2013

NTN Corporation (NTN) has received an order of the bearings for the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB jet engine. The engine has been developed specifically for the Airbus A350 family.

The Trent XWB jet engine is the latest variant in Rolls-Royce's widely acclaimed Trent family of aero engines. This high-bypass turbofan engine, incorporating Rolls-Royce's proprietary three-shaft architecture, with a thrust range from 74,000 to 97,000 lb (330 to 430 kN), is setting new standards of fuel efficiency. At present, the Trent XWB is the only engine selected by Airbus for the A350. The Airbus A350's flew for the first time in June this year, with entry into service scheduled for 2014.

NTN has two plants specifically for manufacturing bearings for the aerospace industry, Kuwana Works (located in Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture) and Argonay Plant of the Group company NTN-SNR Roulements (located near Annecy in France). Bearings for Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines will be manufactured at both plants.

Kuwana Works was the first bearing factory in Japan to acquire the JIS Q 9100 quality management system and Nadcap^*1 accreditation. Kuwana manufactures high-performance, high-quality bearings used in jet engines, helicopters, rockets and satellites, and are delivered to customers in the domestic aerospace industry, as well as customers in the wider global market.

The Argonay Plant in France also has a long history of delivering high quality and high performance products to numerous aerospace companies around the world.

NTN will continue to focus and invest in bearing manufacturing for Aerospace in order to support the expected growth in the industry in the future, aiming to achieve annual sales of 7.5 billion yen by 2017, with sales of aerospace products to all major aerospace-related companies around the world. NTN will also reinforce quality management systems specifically in response to the aerospace industry increasing demands for reliability, and improve on supply networks in order to fulfill its role as a supplier of advanced products to the aerospace industry.

*1:Nadcap (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is developed by PRI (Performance Review Institute), which is managed by participating members such as aircraft manufacturers including Airbus and Boeing, and prime engine manufacturers including Rolls Royce, GE and P&W. Launched in 1990, the program manages auditing and accreditation for quality assurance and special processes.

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