UK composites technology base expands further

Completion of the new ACG building and commissioning of new equipment is scheduled for September 2006. The news represents a further expansion of the UK composites supply base. GKN’s new Advanced Composites Facility, Isle of Wight was recently opened by the Rt Hon Alun Michael, Minister of State for Industry and the Regions (Machinery, August 2005, page 10). The manner in which composites are replacing metals in many areas of aircraft structures is instanced by the Airbus A380, for which GKN is a supplier. The A380 is 25 per cent composite by weight, and future aircraft will have as much as 50 per cent. Twenty years the figure for most aircraft was no more than 3 per cent. “Over the next 5-10 years, the aerospace and automotive markets will be major areas of growth for us,” said ACG managing director Alan Moore. “With the large investment in new buildings, plant and machinery we are developing a ‘world class’ manufacturing facility to meet the quality demands of these markets. Our clear intention is to make ACG quality and our systems second to none in the composites industry.”