Success Stories

Messier-Dowty Inc.
Flying High

France-based Messier-Bugatti-Dowty,(a Safran group company, is the world leader in aircraft  landing and braking systems. In fact, their landing gear systems are in service on more than 20,000 aircraft making over 35,000 landings every day.

Messier-Dowty’s Ajax facility plays a vital role in the company’s global success.

“We’ve been manufacturing landing gear systems here for more than 60 years, and designing them for almost as long,” says Messier-Dowty Inc. President Bryan Teed.

“Our capabilities run the full gamut from concept design through development, testing, production and in service support of landing gears for military, business, regional and commercial aircraft.”

Among the company’s clients are the biggest names in aerospace, including Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and Hawker Beechcraft.

The 200,000 sq.ft. Ajax facility, which underwent an expansion in 2008 to accommodate the production of landing gear for the Boeing 787, features a state-of-the-art final assembly area where landing gear systems are fully assembled and tested prior to delivery to the customer.

Of the facility’s 600-plus highly skilled workers, one-quarter are directly involved in research that involves the development of new products, materials and processes.

“Our engineering expertise is recognized and respected worldwide,” says Teed, who notes that the company is focused on continuous improvement.

One area of concentration is the development of new technologies to replace chrome plating – used for decades to reduce friction and wear – with alternative surface treatments.

One such technology is High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF). It uses metal ceramic powder sprayed at very high speeds onto the landing gear components where is solidifies to form a hard coating. HVOF is environmentally friendly and has the added advantages of reducing both downtime and maintenance costs.

But, while the technology works well on external surfaces, it poses a challenge for internal ones, such as the inside of a cyclinder.

With close to $2 million from the Ontario government’s Innovation Demonstration Fund, Messier-Dowty Inc. is embarking on a project to investigate technologies that could solve this problem, including how HVOF could be adapted for these applications.

It’s research that will benefit the company – and the industry – worldwide.

“Our success is due to a number of factors,” says Teed. “We start with tremendous engineering talent, much of it coming out of Ontario universities. We also collaborate on research projects with scientists at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University and the National Research Council.

And, finally, there’s our location, which is in the centre of the North American aerospace industry, and that enables us to service our clients quickly and efficiently.”  

With world-leading companies like Messier-Dowty Inc. and a government partner that is passionately committed to innovation, Ontario is set to create new green jobs for the province’s families and its future.