GE Aviation celebrated the grand opening of its Greenville facility on April 19. The business confirmed its commitment to the state of South Carolina with plans to add 100 jobs by 2013 and invest $30 million in the new facility. The $30 million investment covers new equipment for the 150,000-square-foot facility located in the Matrix Industrial Park. The GE Aviation Greenville facility produces high-pressure turbine (HPT) blades for commercial aircraft engines produced by GE Aviation and used to power many Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The company currently employs more than 140 people at the site and plans to add another 100 employees by 2013 as it expands the site’s capabilities to include coating technologies.
The new technologies in the facility will enable GE Aviation to reduce production time for turbine blades by 50% (from about 15 days to one week) and boost its production capacity. The productivity improvement will help the site handle volume growth that is expected to increase by approximately 40% at the Greenville facility this year.