As the Leap engine program ramps up, Safran celebrated the opening of a new manufacturing facility near Rzeszow, Poland on July 4th. The 8,000-sq-meter (86,400-sq-ft) facility will make low-pressure turbine blades for Leap engines, a product of CFM International, the 50/50 joint venture between GE (Chalet P2) and Safran Aircraft Engines (Chalet C6).

The plant, which employs 200 and cost €48 million ($56 million), delivered its first parts in July 2017 and should turn out 180,000 units this year, rising to 350,000 in 2019, then 800,000 a year in 2022, followed by one million-plus after 2022.

There are 1,000 low-pressure turbine blades in a Leap 1A, which powers the A320neo, and 700 in the 737 Max’s Leap 1B.

“Up to now, Safran has bought the majority of these kinds of blades from partners. So now we will have a new source to secure our ramp up,” said Safran CEO Philippe Petitcolin.

The new facility features 21  machining systems and 18 welding machines and it will employ automation to increase production rates, notably in the welding process and 3D quality control. Safran aims to reduce the production time-cycle to 1.5 weeks from four weeks by 2020.

The new polish factory will produce 40 percent of the total production of low-pressure turbine blades for the Leap program. Some of the remainder are produced in a Safran factory in Queretaro, Mexico, with 20 to 40 percent produced at France’s Malichaud, which is owned by Chromalloy.

With more than 15,000 orders and commitments to date and a $200 billion backlog (at list prices), ramping up production of the Leap engine is one of the key challenges for Safran and GE. Both have invested more than $1 billion in new facilities worldwide.

The two companies are facing some delays in ramping up production. “We are on the path to solving those delays up to the end of 2018,” said Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran Aircraft Engines. The stage that is causing the most problems is the forging and founding process, which is subcontracted to partners like Precision Castparts or done by Safran at a plant near Paris. “We are in a constant reflection to adapt our make-or-buy strategy, he added.

Petitcolin said he is considering increasing Safran’s presence in India after having built a wiring facility in Hyderabad last March. “India will be for sure our next country to expand our sourcing,” he said.

“The Polish aviation industry calls on a highly skilled labor force, underpinning its strong growth and making it a major player in Europe,” he said, bolstered by the proximity of Rzeszow University. Rzeszow is the heart of Poland’s “Aviation Valley,” where several aerospace companies are located, including MTU, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce. Safran has invested nearly €180 million ($210 million) since its first foray into the Aviation Valley in 2001.

Safran’s first facility was its Safran Transmission Systems Poland, near Rzeszow, a factory that employs more than 750, specializing in the manufacture and assembly of power transmission systems for Leap and CFM56 engines. In 2003, Safran established a joint venture with France’s Lisi to create Lisi Aerospace Creuset Polska, owned 70 percent by Lisi and 30 percent by Safran. This facility performs finishing operations on low-pressure compressor blades and stators, mainly for CFM56 and Leap engines.  

Safran partnered with Rolls-Royce in founding a 50-50 joint venture in 2015 to manufacture gearboxes. Aero Gearbox International (AGI) opened its Polish production plant in Ropczyce in 2017. This €48 million ($56 million) plant now employs 100, and this figure should rise to more than 200 in 2021.

AGI makes power transmission systems for all upcoming Rolls-Royce commercial aero-engines. Its first program was the Trent 7000 engine powering the Airbus A330neo and the Trent XWB (A350). In 2019, the factory will produce power transmission systems for the Pearl 15 engine, which powers Bombardier’s Global 5500/6500.