Background
April 2012
GKN Aerospace grows customer base and capabilities at Filton, UK
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Company’s largest single facility is at the heart of its future wing structures
business
GKN Aerospace at Filton in Bristol, UK, is a key facility in the company’s global wing structures
manufacturing and assembly operations. The site also manufactures complex metallic wing
structures for a range of aircraft.
The Filton site has a floor space of 74,000m2. 1500 of the total global GKN Aerospace
workforce of 9000 are employed at the site, making this the company’s largest single
manufacturing facility.
There is much media attention today focused on carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP or
‘composite’) structures, however, advanced metallic structures will continue to be at the heart
of every aircraft with metal, composite and ‘hybrid’ structures (that combine both composites
and metallics), all having critical roles to play in future airframes and aero-engines.
The expertise in handling ultra-hard metals and the latest metal alloys held at the Filton site
complements other expertise in the company and is crucial to GKN Aerospace’s drive to
capture a significant proportion of the global wing structures market over the next 30 – 40
years.
In the two years since GKN Aerospace acquired the site from Airbus, the company has
transformed the facility from a pure manufacturing activity supporting Airbus programmes, to
a stand-alone GKN Aerospace business responsible for winning new business and for managing
every aspect of its operation.
In that time the company has also invested over GBP17m in new infrastructure and capital
equipment, extending and updating the range of capabilities the site offers the global market.
Training activities have also expanded at the site - the number of apprentices taken on has
grown year on year from just five in 2009 to 25 this year and this trend is expected to
continue.
Today the operation is:
Providing wing structures to Airbus for the A380, A400M, A330 and A320
programmes.
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Designing and building the wing moveable surfaces for Dassault’s next generation
super mid-sized (SMS) business jet.
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Supplying precision machined titanium structures to BAE Systems, for the Lockheed
Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Editor’s Notes:
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GKN plc is a global engineering group. It has four divisions; GKN Driveline, GKN Powder Metallurgy,
GKN Aerospace and GKN Land Systems, which operate in the automotive, aerospace and land
systems markets. Approximately 44,000 people work in GKN companies and joint ventures in more
than 35 countries. GKN is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: GKN) and recorded sales of
GBP6.1 billion in the year to 31 December 2011. GKN Aerospace is a world leading global first tier
supplier of airframe and engine structures, components, assemblies, and transparencies to a wide
range of aircraft and engine prime contractors and other first tier suppliers. It operates in three
main product areas: aerostructures, engine components/sub-systems and special products. With
sales of GBP1.5bn in 2011, GKN Aerospace has a global customer base and operates in both civil and
military markets, with significant participation on all major aircraft programmes.
For further information, please contact:
Sandra Fearon, Public Relations Manager for Aerospace, GKN Aerospace
TEL: +44 (0)1983 283649 Mobile: +44 (0)7767 334804. Email: sandra.fearon@gknaerospace.com
Press releases can also be found on the website: www.gknaerospace.com
25-Apr-12