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flee

Rolls-Royce's Singapore facility to begin production in mid-2012

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Rolls-Royce aims to begin Trent engine assemblies at its new facility in Singapore's Seletar Aerospace Park in mid-2012, and expects it to produce up to 250 powerplants a year.

 

The engine assembly and test facility, which will produce Trent 900s, Trent 1000s and Trent XWBs, was first announced by Rolls-Royce in 2007. It is the first such facility outside the UK.

 

Rolls-Royce estimates that the Singapore plant will meet half of the engine manufacturer's annual engine demand, with its existing facility at Derby producing another 250 engines a year.

 

Another Rolls-Royce factory in Seletar, which will produce wide chord fan blades for the three engines, will also begin operations in mid-2012.

 

This will manufacture 6,000 blades a year, says Rolls-Royce's chief operating officer for its Singapore aerospace division John Horsburgh. It could eventually produce up to 9,000 blades a year by 2018.

 

Rolls-Royce has said it was investing more than S$700 million ($550.5 million) in the Seletar facility, which would create 500 new jobs.

 

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/03/02/353800/rolls-royces-singapore-facility-to-begin-production-in.html

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MH is unlikely to buy SG made Trent, MH will either insist on UK made Trent or choose RR competitor :pardon:

 

Or PW

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MH will benefit from this as it means any repairs or problems,no need to send or fly the engines all the way to europe,hence saving cost and time. Just a hop away to SG.Give the old engine back and get a new one, :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

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Give the old engine back and get a new one, :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Wow, these aircraft warranties are very impressively generous :lol:

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Wow, these aircraft warranties are very impressively generous :lol:

Yes, if the engines are under RR TotalCare.. That was why Qantas has no problems with the warranties for the QF A380's uncontained engine failure.

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Yes, if the engines are under RR TotalCare.. That was why Qantas has no problems with the warranties for the QF A380's uncontained engine failure.

 

 

These are the kind of deals that Malaysia should be getting, especially as it's much cheaper to run an operation in MY,

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These are the kind of deals that Malaysia should be getting, especially as it's much cheaper to run an operation in MY,

It may be cheaper to run, but approvals and red tape is fraught with danger for the foreign company. Then there is the requirement for local partners, technology transfer etc. In the long term, that may prove to be more costly!

 

RR are manufacturing next Gen engines in Singapore - note that the engines mentioned will be on A350/A380/B787 aircraft. Do you think they are keen to transfer that kind of leading edge technology to Malaysian companies?

 

Also note the timeframe of the project from announcement to commencement of production. Is that kind of timeframe feasible in Malaysia, knowing how fast our authorities work?

Edited by flee

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Another thing to consider - if manufacturing facility is located in Malaysia, you may possibly find knock off versions of fan blades selling cheap at Petaling Street in due course too :lol:

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RR are manufacturing next Gen engines in Singapore - note that the engines mentioned will be on A350/A380/B787 aircraft. Do you think they are keen to transfer that kind of leading edge technology to Malaysian companies?

 

FYI Malaysian companies and our own boys participated in the design and built of composite wing and empennage parts for a number of Airbus a/c including the 'leading edge technology' in the A400M and the A380. And we were there since A-scheme (concept) to EIS - not just pencil pushers. Sure, they are not as complex and expensive as the nextgen eng, but they are certainly leading edge. Right about the time when composite content in a/c over metal are growing.

 

Most times, Tech contracts are given based on political will, influences and also procurement offset deals. Sure, red tape are there. but it would be wrong to assume they are not keen to give msia the projects simply due to 'incompetency' or 'threat of reverse engineering' or 'poor perception of people'.

 

The math is simple. Buy more, get more offset manufacturing/MRO packages! this sort of deal also got us an astronaut by the way :huh: plus, why do you think airbus and OEMs are so deeply entrenched in China if they fear reverse engineering? \

 

my 2 cents..

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Rolls-Royce Delivers First Singapore-Produced Trent Aero Engine

November 29, 2012 14:00 PM

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah

 

 

SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, on Wednesday delivered the first Trent 900 aero engine produced in Singapore to Airbus in Toulouse, France.

