On October 20, MTU Aero Engines delivered the first Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G- JM Geared Turbofan engine assembled on its own final assembly line for A320neo engines to Airbus.
The new assembly line inauguration was attended by Ilse Aigner, Bavarian State Minister of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology. Klaus Roewe, head of the A320 family program, Airbus Group; and MTU chief executive Reiner Winkler with Dr. Rainer Martens, chief operating officer (see picture).
The final assembly line comprises six assembly stations using a system resembling a flow line, where the engine is successively put together from pre-assembled components and modules. This way, several engines in various build stages can be assembled and completed concurrently. The ramp-up of PW1100G-JM engine assembly is expected to be complete by the end of 2018, and around 100 employees will be working in a six-day and multiple shift pattern. A total of about 400 people will then be working in the production of the PW1100G- JM engine program at MTU.
CEO Reiner Winkler stressed the importance of the PW1100G-JM engine and the high order backlog for the A320neo. “Predictions are that in the future, the ‘neo’ engine aftermarket business will also see above-average growth. For us, this translates into a high sales volume over the entire engine life cycle,” he said.
“We have succeeded in passing a crucial milestone by shipping the first engine for the A320neo. Up to date, we have invested about €15 million into the new assembly line,” said Martens. “With our stake in the GTF programs, our production volume will double within five years’ time. While last year, we handled about 2,000 engines and modules across our entire product range, this figure will go up to around 4,000 by the year 2020 already.” MTU contributes the high-speed low-pressure turbine, the forward four stages of the high- pressure compressor and brush seals to the GTF engines.