Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is planning to close its Changwon factory and consolidate operations at its Sacheon headquarters as part of ongoing restructuring.
KAI sources say Korean conglomerate Doosan Heavy Indus-tries & Machinery has agreed to acquire the 254,000m2 (2.7 million ft2) Changwon facility, but a date for transferring the operation to Sacheon has not yet been set.
Changwon currently manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles, the wing and other components for the KAI/Lockheed Martin T-50 advanced trainer, and components for several Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft programmes. Doosan is one of three major investors in KAI, along with Hyundai and Samsung.
KAI sources say its plan to close Changwon still requires shareholder approval and will take at least several months to implement because the factory must produce extra components before shutdown in order to provide an adequate buffer before tooling is transferred to Sacheon.
KAI’s new chief executive, Hae Joo Chung, initiated restructuring early this year, including transferring the headquarters from the capital, Seoul, to Sacheon and an undisclosed number of proposed job cuts (Flight International, 24-30 January).
After the HQ was moved in February, KAI had 2,700 staff with all but 400 based at Sacheon. KAI operates two factories in Sacheon, a 664,000m2 facility housing the T-50 assembly line, helicopter upgrade programmes and production of Boeing F-15K wings and Boeing AH-64D Apache fuselages.
A separate 123,000m2 facility now assembles the KAI KT-1 primary trainer, but this line is in the process of being moved to the other Sacheon factory to make room for a new Lockheed Martin P-3 upgrade project.
Sources say the T-50 components now manufactured at Changwon will be transferred to the first Sacheon factory.
During a roll-out ceremony for the first production T-50 last week, Korean president Roh Moo-hyun said the Sacheon area was becoming “the aerospace hub of Korea”.
BRENDAN SOBIE/SACHEON
Source: Flight International
