As the production ramp for the GTF™ engine continues, turbine disk output at the Pratt & Whitney NGPF Manufacturing Company Singapore continues to rise to meet the growing demand. Earlier this year, the team delivered its 1,000th GTF turbine disk.
Today, more than 50 employees produce 60 to 80 disks a month for several engine models. They are targeting 115 disks a month by year-end for both production and aftermarket. “We’ve come a long way since we began manufacturing disks in 2016, and it took months to make one,” said Cheong Chen-Yang, manager, Turbine Disk Business Unit. “Now, we’re accomplishing that in weeks, rather than months.”
Four machining processes account for approximately 85% of the work done first, followed by manual tasks involving polishing, deburring and shot-peening. “We’re maximizing the mechanized aspect of production,” Cheong said. “While the process is robust, it’s still a work in progress, and we’re concentrating on the entire value stream, including set-up reduction, fixture design and inspection, by using the full range of ACE tools and kaizen events to drive process improvements.”
The operation has been developed to be flexible and accommodating as design changes add new levels of process complexity. “As a result, we’re ensuring the line continues to run smoothly while we deal with increasing production volume,” Cheong added.
The Singapore disk line began as a “turnkey” project from Pratt & Whitney Canada with a knowledge transfer covering technology and method of manufacture across the entire turbine disk process. The exchange of information continues to this day. “We have daily calls with our Canadian colleagues to ensure no process deviations and that any process improvements are communicated across our organizations,” Cheong said.
A maturing and empowered workforce has played a key role. “We were very much in a learning mode when we first started,” he added. “Today, we’re driving cross-training and decision-making through all levels of the organization. That’s taking pressure off of our engineering staff and cell leaders as our operators gain more experience and are empowered to make independent decisions. We’re embracing a culture that says, if you have a problem, raise your hand, and if something’s not working, stop and ask questions.
“We’re aiming to produce perfect quality parts consistently by the end of the year, so it’s critical that if we want to meet big challenges, we need a collective effort,” Cheong said. “We’re working as a team to achieve the level of synergy needed for growth and success. Even with tremendous growth, it’s critical to stay true to the process and produce quality parts at the levels required. When we accomplish that, it’s both encouraging and rewarding. I’ve learned that change is the only constant. If you accept that, then you embrace it and adapt to it accordingly.”