The plant will also develop new manufacturing techniques for high performance composites, and other companies that develop composites can also use the facility for testing their materials and automating production processes.
The Automated Composite Manufacturing (ACM) pilot plant will start with the further robotification of the production of composite landing gear components. In a wider context, the plant will focus on producing composites reinforced with industrial resins, for which the plant is outfitted with ultra-modern equipment, including one of the largest robotic composite fibre braiding machines in Europe.
International center
This new facility was developed following a public-private partnership between Fokker Landing Gear and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), in close collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the province of Flevoland and the Noordoostpolder municipality.
‘The pilot plant that we have opened today in Flevoland further establishes us on the map as an international center for composites,’ said Nationals Aerospace Laboratory CEO Michel Peters. ‘It is the physical proof that institutes for applied research, such as NLR, can bolster the innovative strength of Dutch industry and SMEs. And do this together with government and industry.’
