With this acquisition, GE Aviation says it will expand its engineering and manufacturing capabilities to meet its growing jet engine production rates over the next five years. Besides acquiring these manufacturing processes, GE Aviation will open two new production plants in the US next year.
"Morris Technologies and Rapid Quality Manufacturing are parts of our investment in emerging manufacturing technologies," said Colleen Athans, vice president and general manager of the Supply Chain Division at GE Aviation. "Our ability to develop state-of-the-art manufacturing processes for emerging materials and complex design geometry is critical to our future."
Founded by Greg Morris, Wendell Morris and Bill Noack in 1994, Morris Technologies and Rapid Quality Manufacturing, both situated near to GE Aviation in Cincinnati, Ohio, have supplied parts to GE Aviation for several years. The companies have made everything from lightweight parts for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the US Military to hip replacement prototypes for the medical field.
Morris Technologies and Rapid Quality Manufacturing have already been contracted by GE Aviation to produce components for the LEAP jet engine being developed by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company of GE and Snecma (SAFRAN) of France. The LEAP engine, which is scheduled to enter service in the middle of this decade on three different narrow-body aircraft, has already received more than 4,000 engine orders before the first full engine has even gone to test.
