Pratt & Whitney officially opened its first manufacturing facility in Singapore, through its subsidiary P&W NGPF Manufacturing Company Singapore Pte Ltd, earlier today.
The 180,000 square foot (approximately 16,000 square meters) facility, located at Seletar Aerospace Park, will produce fan blades and other key components for Pratt & Whitney’s new PurePower® Geared Turbofan(TM) (GTF) engine family. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.
“Pratt & Whitney is proud of our presence in Singapore and our more than 30 years of engine overhaul and maintenance services on the island,” said Danny Di Perna, senior vice president, Operations. “With the opening of this brand new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to produce our innovative hybrid metallic fan blades and critical turbine rotating components, we are creating additional manufacturing capacity and capability for our PurePower engine family. Over the past few years, we have invested more than $1 billion globally to create and modernize our manufacturing infrastructure. These investments feature advanced manufacturing equipment, tools and special processes which play an integral role as we increase production volumes.”
With about 7,000 orders and commitments, including options, from more than 70 customers in more than 30 countries, the facility proves vital in supporting the GTF engine components to customers in the Asia-pacific region and around the globe. It is only the second Pratt & Whitney production facility in existence to manufacture hybrid metallic blades, which are made with extremely lightweight materials that provide superior aerodynamic efficiency levels compared with any other fan in service, including composite blades of the same size class.
The manufacturing facility borders the Pratt & Whitney Component Solutions Pte Ltd (PWCS) facility, which opened in 2014 and is equipped with state-of-the-art repair capabilities. PWCS has increased its production while maintaining focus on quality and productivity. PWCS performs a comprehensive variety of engine component repairs.
Both facilities meet LEED Gold standards and Singapore’s Green Mark building scheme. The new manufacturing facility implements renewable resources such as solar energy collected via its roof panels. Collectively, the two buildings are part of Pratt & Whitney’s US$110 million investment in Seletar Aerospace Park, Singapore’s newest aerospace industrial park.
“We are delighted to see Pratt & Whitney’s relationship with Singapore grow. Pratt & Whitney’s manufacturing investment in Singapore is a testament to our strengths in complex aerospace manufacturing,” said Mr. Tan Kong Hwee, director for Transport Engineering, Singapore Economic Development Board. “Going forward, we will continue to expand our capabilities to make Singapore a compelling partner for aerospace companies looking to enhance their presence in this part of the world.”
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries.