” he sets out.

RESPONDING TO ADVERSITY

Pattinson knows that running a company brings challenges every day at different scales.

“Clearly, the decisions we took as the world navigated the COVID-19 pandemic were hugely important, particularly because the aviation sector was so heavily impacted as countries across the world closed their borders,” he reflects.

Global air passenger numbers plunged from over 4.5 billion in 2019 to roughly 1.8 billion in 2020, a drop of over 60 percent.

The pandemic caused the most severe disruption in aviation history, resulting in an unprecedented collapse in passenger traffic, trillions in lost revenue, and permanent changes to global flight operations.

Such challenges are not taken lightly by SAESL and, amid current global tensions – particularly in the Middle East – there are further obstacles to overcome.

“SAESL is a JV between Rolls-Royce in the UK and SIAEC in Singapore, so we do a huge amount of trade between those two countries.

“We have millions of parts moving across the world in order to rebuild jet engines and put them back into service. As a result, we have had to take prudent measures to deal with the effects of inflation and escalation in fuel prices over the short term,” he explains.

The company is well-positioned to respond in this way because SAESL is creating a business built on fantastic people, outstanding technology, and strong capabilities, which has enabled it to remain resilient.

“Looking ahead to the next 18 months, despite such challenges, we are continuing to invest USD$190 million in our company and our people because we can see the growth that will come on the back of that investment.”

Moreover, with a firm belief in a long-term vision and resilience baked into the fabric of the company, SAESL is ready to respond to any new challenge.

MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENT

Reflecting on SAESL’s 25-year anniversary this year, Pattinson believes it is important to celebrate what this milestone means in terms of legacy and what the company is ultimately striving for.

“I think the single word that encapsulates this milestone is pride. Everyone here is incredibly proud, and I think this marker is a testament to the teams that came before us, as well as the ones we have here today,” Pattinson says.

It is also testament to the partnership between Rolls-Royce and SIAEC, bringing together two of the most iconic brands globally to create real excellence.

Equally as crucial to the company’s ongoing success is the synergistic partnership between the UK and Singapore.

“When you boil it down to what it means to me personally, and what it means to our team, it is about people and continuity. We are celebrating many long-service awards this year, and many of our team members are also marking their 25-year anniversaries with the company.”

This tells its own story and shows that SAESL’s employees enjoy working at the company, there is a great culture, and its people can see a bright future and want to stay.

“We have staff here who have been with us quite literally from day one, so it’s an extremely proud year for us and a hugely transformative time. However, this is not the end – it is just the beginning,” states Pattinson.

Having delivered 5,000 engines in 25 years, the company is resolute in its promise to deliver the next 1,000 engines in just three.

“This gives you a sense of the scale of the expansion and the growth we see in the company, the market, and across APAC. This is a really proud moment, one where we can all stand tall and hold our heads high.”

A PERSONAL JOURNEY

Pattinson has been on a journey through the aerospace sector for more than 20 years, leading to his current position as CEO of SAESL.

In a career that can be viewed through the lens of two distinct halves, he studied engineering at university, then graduated and joined Rolls-Royce, where he spent the first 10 years in a variety of engineering roles, initially in the defence sector, working on global defence applications and highly technical projects.

“Over time, however, you start to understand what you enjoy most and where your strengths lie.

“After around a decade, I became Engineering Director for some of the production facilities and realised I got a great deal of energy from working with people – that was when I began to transition into business and more commercially focused leadership roles,” he recalls.

For the past 10 to 15 years, Pattinson has been running different groups of factories and companies across Rolls-Royce.

Throughout the last seven years, he has overseen new production lines for Rolls-Royce in the UK, Germany, and in Singapore.

That journey ultimately brought him to SAESL, where he now has the huge honour of leading the company as CEO.

“Looking back, during those 10 years in the technical domain, I was also fortunate to have some quite unique opportunities throughout my career. One example is the Airbus A350, one of the most popular aircraft in the wide-body market, and the Trent XWB, the Rolls-Royce engine that powers it.

“I was fortunate enough to be selected to work on one of the very first Trent XWB engines ever built,” he highlights.

Pattinson also spent around two years living in the US, working at a NASA test base in Mississippi where Rolls-Royce has an outdoor engine test stand.

Based in the Deep South, he worked on a site where NASA tests rocket propulsion systems and Rolls-Royce tests next-generation jet engines.

“It was a fantastic and hugely exciting experience that gave me deep technical familiarity with the engine. When I step back now, I can really see how that experience connects to the role I have today,” he remembers fondly.

“When I recently flew from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), I saw a huge number of Trent XWB engines in operation. Those were the earliest versions I was involved in building, designing, and testing.”

To now see around 1,500 of those engines flying around the world, with many hundreds of them coming through the facility, really brings Pattinson’s story full circle.

“I have a deep connection with these machines as I have spent a great deal of my career working with them, and I am hugely proud to be leading the largest MRO facility for Rolls-Royce Trent engines globally,” he prides.

INVESTMENT IN PEOPLE

As the company expands and enters an exciting period of growth, Pattinson tells us that the single most crucial factor in maintaining a culture of success is the people at SAESL.

