Mitsubishi Setting up Aero Engine Parts Factory

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will establish a new factory within its Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works to manufacture aero engine parts along with launching new engine MRO service.

MHI is anticipating continued growth of its aero engine business, and in establishing the new facility the Company looks to strengthen its global competitiveness by developing a highly advanced engine parts production line, to grow aero engines into one of MHI Group's core businesses.

Construction is slated to get underway this October, with initial production targeted to start in 2020 and be incrementally expanded thereafter.

The new factory will be constructed as the Nagasaki Works of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aero Engines, Ltd. (MHIAEL), an aero engine business arm of MHI Group. It will be located at the former site of the Propeller Factory (Ship Propeller Factory) adjacent to the Nagasaki Shipyard Museum (former Pattern Shop), a World Heritage Site.

The new factory will be built equipped with a fully integrated production line from material receiving to machining and assembly for combustor parts, a company release said.

To achieve an aero engine parts factory of world-class efficiency, MHIAEL will actively introduce automation and manpower saving technologies, such as automated material handling, tool changing, as well as IoT and AI technologies cultivated at its mother factory.

Measures are also being accelerated to expand business in aero engine MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul). At MHIAEL's Head Office Main Plant in Aichi Prefecture, preparations are moving steadily forward to launch new engine MRO services.