Paris – Onera will cut 10 departments in a reorganization plan that aims to boost internal links among engineers and sharpen management focus on defense, aeronautics and space programs, the aerospace research center said.
That consolidation, which trims seven of 17 departments, went into effect March 1 and seeks to "increase Onera’s ability to work in a horizontal way by linking up several scientific disciplines," Bruno Sainjon, Onera chairman and CEO, said in an April 20 statement.
The restructuring plan, dubbed Nov’Onera, will also cut around 100 jobs through attrition, by closing a post when a staff member leaves when reaching retirement. The center employs 1,985 staff, of which 1,300 are engineers.
That reorganization stems from a contract setting targets and performance signed December 2016 with the defense ministry, Onera said.
The state-backed research center seeks actively to increase work for commercial companies and international agencies, as the ministry is reducing its financial support.
That move to the market is reflected in Onera’s signing over the past two years multiyear contracts with clients including the DGAC civil aviation authority, Safran Tech, Bertin and Ulis, the center said.
There has also been a striking of "structural partnerships" with Airbus Safran Launchers and DCNS, and ties to agencies including NASA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute of Russia, and DSO National Laboratories, Singapore’s defense research and development organization, Onera said.
Onera published 2016 results which showed a "high level of orders" worth €43 million (US $47 million) from the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office, including an upgrade of the Graves ground-based space surveillance system.
The French defense ministry funded an initial €4.7 million of the €20 million required for modernizing the S1MA wind tunnel at Modane, southeast France, which Onera described as a "strategic asset." The concrete foundations of that wind tunnel need to be repaired, to prolong its use by military and civil operators, which include Boeing.
Onera won €130.3 million of orders, up 23 percent from the previous year, with a total budget of €235 million, of which €105 million came in state subsidy. The center reported profit of €4.8 million.
Sainjon told the lower house National Assembly in March 2016 there was profit of €5.2 million in the previous year, on a budget of €225 million.
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