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BAE studies F-35 assembly for speedup
FARNBOROUGH, England, BAE Systems is starting to reconfigure its F-35 aft fuselage assembly line to speed up production, the company said Monday.
The company, in a news release from the Farnborough Air Show, said first steps in the redesign project took place recently at its Samlesbury site in the United Kingdom, where the F-35's aft fuselage is built.
A team from across BAE Systems' Military Air Solutions business stripped one of the six work stations to its bare floor and walls to examine the approach and techniques needed to achieve a production rate increase.
Every stage of the manufacturing process – from the supply of parts, quality control and fuselage assembly to the different roles of people on the assembly team was looked at, it said. The result was a mock-up of how the work station could be reconfigured as well as a 100-day plan for improvements.
"We looked at what was adding value and what wasn't and we looked at how we could remove the non-value added activity and waste from the process," said Keith Moore, BAE Systems Production Manager for the aft assembly line.
"As the 100-day plan is discharged and we start to see the benefits of it, the build time will drop as we are able to speed up the assembly in Work Station One. We'll then move this process down the line to the other five stations, so they will also benefit from the plan."
Currently, one F-35 aft fuselage and empennage units (vertical and horizontal tails) roll off the F-35 production line at BAE Systems every 15 days. The company aims to bring that manufacturing time to one unit per day.
BAE systems in a major partner in the building the Lockheed Martin aircraft, as is Northrop Grumman.
FARNBOROUGH, England, BAE Systems is starting to reconfigure its F-35 aft fuselage assembly line to speed up production, the company said Monday.
The company, in a news release from the Farnborough Air Show, said first steps in the redesign project took place recently at its Samlesbury site in the United Kingdom, where the F-35's aft fuselage is built.
A team from across BAE Systems' Military Air Solutions business stripped one of the six work stations to its bare floor and walls to examine the approach and techniques needed to achieve a production rate increase.
Every stage of the manufacturing process – from the supply of parts, quality control and fuselage assembly to the different roles of people on the assembly team was looked at, it said. The result was a mock-up of how the work station could be reconfigured as well as a 100-day plan for improvements.
"We looked at what was adding value and what wasn't and we looked at how we could remove the non-value added activity and waste from the process," said Keith Moore, BAE Systems Production Manager for the aft assembly line.
"As the 100-day plan is discharged and we start to see the benefits of it, the build time will drop as we are able to speed up the assembly in Work Station One. We'll then move this process down the line to the other five stations, so they will also benefit from the plan."
Currently, one F-35 aft fuselage and empennage units (vertical and horizontal tails) roll off the F-35 production line at BAE Systems every 15 days. The company aims to bring that manufacturing time to one unit per day.
BAE systems in a major partner in the building the Lockheed Martin aircraft, as is Northrop Grumman.