“Everything leads back to investment in our people. We have several key strategic pillars, and every single one of our employees is fully aligned to those beliefs,” he details.

That means not only investing in their development, growth, and skills, but also developing their connectivity and the culture that sits around them.

“We’re building some of the most world-class facilities that will exist in the aerospace sector today, but all of that is irrelevant if we do not invest in our people. That is the most important part of our transformation journey – upskilling, reskilling, and training them.”

At the Singapore Airshow in February this year, SAESL announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the EDB to establish a dedicated SAESL training academy.

This is a multi-million-dollar, multi-year investment programme to create a pioneering training academy that will allow the company to train hundreds of thousands of employees every year as it continues to grow.

SMART MANUFACTURING

One of the things that is unique in Singapore and really showcases the combination of a pro-business environment and outstanding technology is the Smart Manufacturing Joint Lab, which was launched in 2017.

“We started this initiative as a strategic partnership between A*STAR, Rolls-Royce, and SAESL,” Pattinson states.

The programme focuses on developing next-generation aerospace manufacturing and MRO capabilities enabled by advanced processes, automation, and digital technologies.

“We have been running this enterprise-wide, multi-million-dollar partnership for several years. It allows us to set some difficult challenges around how we drive productivity in our factories, then use some of the best minds in Singapore and around the world to help us solve them,” he outlines.

Now, through Singapore’s research institutes, SAESL can bring those people together in one place.

At the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) in the western part of Singapore, the company has a dedicated lab and teams working on technologies that will further drive business performance.

“Now we are seven years in, it’s really exciting to see those technologies being deployed across different parts of the company.

“I can walk around our factories and see a wide range of examples, from automated vision systems that use AI to measure, record, and analyse parts, to automated machines that support different areas of engine repair and assembly,” Pattinson shares.

Parallel to this, SAESL also launched Phase 2 of the Smart Manufacturing Joint Lab last year, representing the next five-year tranche of this technology journey, further cementing this exciting investment in technology and people.

“We launched Phase 2 with Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower, which shows the level of support we have across the country for aerospace and particularly SAESL,” he insights.

AN ENVIRONMENT TO THRIVE IN

As a testament to those who have been with the business for 25 years, SAESL aims to foster and continue its carefully curated culture in an ever-changing world and constantly shifting business environment.

Therefore, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is taken incredibly seriously.

“We invest heavily every year across a range of areas, including our diversity and inclusion programmes, and our sustainability agenda is very high on the board’s accountability framework,” Pattinson details.

This is complemented by SAESL’s dedication to safety and quality with zero tolerance for defects or harm.

“You have to create pillars that are anchored in stability. Companies must grow, but they must also be resilient; that is one of the key lessons from the recent macroeconomic environment – resilience is king,” he furthers.

Having come through the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst the company still needs to grow and maximise outcomes, what really matters is building a growing, resilient, and competitive business that ultimately delivers value to customers.

PAVING THE WAY

A key element of the company’s ongoing and proactive investment in its people is the crucial process of laying the path for future team members – setting up the next generation of people to come through and join the SAESL family.

“What we are creating is a talent pipeline and an ecosystem. As well as establishing a training academy, which will be a place that inspires technology, innovation, and collaboration, we also announced several collaborations at the Singapore Airshow,” Pattinson elaborates.

One of those was an MoU with Singapore Polytechnic. SAESL also connects with several other polytechnics, building a talent network that gives students a pathway from their studies into the workforce.

“We are specifically curating courses and electives during their studies so that they can progress through their education then graduate into a range of different roles within our business.”

SAESL knows it is vital to provide a coherent vision for people whilst they are learning and studying to show where their training can lead them.

“When people see investment in individuals, that is when they really connect with an organisation. It is about connecting people’s heads and their hearts,” Pattinson continues.

FUTURE VISIONS

Pattinson is keen to express how important the next 18 months are for the company.

“We are at a real turning point in our history in a very positive sense. Over the next year and a half, we will bring two brand-new facilities online and welcome up to 500 additional employees into our teams,” he asserts.

“This is where we really cement the transformation and make it real. When everyone comes to work each day, they will be able to walk past what the future is going to look like.”

To this end, every day, SAESL is investing in its people and the future of the company.

In terms of future expansion into new geographies, the business remains tied to its partners – as such, Rolls-Royce continues to expand into new customers and new regions around the world.

“Publicly, China and India are clearly very large growing markets. From a SAESL perspective, we are part of that ecosystem and will continue to work closely with Rolls-Royce and SIAEC on those ventures,” he comments.

Elsewhere, throughout the rest of the year, anniversary celebrations will continue.

Having already held a large celebration with all its partners to mark the 5,000th engine coming off the production line, the company is also planning a formal reception around its board meeting in September.

“Here, we will invite many of the company’s previous leaders, along with our industry partners and dignitaries, to celebrate this hugely proud moment.

“It will be an opportunity to not only reflect on what we have achieved, but importantly, also look at where we are going and what we all have to look forward to in the years ahead,” Pattinson concludes with pride.