Aerojet Rocketdyne Huntsville headquarters. Photo: City of Huntsville.

Aerojet Rocketdyne announced plans for the next phase of its Competitive Improvement Program (CIP), which first launched in 2015. The next phase (Phase 2) includes additional consolidation and optimization of Aerojet Rocketdyne facilities over the next two years.

“Overhead cost reductions achieved to date have exceeded our expectations,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President Eileen Drake. “This expanded CIP effort is expected to result in $230 million in annual savings once complete, inclusive of the $145 million from the first phase of CIP.”

Aerojet Rocketdyne plans to consolidate its Sacramento and Vernon, California, and Gainesville, Virginia, sites while centralizing and expanding its existing presence in Huntsville, Alabama, with a new manufacturing facility for AR1 engine production, additive manufacturing, composites production, and Research and Development (R&D), expected to be ready for production in mid-2019.

The company’s defense-related program management, engineering and related support positions will move from Sacramento to the company’s Huntsville, Alabama, facilities, home of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s defense headquarters, by the end of 2018. The company will relocate the majority of the remaining programs and support to its space headquarters in Los Angeles, California. Between now and the end of 2019, Aerojet Rocketdyne will complete its manufacturing commitments in Sacramento, and the site will become the Shared Services Center of Excellence. In total, the company expects to relocate or eliminate approximately 1,100 of the existing 1,400 positions in Sacramento. It also plans to close its Gainesville, Virginia, facility in the third quarter of 2018.