Tata Steel has secured an important new approval for the laboratory testing procedures at its Speciality Steels business in South Yorkshire, UK from leading aircraft engine manufacturer General Electric (GE) Aviation.
The laboratory approval, called GE-S-400, was awarded after GE Aviation completed an audit of Tata Steel’s laboratories in Rotherham and Stocksbridge last month.
GE Aviation is the latest aircraft engine maker to endorse Tata Steel’s manufacturing capabilities. The company already has approvals from Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney and Snecma (part of SAFRAN group).
Richard Farnsworth, Technology and Development Director for Tata Steel’s Speciality Steels business, said: 'Across the world there are currently 16,000 aircraft engines on order and GE Aviation and its partners will be making about two-thirds of them. This new laboratory approval will make it easier for our customers to use our steel products in the engines made by GE Aviation.
'This approval is the latest endorsement of Tata Steel’s expertise from a leading aerospace manufacturer and will ensure that suppliers of GE Aviation can count on us for their steel requirements. We want to support the growing demand for aerospace steels, and this laboratory approval means our testing and certification now meets our customers’ requirements.”
Richard Bell, Commercial Director at Speciality Steels, said: 'This approval marks a significant milestone in our development as a global aerospace supplier and coincides with the completion of an £6.5m investment project at the Stocksbridge site to install and commission new equipment to increase the manufacture of aerospace steels.'
The completed investment scheme includes two new vacuum arc remelting (VAR) furnaces and specialist testing equipment, as well as a new ultrasonic immersion testing facility. This expansion takes the number of VAR furnaces at Speciality Steels to nine, representing a 30% increase in remelt capacity, and will enable Tata Steel to support the increasingly specialist requirements of the world’s leading aerospace manufacturers.
-ends-
For further information
Bob Jones on +44 (0)207 717 4532 or bob.jones@tatasteel.com
About Tata Steel in Europe
The European operations of Tata Steel comprise Europe's second largest steel producer. With main steelmaking operations in the UK and the Netherlands, they supply steel and related services to the construction, automotive, packaging, lifting & excavating, energy & power, aerospace and other demanding markets worldwide. Tata Steel is one of the world’s top ten steel producers. The combined group has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 80,000 employees across four continents.