Next summer, when passengers board a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Europe or Asia, they may notice that the seats are a little wider, the windows are a little larger, and the cabin air a little more breathable. What they probably won’t know is that a Minnesota company played a key role in getting it airborne.
Eagan-based Intercim, LLC, develops software that streamlines manufacturing processes by eliminating time-wasting steps and providing real-time control. The company, whose products are used in the aerospace, defense, semiconductor, automotive, and life science industries (its customers include Northrop Grumman, Sikorsky Aircraft, and Bell Helicopter), merged with Paris-based Pertinence in July. Headquarters for Intercim, which was founded in 1983, will remain in Eagan, because most of the development staff is located in Minnesota. The company’s European operations will be based in Paris.
The “new” Intercim will offer customers software that predicts potential manufacturing problems and offers a menu of solutions. “Let’s say somebody has to bore a hole in a component and the sizing is wrong,” says Intercim CEO John Todd. “Typically, what happens is it goes back to the engineers and the process is stalled until the problem is solved. But maybe all they need is a larger screw. What Pertinence does, when integrated with our software, is predict problems so solutions can be executed in real time.” Thanks in part to new products that will arise from the combined companies’ technologies, Todd says, “we fully expect to grow revenue north of 25 percent” in 2008.
The Dreamliner is a major reason for Intercim’s current success. Made primarily of carbon fiber composites that are lighter and stronger than aluminum, the 787 seats between 210 and 330 passengers. It uses 20 percent less fuel and offers 45 percent more cargo space than comparable standard commercial aircraft do. Its construction incorporates an entirely different paradigm for Boeing: All of its parts—including the fuselage, wings, engines, and electronics—are manufactured by suppliers all over the world, then shipped for final assembly to Boeing’s plant in Seattle. Intercim enables that process.
Intercim’s Web-based software is used to provide information to Boeing about supplier product anomalies that could affect production. If a supplier anywhere in the world has an interruption in its facility, Boeing can make production adjustments in Seattle. And, Todd adds, “when the aircraft comes off the line, they have a complete electronic record of how it was assembled and all the employees who worked on it.” Intercim software also manages the processing of each aircraft’s federal certification.
Boeing already has a backlog of 787 Dreamliner orders that runs through 2015, Todd says: “It’s the most successful product launch in the history of the aircraft industry, and there hasn’t been a plane in the air yet.” One of those customers is another Eagan-based company, North-west Airlines, which placed a $2.2 billion order for 18 of the aircraft with an option to buy 50 more.
