Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aero Engines, Ltd (MHIAEL), part of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has completed the expansion of its Nagasaki aero engine component factory. Located on the premises of MHI’s Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works, the newly expanded facility, along with new equipment, will allow MHI to meet the growing demand for the engine components produced at this plant for short- and medium-range commercial aircraft.

This expansion project has more than doubled the size of the plant building to 11,000m2 (from the previous level of 5,400m²); it will also accommodate some of the manufacturing processes currently outsourced to overseas suppliers, and thereby allow the fully integrated production of combustors and significant increases in production.

The existing production plant manufactures combustors for the PW1100G-JM engines that power the Airbus A320neo family. The plant, which started operations in November 2020, now has the facilities to handle fully integrated operations, from receipt of materials to machining and assembly.
Moreover, to achieve the high degree of precision and quality required for aero engine components, MHIAEL has introduced automation and labour-saving technologies. These include advanced machine tools, ‘automated conveyance’, and automated tool-changing systems; the company also applies IoT, AI, and other technologies ‘cultivated’ at its main mother factory in Komaki.

MHIAEL says global air passenger demand has recovered since the Covid-19 pandemic and is once more on a growth trajectory. “Orders and sales for the Airbus A320neo have grown significantly and the production of the PW1100G-JM engines also have been increasing greatly in terms of both the number of flights and flight hours.

“To meet this strong demand, Airbus plans to gradually increase production of the A320neo; and with demand for combustor parts and after-sales service for the PW1100G-JM expected to double in the coming years, we have expanded our production capabilities for aero engines, of which this factory expansion is a part.”