Pratt & Whitney gets facility upgrade and R&D centre

Pratt & Whitney Canada has embarked on a $275-million, five-year investment in its Quebec facilities and new technologies including an $80-million World-Class Centre of Excellence for Intelligent Manufacturing. The investment by parent company United Technologies Corp, Hartford CT, includes a $19-million contribution by the Quebec government to preserve existing jobs and support the new R&D centre. Upgrading of P&WC's Longueuil QC plant begins in early 2014 and will be fully operational in 2015. The upgrades include investments in intelligent manufacturing with three new high-efficiency production lines equipped with automation and closed-loop process control and high-precision machining technologies. The new manufacturing expertise will be devoted making the components of the firm's new PurePower turbofan engine which will power Bombardier Inc's new C-Series jet and planes by other manufacturers. In 2012, P&WC spent $572 million on R&D (see chart page 2) ….