Major US milestone for Velocity

Burnley headquartered Velocity Composites has completed the successful production of the first composite production kits from its new advanced manufacturing facility in the USA.

The major development at the Alabama site supports the signing of a five-year Work Package Agreement in December last year with GKN Aerospace in the US, expected to be worth more than US$100m in revenue over five years.

The leading supplier of composite material kits to aerospace and other high-performance manufacturers has carried out an intensive period of training, audits, and approvals at the new facility.

And it says full production is set to get underway either at or before the next financial year. In the future, the site will become a launch hub for other customer contracts, and Velocity says “high-level business development activities” are already underway with several potential large customers.  

Chief executive Jon Bridges said: "This is a major milestone for Velocity Composites as we expand into North America.

“The whole Velocity team, both in the US and UK, have worked incredibly hard to deliver a fully operational site, a well-trained team, and a plan ready to start delivering flying products to our launch customer.

“The site can move forward into production ramp-up with continued support from the UK team and close collaboration with our customer to ensure a smooth transfer of the entire project.”

He added: “The customer and industry approvals of this new showcase facility is further endorsement that our business model, processes and technology are world class in our industry, and our targeted business development activities are further enhanced by having a capable advanced manufacturing site in North America with significant capacity to grow.”

Velocity’s customers include major aerospace companies including Airbus, Boeing, Safran and GKN.