Eaton opens aerospace manufacturing facility in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Power management company Eaton on Tuesday opened an aerospace manufacturing facility in India at the KIADB Aerospace SEZ in Bengaluru. The company has already hired around 45 people and plans to expand that number to 200 in phases.
Nanda Kumar, president, aerospace group, Eaton, said that the new facility is a highly specialised plant that will focus on hydraulic conveyance for aircraft. Hydraulic conveyance deals with the transfer of fluids, including coolant, fuel, and hydraulics from aircraft reservoirs to critical operating components such as the landing gear. “We see this plant as a future centre of excellence for hydraulic hose assemblies and other fluid distribution products to serve commercial, business and regional aircraft,” he added.

Kumar said Bengaluru’s aerospace special economic zone (SEZ) is fast emerging as a major manufacturing hub. “When we talked to our big partners like Airbus and Boeing about expanding our aerospace capabilities, we were told that our best bet was to establish a presence in India because that’s where they see a growing aerospace market. And when you consider the aerospace base here with the likes of HAL already established and the talent available, Bengaluru was the natural choice for the new manufacturing plant,” he said.

Kumar said the company is also looking at taking advantage of the burgeoning defence manufacturing market in the country and the Indian government’s defence offset policy.

Scott Thompson, senior VP and GM, fluid and electrical distribution division, aerospace, Eaton, said the new facility, built over 2.8 acres, was completed in 10 months and has incorporated the latest manufacturing capabilities, keeping in mind the principles of industry 4.0. “We will eventually be able to have automated inspections that will detect defects before any product leaves the plant,” he added.

Eaton has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and employs around 100,000 people, 6,000 of them in India. The company clocked sales of $21.6 billion in 2018 and has customers in more than 175 countries.