Good times roll in for Rolls-Royce

British engine maker Rolls-Royce has been recognised as a Supplier of the Year by The Boeing Company, one of 14 companies and one university honoured for distinguished performance in working with Boeing, and industry experts expect to see it land a massive contract with Emirates Airlines.

Rolls-Royce is poised to clinch one of the biggest deals in its history, with an order for approximately 200 engines to power Airbus A380 superjumbos for the Emirates Airlines.

The deal to supply Rolls-Royce’s Trent 900 engines, could be worth more than £5.35bn at current prices, with service and maintenance included.

The contract would break the dominance Rolls-Royce’s US rivals – General Electric and Pratt & Whitney – have had on the engines for A380s flown by Emirates, the aircraft’s biggest operator.

Aside from contract wins, the awards roll in as well. In January, Rolls-Royce was notified that it was one of 548 companies to receive the Boeing Performance Excellence Award. Achieving the Supplier of the Year designation further acknowledges superb performance and labels this class of winners as best of the best.

According to Boeing, the award in the Pathfinder category was based on Rolls-Royce continuously delivering unmatched support to programs across Boeing, and for minimizing significant non-recurring costs while meeting challenging performance and lead-time objectives.

Kent Fisher, Boeing leader for supplier management, said: “Our success in 2014 was due in large part to the strong performance of our supply chain. We are facing an increasingly competitive landscape across all our businesses. To continue to lead the market we need supplier partners like Rolls-Royce who understand the importance of creating a sustainable competitive advantage.”

Tom Bell, Rolls-Royce, president of defence, commented: “Focus on the customer is a crucial element of our day-to-day work, and it’s gratifying to see that hard work and attention pay off with this recognition.”

Boeing said this year’s winners represent an elite group among more than 13,000 active suppliers, in more 47 countries around the world. This selection was based on stringent performance criteria for quality, delivery performance, cost environmental initiatives, customer service and technical expertise.

The Boeing award is the latest recognition for Rolls-Royce Defence. The US Navy, Air Force and Defence Logistics Agency all named Rolls-Royce a Superior Supplier recently. Rolls-Royce is the only engine company to be named Tier 1 or Gold on all three Department of Defense lists for 2014. Additionally, Rolls-Royce shared in the Roche Sustainment Award given by the US Air Force to the Global Hawk programme.