Rolls-Royce to Build Advanced Manufacturing Facility

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, is investing $42 million to build a new advanced manufacturing facility in Indianapolis. The new facility will produce components for some of the most advanced aircraft engines in the world and create more than 100 new jobs when the facility is fully operational in 2014.

“Rolls-Royce continues to invest in America because it’s an environment that allows us to be globally competitive,” said James M. Guyette, chairman, president and CEO Rolls-Royce North America. “In the U.S., we’ve done an extraordinary job of lowering our costs, increasing our competitiveness and demonstrating technological leadership in our industry. The investments we’re making in America will ensure we continue to deliver excellence to our customers.”

The engine components, known as Compressor Banded Stators, will be produced for the cleanest, quietest and lightest engines made by Rolls-Royce, including the Trent XWB, which is the most efficient civil aircraft engine available in the world. The Trent XWB will power the Airbus A350 XWB which will fly for the first time in 2013.

The new facility will also produce components for Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, AE series and T56 turboprop engines. These components will be shipped to Rolls-Royce facilities in North America and globally, where they will be assembled into engines.

Over the past decade, Rolls-Royce invested over $1 billion in new facilities in the United States where it has operated for more than 100 years and today employs more than 7,700 employees in advanced manufacturing jobs. Indianapolis is home to 4,500 employees, 1,500 of which are engineers. The new Compressor Banded Stators facility in Indianapolis is the latest in a recent series of new investments in the United States.

In January, Rolls-Royce announced a $50 million expansion for a second jet engine test stand at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss. In December, the company announced a $22 million investment to redevelop a new state-of-the-art office campus in downtown Indianapolis as part of a consolidation of offices for 2,500 engineers and professional staff. In addition, Rolls-Royce spends an average of $20 million each year in manufacturing and capital improvements in its Indianapolis operations.