Quickstep expands aerospace manufacturing capabilities in Bankstown to support defence exports

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Quickstep Holdings, the manufacturer of advanced carbon fibre composites, has completed the planned A$10 million capital expansion of its Aerospace Manufacturing facilities in Bankstown, including a capital investment program for the expansion of JSF production and the commissioning of an automated robot drilling cell for C-130J production.

Image credit: facebook.com/quickstep.technologies

Quickstep expects that the expanded Aerospace Manufacturing capabilities in Bankstown will provide the company with a solid platform for future growth. The company is the global supplier of wing flaps to Lockheed Martin for the C-130J four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft which has now entered production. While the current C-130J contract expires in 2019, it is expected that this will be extended in line with Lockheed Martin’s orders from the US Government.

The Geelong-based company has also completed over A$5 million of capital investment to increase capacity for the manufacture of major composite parts for the JSF Program. These parts are being shipped to Northrop Grumman under a contract valued at A$700 million over the life of the program. Last year Quickstep manufactured 558 JSF parts and is now on track to triple that amount as the program ramps up and gradually approaches peak volumes rates.

Additionally, Quickstep announced the completion of qualification and initial production of the composite parts for the JSF Vertical Tail program. Under this A$139 million contract, Quickstep is supplying vertical tail spars, skins and fairings to Marand Precision Engineering for assembly and supply to BAE Systems in the UK. In 2016, the company supplied 32 vertical tail parts, with this volume expected to grow in line with JSF production increases.

David Marino, the CEO and Managing Director of Quickstep said the expansion takes the total investment at the Bankstown site to around A$30 million and provides Quickstep with further production capacity to take on addition manufacturing work at the facility.

”We are delighted to announce that we have completed the capital expansion of our Bankstown facilities where we manufacture advanced composite components and complex assemblies for export to our global customers – Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems,” Mr Marino said.

“We have recently invested in additional capital equipment at the Bankstown site to support contracted growth with our existing customers, and we now have production capacity to take on additional growth opportunities, which will improve our performance and profitability.”