Rolls-Royce has announced it will invest more than £30m at its site in Washington, Tyne & Wear, UK, creating a new facility to manufacture a range of aerospace discs for in-service engines.
With the new fleet support plant expected to be fully operational by 2018, the new investment is part of Rolls-Royce’s ongoing industrial transformation and marks the final stage of the modernisation programme for disc manufacturing in the North East of England.
Construction of a new facility will also signal the completion of the planned closure of the existing site in nearby Sunderland, which is more than 60 years old.
The new 8,000 sqm facility will have the capacity to manufacture well over 1,500 fan and turbine discs a year for use in a wide-range of existing engines, including civil Aarospace applications (Trent 500, Trent 800 and the RB211 engines) and alongside the defence aerospace applications (EJ200 and Adour engines).
Mike Mosley, Rolls-Royce, chief operating officer – supply chain, commented: “Rolls-Royce is focused on transforming our global industrial base to develop solutions that our customers can trust.
“Our further investment in Washington demonstrates our continued commitment to developing innovative technology and lean facilities, which will improve performance and drive profitability for our business.”
David Ayton, Rolls-Royce, executive vice president for the rotatives supply chain unit, added: “Our exceptional people engineer and make extraordinary components. This showcase facility gives us the opportunity to set new standards of excellence for quality, delivery and cost.”
Employees from the existing Sunderland facility will start to move into the new site from 2017 and the Sunderland site is scheduled for closure in 2019.
