Ascent Aerospace, a leading provider of assembly line integration services, factory automation and tooling systems, has been selected by Airbus for the General Procurement Supply Chain and Quality Improvement Program (SQIP) Award in the Best Performer category.

Airbus describes SQIP as, "a proven methodology that delivers robust and sustainable improvements". As a long-time Tier 1 strategic supplier to Airbus, Ascent's integration engineers in Toulouse and in Europe were among the first group to participate the program in 2016. Based on the success of the early participants, the SQIP program will be rolled out to more suppliers this year.

Through active engagement in the program, Ascent Aerospace – Integration Europe has realized improvements in on time delivery, on cost delivery, on quality delivery and industrial capability, among other metrics. The company was formally recognized as a 2018 Best Supplier, "For a demonstrated high performance level sustained over 12 months, a strong continuous improvement mindset, and a customer oriented approach, in line with Airbus targets and expectations."

This encompassed works on assembly stations on the A350XWB "preFAL" and FAL lines, on the A320 and A330 NEO FAL and wings assembly lines, the Beluga XL conversion station, logistics and other services across several Airbus group plants in Europe.