News Review: Boeing to close Bankstown component facility | ADM Apr 2010
The Bankstown factory will close in 2012 after 70 years of continuous operations.
Most of the 350 staff affected will be offered jobs in Melbourne, but redundancies are expected as a result of the decision, Boeing said.
About 300 new jobs will be created at Fishermans Bend.
The consolidation has been driven by the exit of loss-making third-party work and under-utilisation of both the Fishermans Bend and Bankstown sites.
"Each facility is at about half capacity and it makes no business sense to carry duplicate overheads," Mark Ross, Managing Director of Boeing Aerostructures Australia said.
"We very much regret the impact on our staff, but the reality is that we need to improve our capability by consolidating our footprint.
"In such a global and competitive business, we need a sharper focus to succeed," he said.
Melbourne makes sense because of more than $200 million invested there by Boeing to gear up for 787 Dreamliner component production, and because the site is owned by Boeing.
The Bankstown site is leased.
"Our Fishermans Bend plant will also become a designated centre of excellence for composites and is already the focus of considerable research and development effort by Boeing Research & Technology-Australia," Ross said.
Components produced at Bankstown, including 777 rudders, elevators and cove lip doors, 747-8 wing leading edge, 737 ailerons, C-130 flaps, Bombardier CH300 tail cone and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile fins will transition to Fishermans Bend over the next 30 months.
Hawker de Havilland also at one stage manufactured components for Airbus airliners, but this work was discontinued when Boeing decided to focus on internal supply chain work and the B787.