Boeing starts work on new manufacturing unit in UK

US-based Boeing, a leading aerospace company, yesterday (September 12) held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the construction of a manufacturing and research building in Sheffield, UK. The new 6,200-sq-m facility, which is the company’s first European manufacturing plant, is being built at a site on the Sheffield Business Park, following it having received planning permission from the Sheffield City Council, said a statement Due to open in late 2018, the facility will manufacture actuation system components for Boeing’s Next-Generation 737, 737 MAX and 777 aeroplanes, it said. The Sheffield facility is part of Boeing’s broader plan to grow in-house production of selective technologies. The Boeing Sheffield team will manufacture key actuation systems with improved productivity, enhanced production efficiency and reduced costs while maintaining quality, it added. Boeing Fabrication's Portland facility in Gresham, Oregon, US, will also produce actuators and assemble actuation systems for these models as a new work statement. Actuation systems move the flaps on the trailing edge of an aeroplane wing to provide extra lift at low speeds during take-off and landing, said a statement. Sir Michael Arthur, president of Boeing Europe and managing director of Boeing UK and Ireland, said: “Seven months after announcing our intention to build a factory in South Yorkshire, we are proud to celebrate the ground-breaking of Boeing Sheffield and welcome more Boeing employees to our company.” “Boeing Sheffield is further evidence of Boeing’s long-term commitment to the prosperity of this country. We are grateful to the communities of Sheffield and Rotherham, as well as Sheffield City Council and the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, for supporting Boeing Sheffield and our growing presence in the region,” he added. Boeing Sheffield will be a part of Boeing Fabrication, the company’s in-house parts-manufacturing operation. When it opens, Boeing Sheffield will produce as many as 8,000 components per month that will be shipped to Boeing Portland, to be assembled into actuation systems. The Sheffield facility will initially employ 30 people on opening, growing to more than 50 employees. This includes 19 manufacturing apprentices, who have already been recruited and are being trained at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Training Centre in Rotherham,