PART I
Item 1. Business
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to our future operations and prospects, including statements that are based on current projections and expectations about the markets in which we operate, and management's beliefs concerning future performance and capital requirements based upon current available information. Actual results could differ materially from management's current expectations. Additional capital may be required and, if so, may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all, at the times and in the amounts we need. In addition to these factors and others described elsewhere in this report, other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include competitive and cyclical factors relating to the aerospace industry, dependence of some of our businesses on key customers, requirements of capital, product liabilities in excess of insurance, uncertainties relating to the integration of acquired businesses, general economic conditions affecting our business segment, technological developments, limited availability of raw materials or skilled personnel, changes in governmental regulation and oversight and international hostilities and terrorism. For a more detailed discussion of these and other factors affecting us, see the Risk Factors described in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We do not undertake any obligation to revise these forward-looking statements to reflect future events.
General
Triumph Group, Inc. ("Triumph" or the "Company") was incorporated in 1993 in Delaware. Our companies design, engineer, manufacture, repair, overhaul and distribute a broad portfolio of aerostructures, aircraft components, accessories, subassemblies and systems. We serve a broad, worldwide spectrum of the aviation industry, including original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, of commercial, regional, business and military aircraft and aircraft components, as well as commercial and regional airlines and air cargo carriers.
On June 16, 2010, we announced the completion of the acquisition of Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. ("Vought") from The Carlyle Group. The acquisition of Vought establishes the Company as a leading global manufacturer of aerostructures for commercial, military and business jet aircraft. Products include fuselages, wings, empennages, nacelles and helicopter cabins. Strategically, the acquisition of Vought substantially increases our design capabilities and provides further diversification across customers and programs, as well as exposure to new growth platforms. The acquired business is operating as Triumph Aerostructures—Vought Commercial Division, Triumph Aerostructures—Vought Integrated Programs Division and Triumph Structures—Everett. The results of Vought are included in the Company's Aerostructures Segment from the date of acquisition.
Products and Services
We offer a variety of products and services to the aerospace industry through three groups of operating segments: (i) Triumph Aerostructures Group, whose companies' revenues are derived from the design, manufacture, assembly and integration of metallic and composite aerostructures and structural components for the global aerospace original equipment manufacturers, or OEM, market; (ii) Triumph Aerospace Systems Group, whose companies design, engineer and manufacture a wide range of proprietary and build-to-print components, assemblies and systems also for the OEM market; and (iii) Triumph Aftermarket Services Group, whose companies serve aircraft fleets, notably commercial airlines, the U.S. military and cargo carriers, through the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft components and accessories manufactured by third parties.
Our Aerostructures Group utilizes its capabilities to design, manufacture and build complete metallic and composite aerostructures and structural components. This group also includes companies
performing complex manufacturing, machining and forming processes for a full range of structural components, as well as complete assemblies and subassemblies. This group services the full spectrum of aerospace customers, which include aerospace OEMs and the top-tier manufacturers who supply them and airlines, air cargo carriers, and domestic and foreign militaries.
The products that companies within this group design, manufacture, build and repair include:
Our Aerospace Systems Group utilizes its capabilities to design and engineer mechanical, electromechanical, hydraulic and hydromechanical control systems, while continuing to broaden the scope of detailed parts and assemblies that we supply to the aerospace market. Customers typically return such systems to us for repairs and overhauls and spare parts. This group services the full spectrum of aerospace customers, which include aerospace OEMs and the top-tier manufacturers who supply them and airlines, air cargo carriers, and domestic and foreign militaries.
The products that companies within this group design, engineer, build and repair include:
Our Aftermarket Services Group performs maintenance, repair and overhaul services ("MRO") and supplies spare parts of various types of cockpit instruments, and gauges for the commercial and military aviation industry and primarily services the world's airline and air cargo carrier customers. This group also designs, engineers, manufactures, repairs and overhauls aftermarket aerospace gas turbines engine components, offers comprehensive MRO solutions, leasing packages, exchange programs and parts and services to airline, air cargo and third-party overhaul facilities. We also continue to develop Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, approved Designated Engineering Representative, or DER, proprietary repair procedures for the components we repair and overhaul, which range from detailed components to complex subsystems. Some specialties include navigation, flight, and engine monitoring instruments as well as autopilots, voice and data recorders, smoke detection systems and aircraft lighting. Companies in our Aftermarket Services Group repair and overhaul various components for the aviation industry including:
Certain financial information about our three segments can be found in Note 22 of "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements."
Proprietary Rights
We benefit from our proprietary rights relating to designs, engineering and manufacturing processes and repair and overhaul procedures. For some products, our unique manufacturing capabilities are required by the customer's specifications or designs, thereby necessitating reliance on us for the production of such specially designed products.
We view our name and mark, as well as the Vought tradename, as significant to our business as a whole. Our products are protected by a portfolio of patents, trademarks, licenses or other forms of intellectual property that expire at various dates in the future. We develop and acquire new intellectual property on an ongoing basis and consider all of our intellectual property to be valuable. However, based on the broad scope of our product lines, management believes that the loss or expiration of any single intellectual property right would not have a material effect on our results of operations, our financial position or our business segments. Our policy is to file applications and obtain patents for our new products as appropriate, including product modifications and improvements. While patents generally expire 20 years after the patent application filing date, new patents are issued to us on a regular basis.
In our overhaul and repair businesses, OEMs of equipment that we maintain for our customers increasingly include language in repair manuals that relate to their equipment asserting broad claims of proprietary rights to the contents of the manuals used in our operations. There can be no assurance that OEMs will not try to enforce such claims including the possible use of legal proceedings. In the event of such legal proceedings, there can be no assurance that such actions against the Company will be unsuccessful. However, we believe that our use of manufacture and repair manuals is lawful.