Continental Motors Group will remain headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, company officials said, as they unveiled a three-year global investment plan to “take its manufacturing, customer service and engineering infrastructure to the next level.”
This first step is to build a new, state of the art manufacturing facility and corporate office at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, which will replace the company’s current 11 building footprint with a single facility designed for lean manufacturing and office systems.
Company officials say they have spent the past year working with manufacturing experts, conducting benchmarking visits and planning an investment program that renews its commitment to not just assembling aviation piston engines, but also manufacturing the core parts that make the engines.
The new facility will be nearly 225,000 square feet with the majority being dedicated to advanced engine and parts manufacturing. The facility will be have new manufacturing equipment and include a special area designated for evaluation of new manufacturing techniques and processes, including additive manufacturing and automation, company officials said.
“We currently occupy 11 buildings on 44 acres at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, with most of the buildings built before the second World War. The current operation being spread throughout multiple buildings drives many challenges and inefficiencies,” said Michael Skolnik, Executive Vice President Global Operations. “Continental Motors has been a big part of the local Mobile community for over 50 years and is pleased with the community support that allows us to renew our commitment to the region and our great team members for many years to come. The ‘greenfield’ facility will modernize our manufacturing processes into a world class, high productivity, vertically integrated center of manufacturing excellence in the new center of aviation in Mobile, Alabama.”
Building a new factory is only one part of the plan to transform Continental Motors and the way the company designs, manufactures, certifies, and support products, company officials said.
It also will build a new customer and technical service infrastructure and environment that will allow assisting customers through phone, email, and app support, regardless of their location in the world, 24/7/365.
Continental Motors also will increase its capacity to develop new products and expand in the China market with a new engineering and design service center based in China.
Continental Motors will finish building design and equipment selection in 2017 and will move into its new North American facility in 2019, company officials concluded.