Collins Aerospace opened an additive manufacturing center at its MRO campus in Monroe, North Carolina. Celebrating the dedication of the new center today, Collins said the addition will expand its global maintenance, repair, and overhaul capabilities, beginning with two 3D printers and with plans to add more in the future. The center joins Collins’s network of other additive production facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, and Singapore, and research centers in Connecticut and Poland.

“Through a process of joining materials layer upon layer to make parts from 3D model data, additive manufacturing offers several key benefits compared to traditional manufacturing,” said Collins Aerospace operations v-p Kevin Myers. “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 addition of the additive manufacturing capabilities in Monroe comes on the heels of a $30 million expansion Collins completed in Monroe in 2021. Collins has since invested another $15 million as part of a Monroe City Council and Union County board of commissioners MAGNET100 economic development incentive program. The investments have enabled Collins to streamline operations, as well as improve quality control and employee safety.

Part of Collins’s network of 75 MRO facilities worldwide, the 160,000-sq-ft Monroe MRO opened in 2004 and is one of Collins’s largest MRO facilities, serving more than 300 aerospace and defense customers. The site repairs some 6,500 components such as actuation systems, helicopter rescue hoists, and air management systems. Collins said it has brought more than 70 new employees to the Monroe facility over the past year and is continuing to hire.