When Comlux set out to add completion services to its portfolio, it committed to establishing new standards for quality, luxury, and performance. Carefully selecting a location known for its access to superior engineering talent, a tradition of craftsmanship, and a history of technical innovation, the Swiss company designed and created one of the most advanced completion centers on the planet. Today, Comlux Completion in Indianapolis, Indiana, is preparing to induct the world’s first BBJ Max 8 and second ACJ320 Neo for their completions, a ringing endorsement of the company’s “engineering luxury” philosophy, and its choice of location.

“We know that most of our clients don’t have Indianapolis on their bucket list of places to visit, but there’s a reason we’re here,” said Scott Meyer, Comlux Completion CEO.

That reason extends beyond the city’s proximity to universities offering the finest aeronautical engineering programs in the U.S. and the region’s leading role in the development and refinement of American manufacturing.

“Once our clients come to Indianapolis and have the customer experience we uniquely provide, they appreciate the many conveniences our partnership offers,” Meyer said.

Indeed, with more than two dozen VIP cabin completions and major refurbishments projects delivered—with unprecedented schedule and budget performance, while never compromising on interior weight and sound level requirements—this center of excellence is poised to become the facility of choice for next-generation VIP completions, validating Comlux’s credo and trust of its customers.

With brand new hangar facilities opened in 2012 and expanded to accommodate wide-body aircraft in 2015 (an ACJ330 completion is under way), the facility is purpose-built for VIP aircraft completions, designed to maximize production efficiency and customers’ access to their aircraft and the Comlux completion team.

Technicians use iPads and other mobile devices in the subdued and focused paperless environment, and digital tools underlie all design and production processes.

“We’re modeled as an innovation company,” said Meyer, a completions-industry veteran and experienced engineer. “Every project a customer brings to us is a challenge in a constantly changing environment of technology.”

He noted that given clients’ ambitious plans, completion facilities often explain why something can’t be done due to regulatory, cost, downtime, or other operational considerations. Not Comlux.

“We’d rather tell you how to do it, not why you can’t, and how we can partner to meet the objective,” said Meyer.

That goes from finding a way to certify a glass table that conventionally is known not to pass impact test requirements to creating a one-of-a-kind slab stone shower when a stone faux or emulated surface just won’t do for the client.

“We are focused on finding ways to meet the client’s vision and developing innovative solutions to achieve it,” said Meyer. “That is what engineering luxury is all about.”

Customer at Heart, Performance in Mind

Quickly accessible from either U.S. coast and located at Indiana’s largest airport, 10 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, Comlux Completion is in a modern, vibrant city that’s easy and safe to navigate, in a state whose legislature has adapted tax laws to support its business.

Three flags fly over the entrance to the low-slung, modern complex: the Stars and Stripes and the Indiana state pennant, flanked by the national flag of any client visiting the complex.

“It’s a way of welcoming our international customers and letting them know this is their facility,” said chief operating officer Daron Dryer.

It’s easy to see how a client could feel ownership of the facility, particularly given the oft-heard and -seen Comlux Completion mantra: “Customer at heart, performance in mind.” A corollary of the Engineering Luxury philosophy, it means embracing each client’s unique goals as the company’s own, and harnessing all means necessary to achieve them. That principle touches all facets of the Comlux customer experience.

Unlike completion facilities where hangars and shops are spread over acres, Meyer noted, “we have everything under one roof: upholstery, cabinetry, finish, sheet metal, mechanical systems, avionics, program offices, engineering, certification, burn labs and interior-design showroom.

“The whole facility ergonomics are based on our completion model,” he continued. “We focus our highly skilled technicians on the aircraft instead of chasing material, tools and engineering support or going off-site to see an element of the build. Our labor expenditures are more efficient because of the materials and workflow designed into this facility.”

Shops are positioned in relation to material flow requirements defined by the unique order of operations that is a VIP prototype cabin completion. Few items ever have to move more than 20 yards at a time during the production process. Going forward, Comlux plans no more than four narrowbody completions per year, inducted on a staggered schedule that maximizes manpower efficiency. The Comlux Interior Design team can either provide a turnkey interior-design package or liaise with the client’s designer, said Meyer.

Client offices are adjacent to their aircraft, making it easy to keep tabs on every aspect of the completion and full visibility to all works on their aircraft.

“There are going to be build elements you want to touch,” said Dryer. “We can give you touch points to your project every day, and you don’t have to travel to a different facility. The power of your time on site is fully leveraged.”

Comlux Completion also boasts a physician- and nurse-staffed clinic, so if client representatives should have any illness or medical need they can be seen without having to find a local doctor or pharmacy. The Comlux medical clinic is also available to all Comlux employees. It offers incentivized wellness programs and the convenience of seeing a doctor while employees are at work, thus avoiding making appointments and waiting rooms. Ready access to this care allows health problems to be addressed sooner and before they become major issues. A prayer room is also available to ensure clients can meet their spiritual needs, at their own convenience.

Research & Innovation Center

The ability to deliver a unique collaborative and welcoming customer experience is rooted in the demand for technical innovations to achieve the client’s vision. This is made possible by the facility’s Research & Innovation Center. The innovations engineered here include proprietary ultra-quiet and lighter-weight air conditioning systems; soft-touch slow-close systems; dual pocketing French-style doors; thermal acoustic insulation systems (TAIS); and more.

“We have a mission to leverage new opportunities for interior completions to keep our process and product as modern and efficient as possible,” said Dryer. The company’s goal is to introduce at least three in novative solutions or process improvements in every completion.

That mission is exemplified in the Comlux 3.0 Initiative now under way, migrating all operations and processes to a digital environment. The digital tools are already transforming the way the interiors on incoming Max 8s and Neos are designed. Thanks to the digital solutions, the customers can better visualize their cabin down to the finest detail, enhancing their experience and the efficiency of the completion process.

“You don’t engage customers today the way you did it 10 years ago or truly even last year,” said Dryer. “Virtual tools and digital development elements give customers a much better sense of the finished interior than line drawings.” He added, “We’re asking customers to make decisions 12 months before the aircraft induction. These tools improve their confidence in decision making all along the way to the final build, and allow us to have a completion downtime of 10 months or less, optimizing the overall aircraft planning.”

When asked why the buyers of Max and neo jets—models that no completion facility has worked on before—choose Comlux, Meyer said, “Their decision process is as unique as their vision for their own VIP cabin. We have succeeded to build a trustful relationship with them, understanding their vision and presenting a solution exceeding their expectations. Our unique experience as an owner and operator of ACJ and BBJ aircraft, as well as our strong rela­tionship with the OEMs must as well have a positive im­pact in their selection of Comlux as their comple­tion center for their future VIP aircraft.

“Comlux is a group specialized in business aviation, transaction and completion services,” he added. “We can acquire your aircraft, complete your aircraft, manage and operate your aircraft, and maintain your aircraft in the group. We can be with you for the full life cycle of ownership of your VIP aircraft.

“When we are awarded a Max or neo program, it’s truly humbling,” Meyer concluded. “Now we’re aligned with this customer, and they believe in us. There’s nothing more motivating than earning somebody’s trust. It is a very significant decision which further inspires our commitment to deliver and allows us to build a new relationship throughout our Comlux Group.”