The production system that promises to support a reduction in final assembly times for the Boeing 737 from 10 to 9 days this year should become still more efficient with the introduction of a new automated panel assembly line (PAL) by early 2015. Built by Mukilteo, Washington-based Electroimpact, the PAL fastens stringers to wing skin panels at twice the rate Boeing now can manage using the current process at the 737 plant in Renton, Washington. Electroimpact designed the machine to “normalize” to the panel with an array of lasers that “see” the surface without touching it, allowing it to follow the panel curvature or contour. The process improves accuracy, consistency and “repeatability,” according to Boeing.
The OEM’s existing machines in Renton install about 4,000 fasteners and mechanics install roughly 2,000, often requiring them to contort their bodies into unnatural positions. The automated system not only eliminates the need to perform fatigue-inducing acrobatics, it promises to reduce repetitive-motion injuries.
