GE Aerospace has announced a significant investment in it manufacturing facilities, with an emphasis on additive manufacturing (AM). The company plans to invest nearly $450 million in new machines, inspection equipment, building upgrades, new test cells and safety enhancements at 22 facilities across 14 states.
U.S.-based suppliers will receive another $100M, as will some of GE Aerospace’s international sites in North America, Europe and India.
“As GE Aerospace prepares to become a standalone company this spring, we are making significant investments in the future of flight and in the dozens of communities and supplier partners helping us build it,” said H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., Chairman and CEO of GE and CEO of GE Aerospace in a press release. “These investments are part of the next chapter for GE Aerospace, supporting cutting-edge equipment and safety enhancements that will help us meet our customers’ growing needs.”
Of particular note is the investment in GE Aerospace’s Auburn, Alabama facility, which will receive $54M for additional additive machines and tooling to increasing production of military rotorcraft engine components and commercial aircraft engines.
The company also plans a $107M investment (the largest proportion) to facilities in the greater Cincinnati region. This will cover new additive manufacturing machines, new tooling and equipment, and modernization upgrades to test cells. All of this is expected to increase production capacity of commercial and military aircraft engines.
Other facilities receiving investments include:
- Lynn, Mass: $30M for engine assembly and testing, as well as facility maintenance and upkeep
- North Carolina: $46M to four facilities that produces parts and assemble engines for narrow or widebody commercial aircraft
In addition to the investments announced today, GE Aerospace is hiring more than 1,000 employees for open external positions at its U.S. factories, viewable in this interactive map.
The fact that GE Aerospace is putting so much into AM for the sake of increasing production demonstrates how far the technology has come over the past decade. It also suggests that aerospace engineers would be well-served to brush up on their knowledge of 3D printing.