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United Technologies plans to invest more than $15 billion in research and development and capital expenditures in the U.S. over the next five years, including a significant investment in Pratt & Whitney commercial engine programs, the company announced Wednesday. Through 2022 the company also expects to hire 35,000 people.
UTC said about $9 billion of the investment will go toward R&D initiatives to accelerate the firm’s so-called digital strategy centering on service capacity, “intelligent” products, “smart” factory adoption, and developing “connected” products that allow for real-time health monitoring. Other programs include continued work on next-generation additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and autonomy, hybrid-electric, cybersecurity, and high-temperature materials.
UTC expects the remaining $6 billion to go toward capital expenditures aimed at increasing capacity and improving quality and efficiency at U.S. factories.
Recent capital investments include a new 80,000-square-foot manufacturing and nacelle assembly facility on the UTC Aerospace Systems campus in Foley, Alabama. The company expects to add 260 jobs at the campus, ultimately increasing the Foley workforce to more than 1,000 employees.
UTC also spent $97 million on Pratt & Whitney’s AutoAir fan-blade factory in Lansing, Michigan. The investment, which includes a new 93,000-square-foot facility and advanced manufacturing technologies, will allow the site to triple production capacity. So far the company has increased its workforce at AutoAir from 200 to more than 800.
More capital expenditures came in the form of a $450 million investment in automation and equipment upgrades at Pratt & Whitney’s facility in Columbus, Georgia, including a new engine test cell and two new buildings. The Georgia facility plans to hire 500 new employees over the next five years.
Other investments have included a new 224,000-square-foot, $115 million UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the launch of the United Technologies Digital Accelerator for software development in New York, and an expanded United Technologies Research Center “innovation hub” in East Hartford, Connecticut.