Have a Solution Before Customers Need It
A Dialogue with Eduardo Bernal Garcia
Chief Technology Officer, ACCEL (Tianjin) Flight Simulation Co. Ltd.
By Bethany Marshall
天津的发展有目共睹，无数外资企业与高新技术公司也选择了天津作为拓展中国市场的前沿阵地，安胜（天津）飞行模拟系统有限公司正是其中之一。安胜是由罗克韦尔柯林斯公司与海特集团共同组建的合资公司，主营业务为在中国生产全动模拟机并为客户提供业内领先的模拟与培训解决方案。强大的企业离不开优秀的人才支持，首席技术官Eduardo Bernal Garcia先生在这一领域拥有二十余年的丰富经验，他不仅是该技术领域的顶尖人才，更是一个具有独特魅力和领导艺术的团队领军人物。
20多年前，Eduardo先生第一次走进飞行模拟器时，他就爱上了这个神奇的设备，并从业至今。谈及在中国拓展业务的初衷，他回忆道：自2001年自己便与罗克韦尔柯林斯公司合作，为客户提供航空、国防等领域的技术与产品。随着中国航空业的迅速发展，他们便决定将发展方向转移到中国这个巨大的市场，事实证明，他的决定是明智的。
Eduardo向我们介绍，安胜目前专注于生产制造D级全动模拟机，它为固定翼和旋翼飞机而设计，拥有众多优势和功能，例如：易升级，无需大的改动，最大化的可用视场角，灵活易用的定制化教学软件，强大的课程规划能力，低功耗，电动运动和电动操纵负荷且可靠又易于维护等等。
在吸引新客户方面，安胜有着巨大的优势，其母公司著名的罗克韦尔柯林斯公司是通信与航空电子领域的领军企业，致力于为民用和政府客户开发创新型通信与航电解决方案。公司通过全球员工的努力和遍布150个国家的服务和技术支持网络，巩固并增强了其在驾驶舱航空电子设备、客舱电子设备、任务通信、仿真模拟与培训，以及信息管理服务等方面的技术专长。安胜公司继承了母公司罗克韦尔柯林斯的专业能力和知识产权，承载着八十年全球航空设计、工程与研发的历史，以及40年在华成功运营的经验。这些品牌为安胜打下了良好的基础。
作为一家国际化的公司，安胜还具有强大的本地化能力：安胜（天津）飞行模拟系统有限公司是唯一一家在中国设计并制造D级全动模拟机公司，相比处在遥远他国的竞争对手，安胜更熟悉本地市场，服务高效而灵活。
安胜能够在业内有如今良好的口碑，不仅仅是依靠自身的技术，更有其服务的因素。Garcia先生说，安胜时刻关注市场趋势，并在客户提出需求前准备好解决方案，确保做到“未雨绸缪”，其企业就这样克服了一次次挑战，并迅速成长发展。
他还对天津赞不绝口，并表示天津地区政府与海关的支持是本地发展的一大优势，也是安胜公司成功的关键。在团队建设方面，他介绍说安胜的理念非常明确，那就是“人才、流程、工具”，选择对的人来做对的事，并确保这些人熟悉程序与制度，最后则是获取或开发相应的工具以完成工作。
最后，聊起在中国的生活时，他认为中国的历史、文化与人民是带给自己和家人最棒的部分。“从工作角度看，自己收获了专业技能与事业成就，从个人角度看，自己拥有珍爱的妻子和两个可爱的孩子。这是莫大的成就。”我们祝福Eduardo先生在专业领域为这个世界带来更多的惊喜，更祝福他们一家人在中国生活幸福！
What happens when multinational firm Rockwell Collins and Chinese giant HAITE Group enter into a joint venture? ACCEL Flight Simulation is born. Paving the way for the future of aviation industry as Chief Technology Officer is the expert of flight simulators - Eduardo Bernal Garcia. Having over twenty years experience working in a global company, Mr Bernal Garcia is not only the go-to guy for all things technological, but is also clued up on how to lead and motivate his highly skilled team.
This month, Business Tianjin was able to go behind the scenes at ACCEL to pick Mr Bernal Garcia’s brains on attracting the right talent, adapting to life in China and the advantages of being located in the high-tech corridor that is the Tianjin Economic Airport Area.
What made you want to pursue a career in the aviation industry?
I have always loved solving problems and I really like designing complex technical solutions. When I first went into a full flight simulator almost 20 years ago, I instantly knew that working in the simulator industry was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
What influenced your move to China?
