SKM Aeronautics: At the Forefront of the Rubber Industry in Israel

won their developers,in the defense industries, the Honorable Israel Defense Prize, and few companies can pride of an actual contribution to two such projects, each in a different field. One such company is SKM Aeronautics, a “blue-and-white” boutique industrial company, engaged in the production and development of precision bespoke products, made from silicones and engineering rubber, according to specific requirements in the customer's specifications. The fully customized products that SKM Aeronautics produces, and whose development it also supports, are intended mainly for defense industries in the aviation, space, military and defense, communications and electro-optics sectors, as well as for civilian industries in the medical, semiconductor and process industry spheres.

Production of Rubber Parts for Precision and Airborne Armament
SKM Aeronautics was established some seven decades ago by three pioneers in the field of rubber. Since the 1960s, it was owned by Mr. Haim Modai, who established it as a leader in quality and in rubber compounds. In 2010, the current owners of the company, Yuval Erez and Ohad Eldar, purchased all of the company's activities, know-how, and means of production in its possession, and they have been managing it together ever since. Ohad has over 35 years of experience in technological management and production in the rubber industry, and Yuval has over 35 years of experience in business management and technological development. Together, they lead a special spirit of dedication and professional teamwork and are well known in the industry for their unique ability “to pushing the limits of materials and technologies beyond the standard Limits”.

Over the years, SKM Aeronautics has established its position as a leader in its field, and is leading the precision rubber industry in Israel. The company set a unique benchmark in terms of quality, production, innovation, professionalism, service orientation, and reliability. SKM Aeronautics provides, under one roof, a complete and comprehensive solution for the rubber products production , starting with full support in the engineering design phase and in the definition of materials and geometries, characterization of the production processes, design verification, simulations and rapid prototyping, production of a first article under serial production process, documentation, and approval of the development process in accordance with a strict quality standards, before transferring the products from development phase to serial production in the state-of-the-art production lines in the company's factory in Petah Tikva.

"The unique DNA embedded in SKM Aeronautics, its employees, and its processes is based on quality and excellence, on innovation, and on full identification with the customer’s requirements, based on a worldview whereby there are almost no limits to what can be made with flexible materials, and no project is impossible to realize. That is why we draw on imagination and abstraction alongside development, engineering and advanced production, in order to solve our client’s problems," says Yuval Erez, CO-CEO of the company.

In the 1960s, SKM Aeronautics, together with Israel Aerospace Industries and the Israeli Air Force, began the development and production of rubber parts and gaskets for the Mirage aircraft, and later the Kfir, Lavi, and helicopters for the Israeli Air Force. "Over the years we have produced thousands of different rubber seals and parts for the aviation industry, and today we continue to produce these spare parts for the Kfir planes that have been purchased by foreign countries such as Colombia, Sri-Lanka, or the USA, where the upgraded aircrafts are used in training as an enemy force squadron. In addition, we work with Boeing’s integrators and produce vulcanized panel doors for landing gear, and also a variety of seals, gaskets and molded rubber parts that are installed in fuel systems, hydraulics systems, power transmission systems and more,” Ohad Eldar elaborates.

"For the defense industries in Israel, for example: Tomer, Rafael, Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Group and IMI Systems, we produce a variety of bespoke precision rubber parts that are installed in airborne weapon systems, such as thermal rubber insulators, vulcanized ignition sleeves, fragmented sleeves, vulcanized steel bodies, and a variety of gaskets and seals that are installed next to the propulsion units. In addition, we produce shrapnel casings that are installed on accurate warheads intended for a variety of types of precision armaments such as tank armaments and airborne and rocket armaments. These weapons have a high destruction capacity, while reducing incidental damage to the surroundings. The shrapnel casings involve the injection of metallic fragments into a flexible silicone binder."

"We have unique technological expertise of bonding (vulcanizing) a variety of types of silicones and rubbers to metals and to composite and plastic materials. The vulcanization is carried out in dedicated molds, by compression or injection technologies and under heat and high-pressure. This technology guarantees uncompromising precision, zero faults, and fusion of exceptional quality between the rubber and the base layer. The product quality and performance in operation is guaranteed over the years,” asserts Yuval.

Do you export abroad?
"Yes, we export, however most of our activities are geared to the Israeli defense markets, while our export is mainly focused on the integrators of the defense industries with which we work with in Israel. Export is carried out directly or indirectly, as well as within the framework of mutual procurement agreements to which Israel is a signatory." Notes Yuval Erez.

What characterizes the company's silicone and rubber compounds?
"We have a particularly wide variety of compounds based on advanced high-performance polymers, at all existing degrees of durometers, and from all type of polymers, in order to meet stringent international rubber standards, including military and aviation standards. We have compounds designed for extremely hot working environments of jet engines, compounds for insulation, both electrical and thermal, conductive compounds for an electromagnetic EMI and RFI work environments, compounds for hydraulic and pneumatic applications, compounds for shock-absorption and dampers, reinforced compounds and clean compounds that meet the special requirements of the semiconductor industry, and some silicone compounds that meet the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company purchases high-quality raw materials in Europe, the USA, and Japan from the top manufacturers and compounders, and in accordance with their unique fields of expertise,” says Ohad.

