The Whitcraft Group Announces $234 M for Components and Assemblies to P&W

The Whitcraft Group announced today that it has signed a 10-year $234 million contract to supply parts and assemblies to United Technologies' (UTC) Pratt & Whitney division for their next generation PurePower® Geared Turbofan™ (GTF) engine family.

"This is a significant milestone for our company," said Colin Cooper, Whitcraft's Chief Executive Officer. "Companies all over the world are competing to be suppliers to this game-changing engine program. Pratt & Whitney has demonstrated the PurePower engine technology's dependability and robustness with more than 14,000 hours of testing, including more than 2,600 hours of flight testing and 27,000 cycles of testing. It is a real testament to our employees and our other stakeholders that Pratt & Whitney chose us to be a major supplier on this critical platform."

Cooper noted that sheet metal components and assemblies will be produced at its Whitcraft facility in Eastford, CT, and precision machined parts and assemblies will be produced at its Connecticut Tool facility in Plainville, CT and its Dell Manufacturing facility, Farmington, CT.

"All three of our Connecticut facilities will play critical roles in fulfilling our obligations under this contract," Cooper said.

"We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Whitcraft Group, a supplier that understands they must meet our cost, quality and delivery requirements in order to be a part of our bright future," said David Emmerling, Vice President, Strategic Sourcing, Pratt & Whitney. "The agreement includes UTC's One Company terms and conditions, which allows for future collaboration through a common contracting approach between Whitcraft and UTC.  As Pratt & Whitney and UTC increase capacity, One Company agreements with suppliers that continue to meet our high performance requirements such as Whitcraft will play an integral role in our scheduled production ramp."  

"At peak production in 2020, this new contract is projected to total over $30 million per year of incremental revenue for the Whitcraft Group," Stephen Lindsey, Whitcraft's Director of Sales, said.

Jeffrey Paul, Whitcraft's President and Chief Operating Officer, said, "We have been reconfiguring our operations over the past two years to deliver the high volumes, quality and cost competitiveness that this program requires. This contract provides tangible evidence that the focus of our management team and employees on continuously improving our business is paying off."

In anticipation of entering into this agreement, the Whitcraft Group already has hired more than 30 new employees in the past two months.

"We are working closely with educational institutions across the state including colleges, community colleges and state technical schools to ensure that our new employees and our incumbent work force have the skills, knowledge and abilities needed remain competitive in this global market in the years ahead," Paul said. "We have made significant investments in our workforce that should pay benefits as we move forward."

"This contract, along with other new work recently won, will provide the basis for future growth and will ensure that our employees have opportunities for professional growth as they progress in their careers here," added Cooper.