I have been working with Rockwell Collins, an American company providing solutions for aviation, defense and rail, since 2001 and about 6 years ago they decided to move the whole commercial simulation portion of the business to China. Why? It was because most of the commercial aerospace growth is in Asia, more specifically, in China. I was offered the opportunity to lead the establishment based on technological capabilities. I knew these opportunities only come once in a lifetime and so I took it right away.
What simulators does ACCEL Flight Simulation specialise in?
ACCEL currently specialises in commercial level D full flight simulators. Level D means that it is the highest fidelity standard that is available on the market. It gives the pilot basically a full replica of the cockpit with all the responses as if they were in a real plane. You have a global database at your fingertips so if you want, you can take off in Beijing and fly all the way to Sanya in Hainan. It takes exactly the same time. All radio communications are modeled so you are actually connecting to the radio station’s frequencies of the different places you are flying to.
Who are your customers?
There are 2 groups of customers. The first are airlines who have their own training centres so they buy many of these simulators to train their own pilots. The other group comprises of training centres which are private, and independent from airlines. These training centres train those who want to become pilots and get a job with the airlines. So many people need training that their training centres are often not big enough, so they send their pilots to train in training centres that are independent.
What sets ACCEL flight simulation out from its competitors?
ACCEL is the only company that designs and manufactures level D simulators in China so that gives us an advantage - being local. If you look at our competitors, they are in Europe and America. If their problems are small, they can fix them remotely, but if you have a bigger problem and you are out of warranty, it’s going to cost a lot to bring an engineer all the way to China and it’s going to take a long time for them to show up. For us, if someone in Shanghai calls, we take a flight there the very same day. Service and support is local and in your language.
What do you consider as being your greatest personal success?
There are a couple of milestones. I would like to say on a professional level my greatest success is coming to China and establishing the technological and engineering department capabilities here at ACCEL. On a personal level, I have been married almost 15 years and I have a loving wife and two wonderful children, so that’s a huge success.
How does being in the Tianjin Airport Economic Area, a major growing hub for the aviation and aerospace industry in China, impact the company’s development?
Tianjin is in a very strategic location. We are about 2 hours drive or 45 minutes on train from Beijing. Beijing is a major hub where we have access to flights that can take us to anywhere in the world. On the other side, we are about 40 minutes away from the port. Our machine is almost 15 tons and so having access to a port that easily opens doors for us to the rest of the world.
Not only the location, but a big advantage of the Tianjin Economic Area is the support provided by the government and customs officials. This has been the key to our success. Close to us is the A330 facility so we see aircrafts rolling in and out to be painted and tested. On the other side, we see the A320 assembly facility so we also have connections with them.
What do you consider as an essential attribute in managing your technical team in China?
Before managing a team, you need to establish a team. Our philosophy is very clear, “People, Process, Tools”. First we need to hire the right people for the right job. Then we establish policies and procedures to make sure that those people know what to do and have a standard of work. Once that is set, we either acquire or develop our own tools to do the job efficiently.
What is your role as Chief Technology Officer?
I have been in the industry for close to 20 years and I have been gaining more responsibilities as I go. I could be considered as a simulator expert, but I also have a strong background in project management and problem management. I also developed teams back in the US, so when I came here as a CTO, basically my role was to establish all policies and procedures for the development of designs, software, IP protection, the company’s configuration management and the testing of devices. I’m basically in charge of anything related to technology in ACCEL.
How do you attain and attract the right talent?
ACCEL is a very unique company because we have the blend of a global company. Being a joint venture with Rockwell Collins and HAITE Group, we have policies and procedures of a global western company, but we also have this high-tech opportunity. It’s very unusual for people to be able to find a job where we are doing this type of design and that helps motivate employees to stay with us and be a part of this exciting journey.
What have you enjoyed so far and what is the hardest part of living in China?
The best part of living in China is the history, the culture and the people. People have always been very warm and welcoming, not only personally but also professionally and so that has been a very positive experience. I’m originally from Mexico, so the cultures in Mexico and China are very similar in terms of the family being a very strong component, so being away from family is the hardest part.
Please tell us your preferences and hobbies that you pursue during your free time.
I love sports. I like running, I like biking and I like swimming. As a matter of fact, during a trip to China, I was surfing the web and I found a Beijing triathlon. I signed up for it in 2015 and I have been doing that race ever since. Another hobby that I have is that I really like reading, travelling and learning about successful leaders. I like to develop myself personally and professionally.
Please accept a huge ‘thank you’ from us here at Business Tianjin, Mr Bernal Garcia. The incredibly warm welcome we received from both you and your team gave us a great insight into the world of simulation technology. We are sure to be waiting eagerly for news about ACCEL’s future success!
