Thu, Oct 20, 2011
Thirty-Five Airplanes Per Month Will Soon Be Rolling Out The
Factory Doors
To meet the growing demand for single-aisle medium-haul
airliners both in the U.S. and abroad, Boeing has boosted its
production rate on 737 airplanes to 35 per month, up from the
previous rate of 31.5 per month. On Tuesday, employees loaded
chords and webs manufactured by the Boeing Fabrication division
into the company's newest automated spar assembly tool, the first
visible step in the final assembly of the airplane. The parts were
then joined to make a spar, the main support structure for the
wings.
Boeing Workers Begin Spar Assembly
"The start of spar assembly today demonstrates the progress the
737 team has made," said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general
manager of the 737 program. "This is part of the series of rate
increases to meet customer demand for the most popular airplane in
aviation history."
Boeing has taken a three-fold approach to prepare for the rate
increases on the 737 program. The company is making production
processes more efficient by working with employee process
improvement teams, increasing the production capacity with capital
investments such as a new wings system installation line in the
Renton factory and making the site footprint more efficient by
moving some production areas, expanding others and decommissioning
outdated equipment.
The automated spar assembly tool used to build the first spar is
the ninth such machine at the Renton factory, drilling about 1,700
holes and inserting fasteners to make the spar. The tool increases
the 737's wing-building capacity and is an example of one of many
facilities changes happening at the Renton site to increase
capacity and prepare for rate increases.
The 737 production rate will increase to 38 airplanes a month in
the second quarter of 2013 and to 42 airplanes a month in the first
half of 2014.
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