Bodycote announced the planned opening of a new vacuum heat-treatment facility in northwest Mexico. The facility will provide outsourced specialist processing support to major aerospace and power-generation suppliers in the area. The new plant, located in the city of Empalme in the State of Sonora, is a result of Bodycote’s recently signed long-term agreement with Trac Precision, a key supplier to Rolls-Royce and Siemens. Under this agreement, Bodycote will support Trac's Mexico operations with vacuum brazing and heat treating.

The facility, which is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2011, will be a more cost-effective option for other aviation manufacturers within the region, enabling them to provide complete processing without transporting parts back to the U.S. The Mexico site will maintain full aerospace accreditation and prime approvals supported by Nadcap and AS9100. In other news, Bodycote announced the signing of a 10-year renewal contract with Rolls-Royce to provide thermal-processing services in the U.K. Bodycote will provide Rolls-Royce with heat treatment, hot isostatic pressing, thermal spray coatings and metal joining.