AES Aircraft Elektro/Elektronik System GmbH has maintained close and successful business relationships with Japanese partners for many years. Two examples illustrate particularly well how initially small business contacts can develop into strong, innovation-driven and trust-based partnerships: the cooperation with JAMCO Corporation and the long-standing relationship with Nichia Corporation.
The cooperation between AES and JAMCO began more than 17 years ago. It started with smaller power supplies for aircraft galleys. Over the years, this initially rather modest beginning developed into an intensive collaboration shaped by mutual trust. Today, JAMCO is one of AES’s most important customers and ranks among the company’s top five customers.
This successful partnership is particularly visible in the Airbus environment. In recent years, AES and JAMCO have succeeded in convincing Airbus of high-quality galley solutions. Today, numerous Airbus A350 aircraft are equipped with JAMCO galleys that feature systems and components from AES. This example shows how long-term cooperation can lead to high-quality products that hold their own in international competition.
Another important example of AES’s Japanese business relations is its partnership with Nichia. For more than 25 years, AES has sourced LEDs from the Japanese company, which are used in a wide range of products worldwide. This relationship also began in the traditional way, through the purchase of individual components. Over time, however, it developed far beyond a purely supplier-based relationship.
An early milestone in this cooperation was AES’s integration of the first white LED light into an Airbus aircraft. This subsequently led to technological cooperation, including joint research activities in the field of new, highly advanced LED generations. The partnership between AES and Nichia is therefore exemplary of the innovative strength that emerges when German and Japanese companies combine their respective strengths.
These two examples demonstrate how resilient and value-creating German-Japanese cooperation can be. Especially for a medium-sized German company like AES, they show the potential that lies in long-term international partnerships. Relationships that have grown over many years, based on trust, respect and a shared understanding of quality, lead not only to economic success, but also to technological progress and products of the highest standard.
AES has also been active in the space industry for many years. Based on the positive experience gained over three decades in aviation, as well as the recent delegation trip, the company now also associates Japan with the expectation of transferring existing contacts into new forms of cooperation in the space sector. The aim is to further expand collaboration with Japanese partners and create additional links in a technologically demanding future market.
The recent delegation trip with President of the Bundesrat Dr. Andreas Bovenschulte provided additional momentum for this exchange. It strengthened existing connections, opened new doors and once again underlined the potential that lies in closer integration between German and Japanese companies. Especially in technology-driven industries such as aerospace, such partnerships can help bring joint innovations to market more quickly and further strengthen international competitiveness.
AES would be delighted to welcome the companies it met during the delegation trip, the newly established contacts and other interested Japanese companies to the next Space Tech Expo in Bremen. At the same time, AES would like to contribute, through its work within AviaSpace, to actively supporting the networking of Japanese companies in Bremen, also in close cooperation with the Bremen Senate, which likewise promotes this exchange.
