Boeing secretly testing 777X work automation

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/08/15/2733152/boeing-secretly-testing-777x-work.html



Scott Fancher, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president and general manager attends a news conference on their airplane development update earlier this month in Tokyo. Speculation surrounds where Boeing will focus 777X production.

Boeing secretly testing 777X work automation
By DOMINIC GATES — THE SEATTLE TIMES
Published: August 15, 2013

At a secret facility in Anacortes, more than 40 miles north of Boeing’s widebody-jet plant in Everett, a small group of engineers next month will begin testing advanced automation methods for building the soon-to-be-launched 777X jet.

The project reveals Boeing intends to dramatically change the way the plane’s metal hull is built, reducing manual labor on that task while ramping up the overall production rate.

“We’re going to build the fuselage differently than we do now,” said a senior Boeing engineer familiar with details of the plan. “We’re going to introduce a whole lot of automation.”

Meanwhile, in a nerve-wracking process that could either boost or bust future manufacturing in the Puget Sound region, Boeing is still weighing various plans for where to put 777X manufacturing — including Everett, alternative company facilities and non-Boeing sites.