Rolls-Royce still recruiting for Singapore engine factory

By Caroline Clayfield on 14-Feb-2012

Rolls-Royce is still recruiting for specialist aviation mechanics and construction jobs at its brand new US$558 million engine factory in Singapore.

The engine assembly plant was officially opened this week and is looking at off-setting the high costs of Singapore labor with an exceptional rise in the productivity and efficiency usually expected of factories of its size.

Rolls-Royce Singapore has already recruited 23 technicians to work in the fan blade factory and is looking to recruit for 27 more aviation assembly and maintenance jobs. By mid-2012 it expects to have some 89 technicians working in highly specialized aviation jobs. The plant will house the construction of Trent 900, Trent 1000 and Trent XWB engines, accounting for half of Roll-Royce’s global production capacity.

Rolls-Royce chairman Simon Robertson said that their decision to set up in Singapore was a logical one that will allow the company to thrive in an excellent business environment.

“We recognized that the Government of Singapore takes a long-term approach and has created an environment which enables companies like Rolls-Royce to take important, long-term investment decisions with confidence,” he said.

The director of operations at Rolls-Royce Singapore, Tin Ho, said that the assembly of a Trent 900 engine at the company’s factory in Derby, UK, takes more than 20 days, but they will be able to bring that down to around 14 in Singapore. This will be achieved through the housing of all process in a single building and narrowing the fields of specialism of individual engineers.