COMPANY PROFILE: Precision Heliparts

"When your first ‘office’ is a converted stationery closet, it is hard to go anywhere except up," says Scott James, founder and marketing director of Precision Heliparts. Founded in 1994 to sell and service helicopter instruments and accessories, PHP grew very fast and soon had a few more employees.

"I had known David Mast for several years," James says. "I knew he was an excellent salesman and also had the financial talent we needed. In the spring of 1996, I asked him to come on board as an equity partner and president."

By 1999, PHP’s time had come; it made the Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest growing small companies. Growth continued with the opening of PHP Canada (PHC) in 2002; they added their own repair station in 2003. In late 2004, they formed the Precision Aviation Group and acquired Precision Avionics & Instruments from Dallas Airmotive.

Initially supporting only Bell and MD components, the company has added a myriad of products and services to make it one of the top maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers in the world. PHP now operates two FAA/EASA-approved repair stations, and PHC is a Canadian DOT-certificated distributor. The Atlanta headquarters comprises 37,000 sq ft of distribution and shop space at its location next to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The Vancouver facility contains 10,000 sq ft of office and warehouse space. The repair stations have 32 technicians working in five separate shops, as well as their own on-site engineering and calibration lab.

PHP is truly an international business, with more than 40 percent of its revenue generated outside of North America. The company has customers in 50 countries and salesmen on staff fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish. PHP supports Agusta, Bell, Eurocopter, MD and Sikorsky helicopters.

PHP’s customer base consists of EMS, offshore support, ENG, police/fire/municipal operators, as well as the U.S. military and Homeland Security Dept. The company also ships to military operations all over the world, including the Middle East and Southeast Asia. "These customers can’t stand downtime," says James, "and this is where the ISMRO concept really shines."

ISMRO (Inventory Supported Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) combines traditional parts-house functions with repair-station functions. "Our customers don’t buy on price, they buy on value," Mast says. "Value takes into account service, dependability and other criteria — not just price."

In the world of MRO providers, PHP is becoming an industry leader. "Our tag line is ‘Others sell parts, WE SELL SUPPORT’" says Mast, and "unlike other tag lines you might see, we actually live it."

Contact:

Precision Heliparts, Inc.

495 Lake Mirror Rd., Bldg 800G

Atlanta, GA 30349

404-768-9090

Fax: 404-768-9006

www.heliparts.com

Precision Heliparts Canada, Inc.

Unit #104, 2677-192nd St.

Surrey, BC V3S-3X1 Canada

604-542-8820

Fax: 604-542-8829

www.heliparts.ca