Collins Aerospace opens new additive manufacturing center to expand global repair capabilities

Collins Aerospace is set to open a new additive manufacturing center as their North Carolina based facility set to join their worldwide network of additive production centres.

On the 10th June, Collins Aerospace announced the opening of the new center at their campus in Monroe, North Carolina, that has recently undergone a 30 million USD expansion, and received a further 15million USD as part of the Monroe City Council and Union County Board of Commissioners MAGNET100 economic development incentive program.

Collins Aerospace Vice President Kevin Myers said: “By using additive manufacturing to produce aircraft parts and components, we can help reduce weight, cost and time to market, and provide more sustainable solutions for our customers.”

The new center includes two 3D printers, with plans to add more in the future. The existing network of centers includes sites in Iowa, Minnesota and Singapore. With additive research centers in Connecticut and Poland. The Monroe facility will aim to support the next generation of aircraft with state-of-the-art systems and designs.

Collins is a leading provider of MRO services for aircraft systems, they maintain a worldwide network of 75 MRO sites to serve its global customer base. Their 160,000-square-foot Monroe MRO campus opened in 2004 and serves more than 300 customers across the aerospace and defense industry.

“Our Monroe site is one of Collins’ largest MRO facilities in the world, and the repairs we provide are essential to keeping our airline and military customers’ aircraft in service.” said Mary DeStaffan, Monroe site general manager for Collins Aerospace. “We’re proud to call Monroe home, to continue to invest and grow the community here, and to support the region’s growing aerospace cluster.”

“Collins Aerospace is a vital corporate partner and a cornerstone of our aerospace cluster here in Monroe and Union County.” stated Monroe Mayor Marion Holloway. “Not only are we excited about the current success of our company and their investments here, but their continued commitment to the residents of our community.”