Flying Colours, the North American MRO,
completions and avionics business has officially opened the doors of its new St.
Louis, MO., facility.
Manufacturing at the new facility, which
primarily supports the design, build and finishing of woodwork monuments for
large business jet cabins, has already begun. The first components will be
delivered to an undisclosed customer before the end of March.
The industrially designed floorplan was
created with lean manufacturing operating principles at its core. This improves
efficiency, and combined with the additional workshop space, is set to increase
St. Louis productivity by 600% during the first year.
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A galley awaits completion at the new
Flying Colours Corp. St. Louis facility. |
The workshop capabilities mirror the
Peterborough headquarters, but also incorporate new equipment for the St. Louis
facility. To support working with composite materials a new “Edge Fill” machine
fills the voids in composite panels after being cut and shaped by the CNC
machine. The addition of two hi-tech paint booths ensures optimal surface
appearance before final treatment in the new enclosed curing room. Flying
Colours has also invested in a third booth dedicated to painting complex
fasteners, and cabinet interiors.
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The Flying Colours Corp. St. Louis facility
includes a number of dedicated finishing booths. |
The layout ensures that the manufacturing
follows the natural workflow with projects beginning on the CNC, before moving
on to the expansive machine room which incorporates a selection of detailing
tools for woodwork/cabinetry. Paint, finishing, framing and assembly follow,
before the final quality control inspection.
The space was initially specified to expand
the monument capacity of the business however, Flying Colours has maximised the
footprint to create spaces for upholstery, engineering, and avionics work, as
well as production control offices, conference rooms, and bright contemporary
client meeting areas.
“Naturally alongside the cabinetry comes other
work related to interior completions including detailed upholstery of seats,
bespoke galley creation, manufacturing of customised monuments, and design of
upgraded connectivity solutions,” explains
Sean Gillespie,
Executive VP, Flying Colours Corp.
The St. Louis KSUS footprint is now close to
100 000 square feet and has required the addition of a further seventy team
members, making a total of 180 Flying Colours employees based in the USA.
“This is the first full infrastructure
development to take place in St. Louis since we acquired the business in 2009.
It was needed as demand for our cabinetry and completion skills was outstripping
our capacity. This coincided with a rise in demand for OEM cabinetry work. The
expansion reflects our overall strategic approach to business growth, and we’re
not done yet as we anticipate a second phase of development in the USA later in
the year,” adds Gillespie.
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