LAFAYETTE, LA—Bell Helicopter has begun constructing a new $26.3 million assembly plant here to make the company’s new line of Short Light Single helicopters.
FAIRFIELD, CT—Scientists at GE are experimenting with a technology, called Direct Write, that uses special “inks” to print miniature sensors directly inside jet engines, gas turbines and other hot, harsh and hard-to-reach places.
LOWELL, MA—Raytheon Co. and the University of Massachusetts Lowell will establish a $3 million joint research facility here dedicated to future technologies for radar and communication systems.
EVERETT, WA—Kuka Aerospace plans to open a new 29,000-square-foot facility here adjacent to Boeing’s assembly plant. The facility will employ 75 people when fully operational.
AUBURN, AL—GE Aviation is investing $50 million to bring 3D printing technology to its assembly plant here. The company plans to use high volume 3D printing to mass-produce components for jet engines.
SEATTLE—Boeing has pushed some factory work on the 787 Dreamliner to the uncovered tarmac outside its assembly plant in Washington state in an effort to keep churning out the popular plane at a rate of one every three days. At the same time, at least 16 Italian-made fuselage sections for the 787 have stacked up in a Boeing hangar in Wichita, KS, rather than being shipped directly to the factory, a sign of changes in the production process.
CHICAGO—Sciaky Inc. has received a purchase order from a major aerospace parts maker to provide an electron beam additive manufacturing system. The system will help the manufacturer save time and cost when producing large, high-value metal parts.
Automakers are increasingly using hydroformed metal tubing in vehicular structures. Compared with stamped and welded metal parts, hydroformed parts weigh less, cost less, and have a higher stiffness-to-weight ratio.
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