In his latest National Day Rally speech, the Prime Minister of Singapore again emphasised the nation’s goal to be a digital economy. He touched on the need for “using IT comprehensively to create new jobs, new business opportunities, to make our economy more productive, to make our lives more convenient.”
To become a truly digital economy, Singapore’s transformation must cut across all industries, including aerospace, marine, and power. Industry leaders, Rolls-Royce included, must play their part to drive change from within in order to raise the profile of Singapore as a true digital and technology leader.
The Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus, celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, has become a centre of gravity for this to happen in Singapore’s aerospace industry. Located in the Seletar Aerospace Park, the Campus is Rolls-Royce’s integrated manufacturing, research and training hub, and is helping Singapore to become a leading global player in aerospace and manufacturing technology development.
Since opening its first office in the 1950s, Rolls-Royce and Singapore have worked together closely to build up the business and technology landscape of the country. In 1995, the company supplied Trent 800 engines—the largest order at the time—for Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777 fleet. Rolls-Royce also helped to meet the heavy Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) demands of the region by establishing Singapore Aero Engine Service Ltd. (SAESL), a Trent centre of excellence.
However, it was the opening of the Seletar Campus in 2012 that has provided the most monumental step in steering the aerospace industry forward. This ground-breaking facility is a catalyst for boosting the economy, raising the innovation quotient, and developing talent in Singapore. Here are five reasons why:
1. The campus is the runway for Singapore’s aerospace industry
The year 2017 has been a period of continuous growth in the commercial aerospace sector. Major aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus have indicated that they will ramp up their production over the coming years, and the next to accommodate rising travel demands, which grew at a compound annual growth rate of 4.7 percent in the last ten years. This is mainly driven by global demographics and wealth creation in markets like Asia.
The campus is equipped to help meet these increasing requirements—both in the region and the world. The Seletar Assembly and Test Unit (SATU) is the first facility in Asia that has been specifically designed to assemble and test Rolls-Royce Trent aero engines. It provides module build, complete engine assembly and testing capabilities all under one roof. In addition, SATU’s production test bed can accommodate an engine with a fan size of up to 140 inches and 150,000 pounds of thrust, making it scalable for future needs.
The campus also houses the Fan Blade Singapore facility, the first of its kind outside of the United Kingdom that manufactures the hollow titanium wide chord fan blade, a Rolls-Royce crown jewel technology. The fan blades make up around 80 percent of an engine’s thrust, making them a crucial component. To enable the highest standards of manufacturing, our teams use millions of data points to measure a fan blade's dimensions to the accuracy of half the width of a strand of human hair. They also leverage robotic capabilities to scan entire surfaces to build 3D virtual models, ensuring complete consistency across each and every blade.
These two facilities assemble up to 250 engines and produce more than 8,600 fan blades annually. Rolls-Royce was also one of the first companies to set up such a large presence in the Seletar Aerospace Park. Since then, other leading aviation players, such as Airbus, have followed suit, further strengthening Singapore’s aerospace ecosystem.
2. The heart of technological and manufacturing innovation
Innovation is in Rolls-Royce’s DNA and fuel for Singapore’s ongoing transformation. The Applied Technology Group (ATG), one of Rolls-Royce’s innovation “strike teams”, is located in the Seletar Campus. The group’s objective is to develop advanced technologies to support core business areas—including aerospace, marine and power systems.
Other than access to the best talent and capabilities, the ATG teams also have strong engagement with local research partners in Singapore, such as A*STAR, NTU, and NUS. Through collaborative projects, these teams help develop industry leading solutions for manufacturing and servicing in the aerospace and marine industries. Solutions are then applied throughout Rolls-Royce global operations, increasing productivity and efficiency to continuously refine the company’s product and service offerings to customers. This collaborative approach to research and development also supports skills development both within Rolls-Royce and across Singapore more widely. Latest collaborations include the Industrial Internet of Things Initiative (IIoT) and Smart Manufacturing Joint Lab. With partners, Rolls-Royce is pushing the limits of IoT sensors and data analytics and creating new methodologies of manufacturing and MRO operations.
3. An innovation powerhouse in sync with the nation’s digital economy agenda
By encouraging innovation in its people, process and technology, the campus can help power Singapore’s digitisation initiative. Rolls-Royce’s digital strategy comprises of services and systems, smart manufacturing, computer designs and IoT. These streams of digital innovation flow through all major processes—from design and manufacturing to aftercare.
The resulting developments will translate to new and efficient ways of doing things for Singapore’s various industries. With the successful digitisation of major processes across diverse sectors, Rolls-Royce will help drive Singapore’s digital agenda, raising its profile as a hub of innovation and a leading implementer of digital strategies.
4. Fuel for accelerating national economic growth
With the support of the Seletar Campus, Rolls-Royce today accounts for over 14 percent of Singapore’s aerospace output. The industry has expanded at an average rate of 7.8 percent in the last two decades. Just last year, the company achieved a record output of S$8.98 billion. As the Seletar Campus continues to roll out new innovations and meet production targets, Rolls-Royce will continue to help push Singapore’s economy to greater heights.
5. A state-of-the-art sandpit for nurturing STEM talent
The campus also helps develop the local pool of STEM talent. It hires and trains some of the best professionals—from data scientists and IT experts to engineers and technicians. Internship and apprenticeships opportunities also encourage the next generation of STEM professionals. Today, the Regional Training Centre on campus trains roughly 4,000 people a year on a broad spectrum of skills, from IT to management and leadership and technical skills across the core business sectors—Civil and Defence Aerospace, Marine and Power Systems. In 2015, Rolls-Royce sustained a total of 5,100 jobs in Singapore and supported a significant contribution of S$1.1 billion to GDP [1].
As Singapore looks to the future, striving to become a leading digital economy, Rolls-Royce will continue to reinforce these efforts with the Seletar Campus and its wider activities. This hotbed of manufacturing, technology, and talent will transform innovation, productivity and efficiency in Singapore and the region.
[1] Rolls-Royce, Economic Impact Study, 2015.