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Meggitt Senses Opportunity

Orange County’s legacy in the aerospace industry and deep pool of engineering talent led Meggitt PLC to the doorsteps of a new 190,000-square-foot factory and office in Irvine.

The U.K.-based company’s Meggitt Sensing Systems just concluded a two-month consolidation that rolled up its San Juan Capistrano and Londonderry, N.H., outfits to create the unit’s largest operation in the U.S.

“It’s our premier engineering and manufacturing center and includes some room for growth,” said Mel Hilderbrand, president of Meggitt Sensing Systems Orange County.

The unit specializes in making and testing sensors for the aerospace, military, automotive and industrial industries.

Its products are often used in extreme settings, such as rocket launches, space systems, fighter jet missions, automotive crash tests and explosives.

Meggitt has hired 60 people since it shifted to Irvine, bringing its local employee count to about 340.

It plans to add another 150 workers and invest some $24 million into the local operation in the next five years, according to Hilderbrand.

“Most of that [hiring] is engineering,” he said.

Meggitt PLC

The sensor division accounts for about $350 million of Meggitt PLC’s $2.2 billion in sales last year. Its customers include London-based engine maker Rolls-Royce PLC, The Boeing Co., Airbus SA and Raytheon Co.

The unit employs nearly 1,600 people overall, spread over locations in the U.S., France, Switzerland and Denmark.

The sensor unit’s work requires a highly skilled workforce and years of technical training, a combination that distinguishes Orange County’s employment base from many other business hubs.

“One of the reasons we decided to stay here in Orange County was the people,” Hilderbrand said. “We didn’t want to start over somewhere else.”

Meggitt Sensing Systems’ core technology was developed in the late 1920s and enhanced through several predecessor companies, including Endevco, an engineering development company established in 1947 in Pasadena.

Endevco moved to San Juan Capistrano in 1973 and was acquired by Meggitt PLC in 1992.

The company in 2007 was rolled into Meggitt Sensing Systems.

The most recent consolidation ended a 40-year run in San Juan Capistrano, where the sensing division ran operations from a 124,000-square-foot property.

The move from San Juan Capistrano to Irvine was spread over five consecutive weekends in June and July. The New Hampshire outfit took three weeks to move in July. The company used more than 50 18-wheelers to transfer product and equipment. The sensitivity of the machinery led Meggitt to utilize custom containers outfitted with shock mounts and special riggers to ensure safe travel.

Employees made numerous trips to New Hamspshire and back before completing the move last month.

The building, which is at 14600 Myford Road, previously held the headquarters of industrial printer and printing supply manufacturer Printronix Inc.


More on Meggitt PLC

California is a key hub for Meggitt PLC, which employs nearly 2,400 people in nine locations in the state.

Its Meggitt Defense Systems unit—which makes combat systems and combat training systems—also is based in Irvine. The defense systems unit employs about 200 workers at a 153,000-square-foot facility in Irvine Spectrum. That division’s operations were not expected to be affected by the Myford Road relocation.

The company ranks as OC’s 12th-largest aerospace and defense contractor by employee count, according to Business Journal data.

Meggitt PLC employs about 10,600 people in manufacturing plants in North America, Asia and Europe.

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