GE Aviation broke ground for the world’s first mass production plant for jet engine components made from a revolutionary new material called Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC). The 170,000-square-foot factory will be located in Asheville, North Carolina.

The company plans to hire 340 people over the next five years and move all 290 workers currently employed by GE Aviation’s machining shop in Asheville to the CMC plant.

GE scientists spent the last two decades developing the tough, light and heat-resistant materials. They weigh a third of advanced alloys but can perform at temperatures as high as 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, where most alloys grow soft.

CMC parts will help engineers design lighter more efficient engines working at higher temperatures and producing fewer emissions. “When you start thinking about design, the weight savings multiplier effect is much more than three to one,” said GE Aviation manufacturing executive Michael Kauffman. “Your nickel alloy turbine disc does not have to be so beefy to carry all those light blades, and you can slim down the bearings and other parts too because of a smaller centrifugal force. It’s just basic physics.”

The plant will manufacture CMC parts like the high-pressure turbine shroud for the new LEAP engine and componenets for the next-generation GE9X engine. GE developed the LEAP in a joint venture with Snecma (Safran). The partners have received orders for more than 5,200 LEAP engines valued at $68 billion.