Rolls-Royce opens its £30m Production Facility extension to its Derby Assembly & Test Facility

DERBY, 26-11-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — Rolls-Royce today marked the official opening of its £30m Production Facility extension to its Derby Assembly & Test Facility with a ceremony conducted by Business Secretary Sajid Javid. The 2867m² extension will increase capacity to assemble Trent civil aero engines and become the production hub for the Trent XWB, the world’s most efficient large aero engine and the fastest-selling widebody engine in history.

Rolls-Royce has installed new equipment and is making use of advanced manufacturing processes helping to boost productivity in order to meet customer demand. Over the next two to three years, Trent XWB production will grow to more than 300 engines a year – the equivalent of one every working day. The engine is expected to be in service for many years, creating an annuity of aftermarket services that will generate revenues for decades to come.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid said: “The opening is great news for the company, its workforce, and the UK. Aerospace is a great British success story. I want to capitalise on our world-leading capability so that we can win a big share of the £3.5 trillion market for new aircraft which will be needed over the next 20 years.”

Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Warren East said: “It was a great pleasure to welcome the Business Secretary to open our new Production Facility extension. We are transforming our global industrial base and investing in innovative technology to help us deliver our record £76.5 billion order book. Our world-class Assembly & Test Facility in Derby will deliver a wide range of Trent civil aero engines including the Trent XWB. The Trent XWB engine is fundamental to the future growth of Rolls-Royce.”

The production of Trent XWB engines is the culmination of a decade of hard work byRolls-Royce employees, partners and suppliers around the world. The new extension also includes a new employee canteen and over 1600m² of office space.

Some facts about the Trent XWB:

• Each Trent XWB is made up of more than 39,000 parts
• The fan case of the Trent XWB, at just under 10ft in diameter, is wider than the fuselage of Concorde
• The fan blades at the front suck in up to 1.3 tonnes of air (more than a squash court) every second at take-off
• The force on a fan blade at take-off is equivalent to a load of almost 90 tons, the same as nine London buses hanging off each blade
• More than 1500 orders from 41 customers in 30 countries

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

1. Rolls-Royce’s vision is to create better power for a changing world via two main business divisions, Aerospace and Land & Sea. These business divisions address markets with two strong technology platforms, gas turbines and reciprocating engines. Aerospace comprises Civil Aerospace and Defence Aerospace. Land & Sea comprises Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.
2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 380 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
3. Our business is focused on the 4Cs:
   • Customer – placing the customer at the heart of our business
   • Concentration – deciding where to grow and where not to
   • Cost – continually looking to increase efficiency
   • Cash – improving financial performance.
4. Annual underlying revenue was £14.6 billion in 2014, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at £76.5 billion at 30 June 2015.
5. In 2014, Rolls-Royce invested £1.2 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
6. Rolls-Royce employs over 54,000 people in more than 50 countries. Over 15,500 of these are engineers.
7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2014 we employed 354 graduates and 357 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes. Globally we have over 1,000 Rolls-Royce STEM ambassadors who are actively involved in education programmes and activities; we have set ourselves a target to reach 6 million people through our STEM outreach activities by 2020.

SOURCE: Rolls-Royce plc

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Rolls-Royce opens its £30m Production Facility extension to its Derby Assembly & Test Facility