To be a valuable global supplier
for metallic honeycombs and turbine parts
We don't usually talk about aerospace work. Customers ask us not to. But I've got permission to share one story, without naming names.
A couple of years ago, one of the world's largest aircraft component suppliers reached out. They needed catalytic converter substrates for ground support equipment – the vehicles and generators that service planes at airports.
Not the planes themselves. But still, aerospace standards. Tight tolerances. Tough testing. And zero tolerance for failure.
They'd been buying from a European supplier. High quality, but expensive and slow. Lead times were killing them. They asked if we could match the specs, deliver faster, and cut cost without cutting corners.
We said yes. Then we figured out how.
The Challenge
The equipment ran on diesel. High heat, long hours, constant vibration. The substrate had to survive thousands of thermal cycles and keep working.
Two big problems.
First, the space was tight. The converter had to fit in a cavity that was oval, not round. About 120mm by 180mm. Length had to be exactly 200mm, no more. Standard round substrates wouldn't fit.
Second, the vibration. Ground support equipment drives over airport tarmac all day. Not smooth. Constant shaking. The previous supplier's substrates had cracked a few times. The customer wanted something tougher.
Oh, and the emissions standard. Had to meet EPA and European Stage V. That meant high conversion efficiency. No shortcuts.
What We Proposed
We sat down with their engineering team – video calls, drawings back and forth, a few samples mailed across the ocean.
We settled on a custom oval substrate. Stainless steel 316L foil – not aluminum. Stainless handles heat better and doesn't corrode from the chemicals on airport ramps.
Cell density: 400 cpsi. That's the standard for diesel. Good flow, good cleaning.
Foil thickness: 0.08 mm. Thicker than standard automotive. More durable against vibration. Still lights off fast enough.
Mounting mat: Heavy‑duty, high‑temperature rated. Denser than what we use for cars. The mat had to hold the substrate tight through all that shaking.
We also built a custom stacking fixture for the oval shape. That took a couple of weeks. First batch was small – 50 pieces. They wanted to test before committing to volume.
The Testing
They put our substrates through hell.
Heat cycling. 500 cycles from ambient to 650 degrees. Ours came out with no cracks.
Vibration. Mounted in the can, on a shaker table, at frequencies from 20 to 200 Hz. Our parts stayed tight. The mat didn't shift.
Flow bench. Backpressure was within 2% of their target. Good enough.
Emissions test on a real engine. The finished converter passed EPA and Stage V with margin.
Then they did a field test. Six months in a real ground support vehicle at a busy airport. Daily use, refueling, shaking, heat. No failures.
After that, they placed a production order. 500 pieces. Then a repeat order. Then another.
What We Learned
Aerospace customers are different. They ask for more documentation. Certificates for the foil. Test reports for every batch. Traceability back to the raw material.
We had to upgrade our paperwork. But that's fine. It made us better for all our customers.
They also pay on time. No 90‑day net terms. We liked that.
The oval shape became one of our standard custom offerings. Now we've made that size for three other customers. The tooling is paid off, so the price came down.
The Numbers
First order: 50 pieces for testing. Took about six weeks from first contact to shipping. Tooling was the long part.
Second order: 500 pieces. Shipped in three weeks.
Third order: 1,000 pieces. Shipped in two weeks. Once the tooling is done, we can move fast.
Price? I can't say exactly. But it was lower than their European supplier. Enough that they switched all their volume to us.
What the Customer Said
Their purchasing manager told me: "You guys did in eight weeks what our old supplier took four months to do. And the parts are just as good."
Their engineer said: "We tested yours side by side with the European parts. Same performance. Lower cost. Faster delivery. No brainer."
We didn't celebrate. We just kept making parts. But it felt good.
Aerospace‑grade catalytic substrates aren't magic. They're just good engineering and careful production. Stainless foil, proper cell density, solid brazing, a mounting mat that doesn't quit, and a shape that fits.
The customer tested us hard. We passed. Now they buy from us regularly.
If you need custom substrates for tough applications – aerospace, military, heavy equipment – we can do it. We've already done it for one of the biggest names in the business. We can do it for you too.