Airplane manufacturer expands facility in Winnipeg
Boeing announces $20M, 12,000-square-foot expansion at Winnipeg manufacturing plant
A U.S.-based airplane manufacturer is expanding its facility in Winnipeg.
Boeing is scaling up its Winnipeg manufacturing facility with a $20-million, 12,000-square-foot expansion to better meet the demand for composite airplane parts, the company announced Wednesday.
"At any given time, there are thousands of airplanes in the sky flying passengers across Canada and around the world with parts made right here in Winnipeg," Teri Thompson, general manager of Boeing Canada Winnipeg, said at a news conference.
Part of the expansion at the Murray Park Road facility is a 7,250-square-foot freezer that stores composite manufacturing materials used in making airplane parts, which increase an airplane's fuel efficiency and decrease its weight.
The freezer will lower the facility's annual energy use by more than 20 per cent, a news release from Boeing said. It will also require a carbon-dioxide-based refrigeration system that creates less emissions.
The expansion will double the site's freezer capacity, which Boeing says will reduce manufacturing downtime.
The new addition will be the fifth expansion since the Winnipeg plant opened in 1971. The entire facility is more than 700,000 square feet.
About 1,500 employees work at Boeing's Winnipeg facility.
Pierre Ruel, Boeing Canada's director of strategy and policy, called the Winnipeg plant "the jewel in the crown" of the company's national operations.
One of the facility's specialities is building all the landing gear doors for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
With files from Ian Froese