FOLEY - Excitement was in the air early Thursday morning on August 24, as UTC Aerospace Systems in Foley held a ribbon cutting for its brand new 80,000 square foot manufacturing and nacelle …
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FOLEY - Excitement was in the air early Thursday morning on August 24, as UTC Aerospace Systems in Foley held a ribbon cutting for its brand new 80,000 square foot manufacturing and nacelle assembling factory. The new factory, which began construction a mere 16 months ago, is a result of the increasing demand for nacelle systems, and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2017. Not only will the new facility be more efficient, as it was built with innovation in mind, it will also bring a total of 260 new jobs to the award-winning plant.
“A lot has happened since we broke ground on the project,” said Foley Original Equipment site General Manager Darrell Wilson. “For starters, our factory was selected by IndustryWeek Magazine as one of the best plants in North America in 2016, and that was an honor bestowed upon only 6 other facilities in North America.”
Another achievement by the company was the recent shipment of a set of 13,000 pieces to Boeing on the 737 program, a program for which UTC Aerospace Systems has shipped on time for more than 10 years.
The Foley facility manufactures in-demand airplane parts and equipment that are then shipped all over the world, to a facility in Toulouse, France, to Hamburg, Germany, as well as Tianjin, China, where they are then shipped to nearby Airbus facility lines in those locations.
“I will tell you there is nothing that makes a Baldwin County Commissioner prouder than being on a tarmac in France or England and hearing them talk about Foley or Baldwin County,” said Baldwin County Commissioner Chris Elliot. “While we’re always excited to welcome new businesses to Baldwin County, there is nothing better than seeing one that has a proven track record of success expand.”
When the company originally came to Foley back in 1984, there was a mere 120 employees working at the facility, and only around 120,000 square feet of building. After years of growth and expansion, the entire facility is now over 550,000 square feet, and already hosts over 800 employees today. Once the additional 260 are hired for the new facility, it will put the employee range at UTC Aerospace in Foley over 1,000.
“Part of the expansion here is due to us repeatedly showing our leadership that this is a place to put business,” said Mike Welsh, Manager, Finance and Management Information Systems at UTC Aerospace Systems. “It’s a proven workforce. When Airbus came to Mobile, that was huge to us, they’ve got a lot of work ahead of them, and this new site was built specifically to support that growth.”
Along with that growth came many new employment opportunities, and a lot of changing aspects of business. The facility produces a multitude of products, which they then ship across the globe, guaranteeing a vast array of jobs that are available.
As Baldwin County’s education facilities continue to expand and more and more technology based institutions appear, UTC offers a fantastic place for those students to utilize their skills and talents.
“Not only are we touting international partnerships, but we’re also touting partnerships with our school system and our community college system,” said Elliot. “They’re preparing our students today to build cool stuff like everything in this facility.”
Elliot stated that with the 260 new jobs which will be filled soon, it will bring UTC in Foley’s payroll up to 50 million dollars a year. This diversifies the economy of Baldwin County as it’s not from tourism or the fact that Baldwin County is next to Mobile, but because of an advanced manufacturing mega-power right here in the area.
“We will be an advanced manufacturing hub for aerospace here in Baldwin County in the not distant future,” Elliott said.
The newest facility was built with that sentiment in mind, and it comes ready with innovative technology and systems to help the plant build parts more efficiently and safely. The company believes in lessons learned and best practices, and they take ideas that have been implemented into their other facilities and learn from them. They do away with those ideas that do not show much benefit, and the ones that do work out are then factored into any new facility design. For this new plant, there will be features including automated material movement to index large nacelle component platforms down the assembly line, an overhead rail system with vacuum lifts and an automated painting system.
“A blank sheet really offers a lot of opportunities to continue to be the best at what we do,” said Vice President of Operations for UTC Aerospace Systems-Aerostructures Mike Grondalski. “Our goal here is to not be static, not be stagnant. Top 6 plants in North America is good, but it cannot ever stop. We always have to be moving forward and that’s exactly what we’re doing here today.”
Foley Council President Wayne Trawick agrees, as he looks forward to seeing UTC expand in the future and bring even more additions to Foley.
“We appreciate the management team and the work force,” said Trawick. “It starts at the top, and these guys have done good and we’re just extremely proud to have UTC in Foley.”
The new building is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, and features a sanitation system that incorporates rainwater collection into the design. The Foley location also assembles nacelles for integration with the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan engine for multiple aircraft platforms.
“The aviation excellence that you see happening here today in Foley and Mobile is spreading throughout Southwest Alabama,” said congressman Bradley Byrne. “This is one very tangible sign of that. There’s going to be a whole lot more of these, not just here in Foley, but all over Southwest Alabama, as we spread what’s becoming an international hub of aviation excellence right here.”
One of the factors that all UTC employees and company heads feel is one of the reasons responsible for their excellent leadership in aviation development is the employees and teamwork that can be found in the facility. To manage over 800 employees is no easy feat, and UTC’s management has shown such positive results that they are adding over 200 new employees with excitement.
“I’ll make this confident prediction,” said Wilson. “The work we place in this building will be of excellent quality, delivered on time, and certainly at the expected cost. How can I even say that if the building is just now opening? It’s because I know these people, what a great team we have here. They’ll bring the same skills, the work ethic, the commitment to continuous improvement, that they already bring every day to the product we build. Just as they’ve made our site a best plant, they’ll certainly make this site an even better plant.”
For more information about the company, visit their website at www.utcaerospacesystems.com or follow them on Twitter: @utcaerosystems. If you’re interested in future employment opportunities with the company, they are taking applications for the new facility, and planning training courses for new employees. To apply, visit AIDT.com.
