GKN Aerospace has officially opened a new facility for aero-engine parts repair in Johor, Malaysia. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in February 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The site is focusing on servicing engine low-pressure compressor (LPC) components for CFM56-5B, CFM56-7 and V2500 engines. The first CFM platforms were repaired and delivered to customers in December 2021. The repair of V2500 fan blades began in June and this will be followed by GTF 24K fan blades later this year and CFM fan blades in early 2023.

Research is centred around the application of additive manufacturing (AM) technology into engine parts repair. The current team of 90 staff will grow to 150 people in 2023 and further expand to 300 within five years — GKN Aerospace is providing on-site training for employees. The expansion to Asia is an important part of GKN Aerospace’s long-term growth strategy and global operating model. The facility is complementary to GKN Aerospace’s existing component repair facility in El Cajon, California, to meet growing demand in the Asia Pacific region.

The new site is a fully owned GKN Aerospace business. Johor offers favourable conditions in the areas of business development, labour, education and training and infrastructure and is ideally located to service the company’s customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

GKN Aerospace now operates seven facilities in Asia, delivering aerostructures, engine systems, wiring systems and transparencies in China, India, Malaysia and Turkey. By the time all sites are fully up-and-running, around 15% of GKN Aerospace’s employees are expected to be based in Asia.

Joakim Andersson, Engines Systems president, said: “We are really proud to finally open this ‘state of the art’ facility and to be able to share this celebration with our customers, employees and stakeholders. We have strongly invested in the site and we injected the latest automated manufacturing technology.”

He concluded: “It is a true demonstration of our commitment to support our customers in the Asia-Pacific region and this has already led to exciting growth opportunities. We thank the Ggovernment of Malaysia for the excellent collaboration and for their vital and valuable support in facilitating our decision to locate in their country.”