The PDQC facility is funded by a Norsk Titanium investment designed to accelerate production and the creation of jobs and economic development in the Plattsburgh-North County region.
Details of the new Norsk Titanium additive manufacturing PDQC facility include:
- Features Norsk Titanium’s ‘Ultra Lean Cell’ (ULC), which demonstrates a production line that turns CAD files into finished aerospace parts in a space of approximately 120ft.
- The ULC showcases the 3D printing, heat treatment, non-destructive testing and final machining of aerospace-grade titanium parts in a process time of less than 40 hours.
- PDQC will house approximately 50 skilled workers and office staff.
- Space and facilities for up to 10 MERKE IV RPD machines, the first of which has arrived from Norway and work is about to begin on its installation and commissioning.
- Each MERKE IV production machine weighs 11 tonnes and takes several weeks to assemble upon arrival at the PDQC.
- One MERKE IV can produce approximately 20 tonnes of aerospace-grade structural titanium components per year.
- The first titanium aerospace components to be produced by Norsk in Plattsburgh are planned for November 2016.
Norsk Titanium President & Chief Executive Officer Warren M. Boley Junior said: “Launching the PDQC facility in 2016 represents a multi-million dollar investment by Norsk Titanium in the region and demonstrates our commitment to quickly commence operations and get a head-start on partnering with the people of Plattsburgh to generate jobs and economic development here.”
Boley added: “As the industrial scale RPD factory next door comes online during the next year or so, we will move the bulk of production there, while retaining this PDQC building as a qualification and training centre as well as a showcase for our latest innovations and technology.”