 

Paul O'Neil, Director of Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus, said, "The delivery of the first Trent aero engine produced in Singapore is a significant milestone for us.

 

"It represents a huge collaborative effort with colleagues in the UK supporting our team here to ensure that the engine, produced to our exacting standards, was delivered on time," he said in a statement.

 

The Trent 900 aero engine was developed for the Airbus A380 family and delivers the lowest lifetime fuel burn in addition to its excellent environmental attributes.

 

The Trent 900 has been selected by 11 of the 17 airlines who operate the aircraft.

 

The 154,000 sq. m. Seletar Campus is the largest aerospace facility in Singapore.

 

Opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in February 2012, it includes a Trent Aero Engine Assembly and Test Unit; a Wide Chord Fan Blade manufacturing facility; an Advanced Technology Centre; and a Regional Training Centre.

 

The Seletar Assembly and Test Unit is a state-of-the-art facility designed to allow simultaneous assembly and testing of Rolls-Royce Trent engines under one roof. At full capacity it can produce up to 250 engines per year.

 

Initially Trent 900 and Trent 1000 aero engines will be built here.

 

The Group's Wide Chord Fan Blade (WCFB) manufacturing facility is the first outside the UK to manufacture hollow titanium WCFBs, a unique capability and technology which has played a key role in the success of the Trent aero engine family.

 

At full capacity, this facility will produce over 6,000 blades per year.

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I am quite surprise they choose Singapore considering the expensive cost in virtually everything. Why not Indonesia, for example. Thought Singapore's status as manufacturer of anything is dead and buried.

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for such aerospace high tech and advanced composites, you need capable and very skilled people trained well for the aerospace industry. S'pore's technical and vocational education is one of the best in Asia and is very credible in the world. Thats why RR chose S'pore and not regionally where costs maybe cheaper but education and capability and competence may not be there. Simple.

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^^ or maybe thats part of SIA clause in their contract.. sound something like this "If you want me to buy more of your engine you need to built a factory in SIN" :D

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Assembling aircraft engines is not the same as assembling laptops, ipads, iphones or galaxies. It's way up there on top of value chain. Singapore moved long time ago when they realised they can't compete with Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and China. So the only way to move forward is to focus and approve high tech assemblies that require specific skills. I believe Penang is moving in the same direction too albeit too late. Indonesia Vietnam and China have the correct numbers to keep costs low.

 

Malaysian government should be proactive in this regard. Stop overflowing of foreign workers for factories. We dont want to assemble Barbie dolls and remote control car anymore. Encourage local SMEs to innovate and to focus on value building than volume chasing.

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It would seem gahmen's idea of moving up the value chain comes in form of LAMP at Gebeng - processing and storage of other people's wastes :D

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RR probably chose the country because of its good record of labour relations and high productivity. There are many high tech industries located in Singapore that are doing well.

 

The bottom line is that Singapore has managed to grow its per capital GDP shows that their govt. and people have done well.. The evidence is there for all to see.

 

In Malaysia, all we see is massive corruption and wastage of resources.

 

However, Singapore is now facing new challenges and the govt. and people of that nation have to find solutions in order to maintain their success story.

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for such aerospace high tech and advanced composites, you need capable and very skilled people trained well for the aerospace industry. S'pore's technical and vocational education is one of the best in Asia and is very credible in the world. Thats why RR chose S'pore and not regionally where costs maybe cheaper but education and capability and competence may not be there. Simple.

 

As a UK trained engineer, who worked on a project sponsored by RR aerospace I have to mention these engines are put together in the UK by 17-19 year old apprentices. Out of an assembly line of 50 people, at most only 2 will have university degrees, who do the inspection.

 

The BBC Series "How To Build" has an episode on this too.

 

IMHO, RR deciding on Singapore was due to them already having a strong foot hold there in terms of personnel & equipment. Not to mention the numerous supply contracts they have to the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

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hmmm....dont think the RSAF uses that many RR engines - as their key jet fighters like the F16s and F15s are all US made and even their helicoters too like the Apaches, Chinooks and Super Pumas

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