After creating eight factories across the U.S. over the past
decade, GE Aviation is working to narrow the “skills gap” facing
many young Americans seeking jobs in today’s advanced manufacturing
plants.
More than ever, GE Aviation collaborates with universities,
community colleges, and public schools on job training programs in
communities where it operates plants. Nowhere is it more critical
than at GE’s jet engine assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana, in
the shadow of storied Purdue University.
This is because GE’s Lafayette operation, which opened in 2015,
is in the throes of the fastest production ramp-up for a commercial
jet engine since jetliners were first introduced in the 1950s.
Also, Lafayette needs shop-floor technicians holding a Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) powerplant license to perform the
diverse technical tasks on sophisticated equipment inside the new
facility. It’s not your father’s factory.
GE’s Lafayette factory produces the “LEAP” engine for CFM
International, the successfully 50/50 joint company of GE and
Safran Aircraft Engines of France. More than 14,000 LEAP engines
are on back order to power three popular twin-engine airplanes: the
Airbus Industrie A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX, and China’s COMAC C919.
The Airbus and Boeing airplanes are now in airline service.
Two GE Aviation factories in the U.S. (Lafayette and Durham,
North Carolina) assemble half of the LEAP engines, and Safran’s
plant in Villaroche, France, assembles the balance. In addition to
final assembly, the two GE plants produce the “hot section”
(compressor, combustor, high pressure turbine) core for every LEAP
engine assembled in U.S. and France.
The GE and Safran factories delivered 459 LEAP engines in 2017.
The LEAP delivery goal for 2018 is up to 1,200 engines, and in the
1,800-engine range in 2019. Lafayette’s LEAP deliveries will grow
from 193 LEAP engines in 2017 to 600 engines in 2018. And delivery
rates will continue to grow for several years afterwards.
When plant manager Eric Matteson opened the Lafayette plant, he
knew he faced a work-skills challenge. “I needed FAA-licensed
assemblers,” he says. “Many people want to work at our site, but
they need the license to handle the scope of work which can range
from operating $3 million grinders to unique inspection machines.
But the community is rallying around our challenge.”
In 2016, Ivy Tech Community College, walking distance from the
GE plant, established a two-year Associate of Applied Science
degree in aviation maintenance technology with a powerplant
concentration. The college then teamed with neighboring Purdue
University in a co-enrollment program to ensure the two-year degree
also provided for an FAA powerplant license. Purdue doesn’t offer
two-year degrees, but offers powerplant courses, the FAA license
testing and provides access to its aviation equipment for the
co-enrolled Ivy Tech students.
Ivy Tech’s hopes to have about 20 graduates from the program
each year to provide a pipeline for GE’s Lafayette operation and
other manufacturing operations, says Dr. Todd Roswarski, Ivy Tech’s
vice chancellor for academic affairs. Ivy Tech currently has 17
students in the program with the first graduates expected within a
year.
Why is this the program critical to GE’s Lafayette plant? Today,
the plant has 100 FAA-licensed technicians. By year’s end, it needs
another 65 technicians. And more are needed in 2019. “We are
counting on Ivy Tech to be a long-term local pipeline,” said
Matteson. “These kind of manufacturing challenges are very common
today.”
Matteson needs licensed technicians for more than engine
assembly. They are engaged in full disassembly of LEAP engines as
part of field inspection programs. In addition, Lafayette is also a
designated LEAP maintenance shop.
GE’s FAA-licensed technicians are not only critical to
Lafayette, but they can be deployed across GE Aviation’s worldwide
network of support sites when engine issues arise. After all, GE
and CFM have 36,000 in airline service around the world. On
occasion, Lafayette technicians are deployed to GE Aviation’s
massive outdoor test operation in Peebles, Ohio, to ensure timely
LEAP delivery. Every LEAP engine assembled in the U.S. is tested in
Peebles before final delivery.
The FAA license also provides GE employees with a career path.
“We’ve already promoted several of our licensed technicians to
management salaried roles,” Matteson said.
While Ivy Tech ramps up its associate degree program in aviation
technology, GE is also actively recruiting FAA-licensed technicians
from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) and the Vincennes
Aviation Technology Center, both at the Indianapolis International
Airport.
The Ivy Tech and Purdue University two-year program is one of
several initiatives in Lafayette focused on the growing “skills
gap” in manufacturing. The Greater Lafayette Commerce has initiated
a “Workforce 2030” team of business and academic leaders focused on
school awareness programs and curriculum strategies to put a
greater focus on the career opportunities in manufacturing.
Roswarski says Ivy Tech is more aligned with local manufacturers
to address their personnel challenges.
“We are looking to design more programs that bring a technology
focus to the manufacturing floor,” he says. “These programs help
manufacturers promote from within and show a meaningful career path
for entry-level workers.”
Brad Rohrer, manager of human relations for Subaru of Indiana
Automotive in Lafayette, applauds Ivy Tech’s efforts. Rohrer, like
Matteson and Roswarski, is engaged in the local “Workforce 2030”
initiative.
“The vocational training at the high school level has declined
and it impacts our ability to grow manufacturing,” he said. “We are
going directly to the high schools with summer camps on
manufacturing and job fairs. We need to get young men and women
excited about manufacturing again.”
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180208006498/en/
Rick Kennedy -- Executive CommunicationsGE AviationCincinnati,
Ohiorick.l.kennedy@ge.comCell: 513.607.0609
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