Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. opened a new 35 billion yen (about $288 million) plant in central Japan on Friday to produce carbon fiber aircraft fuselages and meet higher production targets for Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner.
“We will aim to expand our civil aviation business by providing high-quality products,” Kawasaki Heavy President Shigeru Murayama told a ceremony held at the 60,000-square-meter plant in Yatomi, Aichi Prefecture, whose construction began in December 2013.
The new plant, which will also supply fuselages for the stretch version of the 787, and existing nearby facilities make the heavy machinery and engineering company capable of meeting Boeing’s output targets for the aircraft.
The U.S. company is building 10 Dreamliners a month now, and plans to ramp up production to 14 by 2020.
Japanese manufacturers, such as Kawasaki Heavy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
, build more than 30 percent of the aircraft.
The Yatomi plant has a huge kiln — nine meters in diameter and 30 meters in length — to process carbon fiber composite, which makes aircraft stronger and lighter, helping reduce fuel costs. The new facility will start test-production in June.
