Last week, Electric Boat, in North Kingstown, dedicated its new $11.4-million light metal fabrication facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 7.
John Casey, president of Electric Boat, said the 11,250 square feet of new production space will help the company continue its history as one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the country.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
“The goal is to produce the most capable submarine in the most effective way,” said Casey, noting that the facility was built on time and on budget.
The facility includes a new laser punch, water jet, wet sander, Jib Cranes and a shape blaster that have the capability to perform all sheet metal processes. The facility is also expected to help workflow, create a better working environment and eliminate non-value-added steps, the company said. The facility is capable of storing 350 trays of material, making it the largest sheet metal storage system in the country.
Captain David Johnson, program manager for the Virginia class submarine, said the facility marks the first capital investment between private industry and the government as part of the Virginia class submarine contract.
The government will only increase the number of Virginia class submarines to two per year if the cost is less than $2 billion per ship, said Johnson.
Attending last week’s dedication ceremony was Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and congressmen James Langevin and Patrick Kennedy.
Carcieri said the new machinery is important but it’s nothing without the professional, productive and properly trained employees of Electric Boat.
The facility is a “beacon” for the state and the nation, he said.
Reed said the greatest sailors in the world take these ships “into harm’s way to protect the freedoms we enjoy.” The United States, he said, “has to build these ships and they have to be built as efficiently as possible.”
Kennedy said the facility is a testament to the workers, and it will be an “anchor” for the state and an important source of jobs.
Langevin said the facility will help produce ships that will continue the nation’s “unparalleled undersea dominance” that will help address the threats of today and tomorrow.
At the ceremony, a plaque was unveiled for George “Mike” Hamill, superintendent of the sheet metal shop and one of the major architects of the new facility who died earlier this year.
Electric Boat’s Quonset Point facility opened in 1973; it is the submarine making division of parent company General Dynamics.
