UK-based manufacturer Doncasters has unveiled a $13 million upgrade to its facility in Groton.
The Groton site manufactures large precision structural castings in high-grade materials for aerospace, defense and industrial gas turbine applications. It employs 211 people.
The capital investment at the facility includes a new, fully automated line equipped with three, six-axis robots and a new shell casting management system, used in the molding of metal parts. It replaces a system that was installed in the 1980s.
“This investment dramatically enhances our efficiency, precision, and capacity, enabling us to take on more complex, high-volume aerospace products,” said Mike Looney, the general manager at Doncasters Groton.
The upgrade has also added 17,000 square feet to the shop floor, and the company says it will quadruple its output of parts.
It’s the first step in a long-term performance improvement plan. The company says it expects to be able to fully decommission and remove the old production line in October.
Doncasters’ global operations employ almost 3,000 people at 20 locations in Europe, Asia and the U.S.
