GKN Aerospace, Cromwell, CT

GKN Aerospace is one of the largest independent worldwide tier one designer and manufacturers of composite and metallic aircraft assemblies for the aviation industry.  GKN has over 35 facilities throughout several countries, and they contacted The Mezzanine Company regarding an expansion project at one of their three Connecticut locations.

An expansion was needed to handle the larger flow of business at their facility. Unfortunately, they were out of floor space.

Also, GKN has a very strict dust policy as the equipment they manufacture is so finely tuned that enough dust even in small amounts could compromise its integrity.

By working closely with GKN Aerospace, we were able to determine that, by using a mezzanine, we could make use of the overhead space available in one of the rooms. We worked closely with them to custom design the column layout for the structure, as the machinery that was going beneath it was not in place yet, and we needed to ensure that it would fit properly.

The structure was built in the corner of the room. In order for us to have it right along the walls, we had to create several cutouts around the building columns so that the flooring would come flush to the wall across the entire length of the raised structure.  This allowed us to gain them over 800 square feet of space to be used for both storage and workstations.

We had handrail and kick plate installed along the two open sides, thereby fully enclosing the structure and creating a safe work environment.  For access to the structure, we incorporated an IBC regulation internal mezzanine stair to allow workers to reach the mezzanine.

To help handle the dust caused by installing the structure, GKN Aerospace created a temporary enclosure around the installation area.  Then, working with our installers, we arranged for all of the messy work, like cutting, to take place in the enclosure. We also had a special plastic membrane added to the floor of the mezzanine to prevent further dust from falling through the structure and onto the machinery below.

Through numerous conversations with GKN Aerospace, our installer, and the freight company, we coordinated the delivery of the material with our installer so that he was on site and available to unload the material and start the mezzanine installation that day.  Our installer worked quickly, and before the week was done, they had completed the installation.