To what quality standards do you work?
"Our production and quality assurance processes are supervised by the Standard Institution of Israel (SII), in accordance with strict quality standards, including AS9100 for space, aviation and defense industries, ISO13485 for medical devices and ISO9001 for a wide range of civil industries. The company’s management, including its production process, is carried out by means of an advance ERP system, and all stages are reported and documented in a central management system that allows full traceability of the raw materials, production phases, testing, packaging, documentation, and delivery processes. Our team undergoes professional training and also periodic quality survey training,” says Ohad.

What is the nature of the projects in which you were involved where the developers won the Israel Defense Prize?
"One project was carried out in collaboration with the technological unit in the Prime Minister’s Office and the technological unit in the Intelligence Division of the Israeli Defense Forces, during which we developed and produced a ground-breaking product in its field that makes it possible to install and conceal a variety of electronic means for monitoring the environment. This project was a major technological and manufacturing challenge in terms of materials, geometry, and functional survival in field conditions. The second project was in collaboration with the major Israeli Defense Industries, and in it we developed special compounds from which we manufactured multiple types of seals, gaskets and vulcanized valves assemblies for fuel systems, on an airborne platform. The parts we produced allow the system to remain operational for periods of many years, which prevent the need to shut down the strategic system for maintenance every few years, and more important it dramatically improve the system's performance during operation due to improved durability in extreme temperature ranges, that were not feasible in our industry until then." Says Yuval.

According to Ohad, "In these projects, SKM had the privilege and the honor to contribute its part in the development of special compounds, and the development and manufacturing of an innovative production process for complex items that combined cutting-edge technologies with unique and classified rubber compounds. We are proud of the full and successful completion of the projects on the required dates, quality, and within the budgets designated for this."

The European Union’s Innovation Evaluation
In the course of its approximately 70 years of activity, SKM Aeronautics has contributed to the country's security resilience through the development and production of devices and spare parts for the defense industries. In the early 1960s, the company focused on establishing a “blue-and-white” Israeli capacity to produce hydraulic gaskets, seals and engineering molded rubber parts for the combat array of planes and helicopters of the Israeli Air Force, and as of the 1980s, it has been developing and manufacturing various armament accessories for the Merkava project, and rubber parts for the Namer and Eitan projects. "In the Merkava and the Namer projects, the company is involved in a number of activities, including production of a wide range of hydraulic gaskets for propulsion and power transmission systems, vulcanization of small size shock absorbers and dynamic restraints, and mainly the development and production of parts that are incorporated in the precision armaments of the Mark 4 Merkava,” Ohad says.

"In the past decade, the company has been an active partner in four projects to develop innovative technologies as part of the European Union's Horizon 2020 Program. In these projects, the company, together with European partners, leading universities, and research institutions in Europe, is developing patent-protected technologies for reducing friction in dynamic seals, and an innovative environmental friendly technology for roughening and modification of rubber surfaces for high-quality bonding on exotic materials, while completely eliminating the need to apply a destructive process of sandblasting on the final rubber products after their molding phase is completed. In these projects SKM Aeronautics was singled out for praise by the European Union’s Innovation Radar, its innovation and excellency evaluation body, and SKM Aeronautics is nominated for two prizes for excellence,” Yuval notes.

What makes the company's activity unique in your eyes?
"First and foremost, our DNA is different, we are professional and yet flexible in our thinking and execution, and we are totally committed to the success of our customers projects. The efficient and proven process developed in SKM Aeronautics over the years, has created a methodological framework for the precise and reproduceable manufacture of a variety of fully customized products that are specifically adapted to the strict requirements of our customers, while focusing on product quality and reliability, price, and accurate supply times. We continuously work on renewing our production infrastructures and increasing our professional knowledge. Currently the company is assimilating innovative technologies and integrating advanced robotics and automation on the production floor, as an additional and most important pillar in improving production quality and precision, so as to further establish our position at the forefront of the technology and enable us to provide a fast and advanced response to our customers’ existing needs and, of course, to future developments and production needs." Says Yuval.

You are defined as a boutique company, to what extent does the fact that you are partners in the most important defense projects set you apart in the industry?
"For a private SME of our size, to be a key developer and manufacture partner in the development and production of the leading and ground-breaking projects in the defense industry and to contribute a major contribution in their success to the point of them winning the honorable Israel Defense Prize is, in my opinion, something that has no equal in our industry. In addition, the fact that in the past decade we have been privileged to be included as active partners in four consortiums of technological development projects in the framework of the European Union's Horizon 2020 Program is also very unique and not to be taken for granted,” says Yuval.

Among the company's customers are the Elbit Group and its subsidiaries, IMI Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and all its plants, Beit Shemesh Engines, Tomer the Government Company, the IDF and the Ministry of Defense, the Nuclear Research Center, and a variety of civil companies, leaders in their field, in different industrial fields. "By choosing SKM Aeronautics as their leading “Home Provider” over the years, our customers receive decades of experience and expertise from a professional and fully dedicated team. All of this is accompanied by a close and complete package of wide engineering support services, advanced manufacturing services, and even logistical support in purchasing and
supplies."

In collaboration with SKM Aeronautics

>>> Company Website