When it comes to aircraft engines, the name of Rolls-Royce commands respect. The UK-based company is a leading provider of aircraft engines, with a 50 per cent share of the modern wide-body commercial aircraft market.
In Singapore, it is breaking new ground by building the first plant in Asia to manufacture engines for large commercial aircraft. This "Facility of the Future" at the new Seletar Aerospace Park will test and assemble Trent engines for the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 XWB, developing and incorporating the latest in engine assembly techniques.
Rolls-Royce will also be establishing a wide chord fan blade (WCFB) factory alongside its Facility of the Future in Seletar. The factory will be the first outside the UK to manufacture hollow titanium WCFBs. The WCFB is a specialist component involving a sophisticated process developed by Rolls-Royce as well as stringent requirements on reliability and quality.
Goodrich Gains Altitude
Global systems and services supplier Goodrich Corporation services more than 40 airlines in the Asia-Pacific region through its MRO facility in Singapore, its largest worldwide. Since 1995, Goodrich has substantially expanded its presence here. From a 16-man operation in a 3000 square-foot facility, Goodrich today employs more than 500 staff in a 550,000 square-foot facility, offering a full range of MRO solutions to commercial and military aerospace customers across the Asia Pacific region.
Goodrich has also powered on beyond MRO to make aerospace R&D a critical component of its operations here. In 2007, its Singapore-based team won praise from major industry players for developing a prototype fan cowl for next-generation narrow-body aircraft engines.
