“When I hear the rumble of a helicopter and look up to the sky to see what we have accomplished, I feel proud.” After ten years with the company, Martin Dervishi’s words exude the same enthusiasm as on his first day at the Brindisi site.
The Apulian centre is where all the Leonardo fleet prototypes are manufactured and industrialised. Here, Martin saw the birth and growth of a series of helicopters. From the AW189, equipped for the most demanding medical and rescue missions, to the AW169, which combines excellent performance with autonomy and maximum safety, and up to the latest arrival: the AW09, which aims to be the new standard for light single-engine models intended for passenger transport missions.
Accepting new challenges enthusiastically, rolling up his sleeves and broadening his horizons: it was with this spirit that Martin tackled his first years at Leonardo, combining operational skills with resource management. Today, he is the site’s Manufacturing Manager, “My job is to coordinate the other supporting departments to deliver all the components required to assemble each helicopter’s fuselage.” An ideal position to pool the know-how absorbed in previous years, first as Department Head and then as Continuous Improvement Manager.
In 2019, Brindisi was the first Leonardo Helicopters site to apply the Leonardo Production System (LPS). Designed to increase the efficiency and productivity of industrial facilities, the LPS method adopts a three-pronged approach: optimising the production process; engaging and empowering all workers on the site, making them an integral and active part of the process; and increasing workplace safety.
Ever enthusiastic about innovation and its potential, Martin has found fertile soil for his passion in his daily work. A concrete example? The Automated Fibre Placement (AFP), which enables a high level of process repeatability and the creation of highly lightweight components boasting excellent performance. Introduced in 2014, AFP technology has raised the standard of machining and, with it, the skills of the entire team, “I saw the birth of this significant innovation and, with my team, the realisation of our most technologically advanced product," explains Martin.
A materials engineering graduate with an experimental thesis on the role of winglets on wind turbines, he and his team are now working on the practical application of winglets on aircraft used in emergency, rescue and mission situations. What appears as the closing of a circle is doubly satisfying for Martin, “Everything I studied in theory becomes exciting in practice today.”