AEROSPACE: Location Will Facilitate Expected 50% Growth
EL CAJON – Upon a 30-acre site that was once a golf course, a $55 million local factory hub belonging to GKN Aerospace now brings the promise of more economic progress to San Diego County. api wellhead connection
GKN’s 300-plus-worker strong aero-engine parts repair facility has been methodically making the move from the company’s longstanding site on Bradley Avenue to a new 162,000-square foot location as part of 382,000 square feet of buildings on Weld Boulevard at Cuyamaca Street.
GKN opened its doors in El Cajon in 1953 and has been one of the city’s largest employers. More than 1,000 people work in a 24-hour, round-the-clock schedule for GKN.
The majority of its personnel are in the new-build part of the business, which will remain on Bradley and will expand into where the repair facility’s footprint as more and more employees and industrial needs move to Weld.
“We’re aiming to grow the business 50% versus today,” said Joakim Andersson, GKN Aerospace president of engine systems. “If you look three years down the road, we should have about 50% more top line revenue and growth of business. We’re doing this (expansion) to make sure that we can stay forefront on the business that is needed and making sure that we will have high-caliber jobs on a high level in Southern California for many, many years to come.”
GKN has been transitioning over the last few months to the expanded engine parts repair facility. Nearly double to the Bradley spot, the company is looking to capitalize on the increasing demand and need for maintenance, repairs and overhaul.
Company leaders say that the MRO industry is expected to grow over the next 10 years, with this move allowing GKN to grow further with the market.
The new facility is a testament to GKN Aerospace’s role in shaping the future of sustainable aviation, driving aerospace innovation, creating significant job opportunities and strengthening its position as a trusted industry partner, “We’re building on the on the structural long heritage in this region that is more than 70 years in aerospace, 40 years in repair, but now we’re doing with this large investment,” Andersson said. “We are taking the next step in technology and being ready for the anticipated continued growth in aerospace.”
Doug Ramey, GKN’s director of sales and marketing, said the company could hire 200 to 300 more workers as GKN drives up efficiency and productivity, although that growth won’t happen all at once.
The expansion will provide advanced repair solutions for both current and next-generation engine components, including GE LEAP and Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan models, along with legacy platforms. Equipped with the latest automation and robotics, the facility will enhance product reliability, boost efficiency and reduce turnaround times for GKN’s global partners.
Ramey said the turnaround time on repairs is usually 25 calendar days.
Related to that, Andersson said to boost productivity the company recently took what it has learned through the decades from its El Cajon site, and opened a $35 million repair facility in Johor, Malaysia, adding 300 jobs.
Ramey said when he first started at GKN in 2006, the company was repairing about 20,000 parts a year.
“Today we’re up to over 80,000 parts a year, plus in Malaysia we’re doing about 25,000 parts there, and going to 35,000 next year,” Ramey said. “Working with the OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturing) we see a demand for about 150,000 parts a year, so we’ve tried to build two facilities that could have that kind of capacity to support the growth.”
GKN Aerospace is a leading global tier one supplier of airframe and engine structures, landing gear, electrical interconnection systems, transparencies and aftermarket services. It supplies products and services to a wide range of commercial and military aircraft and engine prime contractors, and others.
The company employs more than 15,000 workers in nearly 40 manufacturing locations across 12 countries. It originally started in South Wales during the Industrial Revolution. The El Cajon site manufactures lightweight structures for high performance aerospace applications, specializing in lightweight titanium and aluminum alloy engine components, including rings, modules, ducts and compressor cases, essential for high-performance aerospace applications.
Fan blade repair is one of the company’s top money makers, servicing nearly 500 customers, including Southwest, American and Delta airlines. The company also repairs cases for jet engines and its customers ship products for fixes from as far away as Europe and Asia.
“GKN brings to the East County region highly educated employees and well-paying jobs,” said El Cajon City Manager Graham Mitchell. “It’s exactly what’s missing in California — a lot of manufacturing – and they’re the embodiment of that. We’re still excited to have them here.”
At GKN’s grand opening of the facility last week, about 100 GKN employees rubbed shoulders with some of the company’s top brass, including Andersson, plus local economic and business leaders, and city and state politicians.
James Sly, president and CEO of the East County Economic Development Council, worked at GKN before starting his role leading the ECEDC.
He said that the EDC’s job is to attract investment to the region, “and what better investment in a building, in a workforce like this? I am very thankful for the investments and the work that GKN has done and continues to do.”
State Sen. Brian Jones (R-Santee) said he remembered being in school when the new GKN spot was a golf course.
“To see it evolve over the last 40 years until this beautiful facility is fantastic,” Jones said. He noted that aerospace defense contracting is not just important for national security but “absolutely critical for California’s economy.”
“We are home to the largest aerospace and defense industry in the nation and that’s not by accident,” Jones said. “In fact, California has been Ground Zero for all space information since the dawn of flight. You might say we’re the place where planes and rockets and economies take off.”
GKN’s new site is located inside an industrial hub now called Gillespie Field iPark. Vacant for years, with several companies bidding to move in, including an Amazon last-mile location, the land the building sits on is owned by the county but overseen by the city of El Cajon. GKN occupies only part of the building, which has a total footprint of 381,240 square feet, but Lee Chesnut, whose property management company Chesnut Properties, oversaw the build and development on the land, said having GKN there is its “best use.”
“This is an exciting milestone for the project and for the entire community, from the from the Gillespie (Field) airport leadership, the County of San Diego, the City of El Cajon, and even the City of Santee’s been watching over things,” Chesnut said. “I got a call from the mayor there thanking me for the project.”
Chesnut said one of the best things about the project was its inclusion of natural landscaping and a trailhead at the top of its 500-space parking lot.
“It’s a place for the employees to be able to go up and have a picnic, get on the trail and walk, and there are benches to sit on,” he said. “My goal was to have the project reflect the environment and the location. I told my team I wanted the landscaping to be inspired by Mission Trails Regional Park. Looking over the landscaping, the hills and trail, the pathways and the benches, I think we accomplished that well.”
GKN Aerospace (El Cajon) FOUNDED: 1953 GENERAL MANAGER: Dr. Par-Eric Viklund (El Cajon site director of civil aftermarket) HEADQUARTERS: El Cajon BUSINESS: Aviation repair and parts manufacturing STOCK: Melrose Industries PLC (OTCMKTS: MLSPF) EMPLOYEES: 1,000+ WEBSITE: gknaerospace.com CONTACT: 619-258-5109 SOCIAL IMPACT: Employee resource groups volunteer for trash pickup/food services/schools; company also supports airlines’ green efforts NOTABLE: GKN-created or repaired equipment can be found on 100,000 flights a day
4909 Murphy Canyon Rd., Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92123 858-277-6359 (Local)
waste wator pump © San Diego Business Journal | Website by Web Publisher PRO