Pratt & Whitney has announced plans for the NATA, an operations center of excellence for aftermarket operations in Florida equipped with dedicated floor space, equipment, and resources to develop and industrialize technology insertion programs.
Pratt & Whitney, a business under RTX, has unveiled its plans for the North American Technology Accelerator (NATA), an operations center of excellence focused on commercial and military aftermarket operations. Located in Florida, the NATA will be equipped with dedicated floor space, equipment, and resources aimed at developing and industrializing technology insertion programs to support Pratt & Whitney’s global maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) network.
The primary focus of projects at the North American Technology Accelerator in Florida will be on material restoration and process automation. This includes advanced repairs, digital inspection, adaptive processing, coating, and masking for various components such as compressor and fan parts, blades, cases, and more. These technological advancements are expected to bring about several benefits, including cost reduction, decreased material demand, lower environmental impact, shorter turn times, increased throughput, and enhanced value delivery to customers.
“NATA combines data science with people know-how and state-of-the-art automation to help address customer pain points such as inventory management and part availability, while accelerating our improved repair capabilities and efficiency to better serve our customers,” said Kevin Kirkpatrick, vice president, Aftermarket Global Operations, Pratt & Whitney.
One of the key projects at NATA is focused on additive repairs for critical GTF engine components. Pratt & Whitney anticipates recovering $100 million worth of parts over the next five years to support the GTF MRO ramp with the introduction of this new additive repair technology.
NATA complements Pratt & Whitney’s existing Singapore Technology Accelerator (STA), which was launched in September 2022. The STA focuses on robotics, advanced inspection, connected factory, and shop digital twin technologies. Since its inception, STA has delivered over 30 innovations aimed at maximizing productivity in MRO processes. The collaboration between NATA and STA, along with leveraging other RTX research and development expertise, aims to enhance automation, connectivity, analytics, and intelligence to benefit aftermarket operations. These accelerator programs are expected to generate combined annual savings of at least $24 million for Pratt & Whitney.
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Both NATA and STA are integral parts of Pratt & Whitney’s Industry 4.0 transformation. This transformation is enabled by the company’s Customer Oriented Results and Excellence (CORE) operating system, which forms the foundation of its technology accelerator strategy. The CORE system provides a common language, toolset, and methodology for delivering on customer commitments. It assesses critical areas and offers a framework for execution, contributing significantly to Pratt & Whitney’s innovative advancements and operational excellence.
