Celebrating two key milestones yesterday, Collins Aerospace is making plans for further production ramp up and the next generation of technologies. The company toasted the delivery of its 1,000th nacelle for the A320neo program and the 9,000th for the V2500 engine program, 

Collins Aerospace commemorated the milestone deliveries, as well as its 45-year relationship with Airbus, yesterday before about 900 of its employees, Airbus executives, and local government officials at its Foley, Alabama factory.

Airbus reached the 1,000-delivery mark for the A320neo in three and one-half years. “The expansion that we did and the ability to ramp up on the A320neo program… is really incredible,” said Jim Pollock, Collins Aerospace v-p of Airbus programs. “I recall when we were making one nacelle a week. Now we are making three a day.”

Plans call for boosting that to about 3.5 per day sometime in the first or second quarter of 2020, he added. Pollock believes that can be accomplished with the existing production capabilities and workforce, through what it calls an "achieving competitive excellence" program, or ACE—which “shamelessly” borrows operating approaches from Toyota.

To position itself for higher rates, Collins invested hundreds of millions of dollars to expand manufacturing capacity at six global sites, the company said. This includes an 80,000-sq-ft expansion that opened in 2017 in Foley, the final assembly site of the A320neo nacelle that integrates the thrust reverser, inlet, and fan cowl.

The expansion increased total manufacturing space in Foley to 440,000 sq ft. “With the expansion, we committed to 260 jobs and have exceeded that commitment to over 300," the company added. In addition to serving as the sole final assembly site for the A320neo nacelle, Foley also produces components for the MRJ and Embraer 190/195/175 (Legacy E1 and new E2).

Collins made other infrastructure investments in preparation for the A320neo program at its locations in Tianjin, China; Riverside, California; and Mexicali, Mexico.

“We’re now integrating A320neo engines with our advanced nacelle systems on three continents and continuing to introduce new manufacturing innovations—such as robotic painting systems and advanced fastening tools—to meet the increasing global demand for air travel,” Pollock said. More than 750 of the A320neo nacelles are now in service with 32 airlines, he added.

“In more than a million fleet hours since the A320neo’s entry into service, there have been less than 10 delays and zero cancellations associated with the Collins nacelle.”

Collins Aerospace executives acknowledged a push by Airbus to insource more components in upcoming years, potentially including nacelles. But they believe Collins can continue to compete with its history of reliability and quality of products; and through future innovations.

It has an ongoing A320neo program the company has dubbed MI 2020 (for "Mission Improvement 2020") that will involve incremental improvements to performance such as weight reduction and improved aerodynamics. One such advance the company is considering is introducing thermal plastics to certain components of the predominantly composite nacelle. This could lower cost and reduce manufacturing cycle time, while making them “a little more robust,” he said.

While the A320neo program has flourished for Collins Aerospace, it is part of a relationship with Airbus that spans five decades, beginning with the original A300. In addition to the A320neo production plans, Collins Aerospace is also increasing production on Airbus’s newest program, the A220, to match demand, the company said.