Pratt & Whitney is working hard to ensure optimum production efficiency for its PW1000G family of “geared turbofans” through a mixture of new technology and more mutually beneficial relationships with key suppliers. Since completing installation of a new horizontal build process at its Middletown, Connecticut plant in March, the engine maker has achieved a 30- to 40-percent reduction in the time it takes to assemble a PW1100G, which will power the new Airbus A320neo narrowbody.

Using a system designed and installed by Germany’s Durr Group, Pratt thinks it will see a 50-percent efficiency gain by the time it builds its sixth engine. The moving production line process, which it has used at the group’s facilities in Mirabel, Canada, and West Palm Beach, Florida, for some time, amounts to the centerpiece of its plan to accelerate rates from zero to 500 PW1100Gs per year—and at least 800 GTFs overall—within two and half to three years.

At the same time, Pratt has committed to awarding suppliers longer-term contracts if they make investments to guarantee they achieve target cost levels. According to Danny Di Perna, senior vice president for engineering and operations, the approach will allow it to achieve a smooth transition to full production of the PW1100G once it stops making the V2500 turbofans that power the existing A320ceo model.

“We’ve secured $18 billion in long-term contracts over the last couple of years for the next 10 to 12 years,” Di Perna told AIN at a press briefing last week. “So we’ve primed the pump. We have told all the suppliers you must invest, you must hire your people early, you must build buffer inventory at your expense, [and] put it on the shelf. You know I would love for a supplier to just give me what they have on the shelf every day...then they can replenish. If it all works, that’s the concept.”