Airbus is progressively implementing its vision of a factory of the future, with some science-fiction-like pieces of equipment already in use. While automation is being increasingly employed, “We are not in automotive, so we cannot put automation in every case, automation has to work alongside workers,” COO Tom Williams pointed out, alluding to the lower production rates typical in the aerospace industry.
In use for a few months on the A350 XWB production line, electronic drillers have proved invaluable. For example, such a tool can sense materials and vary rotation speed through a stack of different metal or composite layers. It can collect dust, shavings and oil. It can even warn of a worn-out head.
Also in use on the A330 final assembly line are connected glasses, which visually assist the workers through connection to computers. “They show you what the line of holes should look like by the time you have finished drilling,” Williams explained. For A380 production, an effort has been ongoing to reduce the amount of paper. Under a “mixed reality” concept, a tablet shows the worker where the bolts should be fastened, for instance.
Sometimes solutions to problems lie in simple, albeit massive, equipment. Offloading Belugas could be blocked by strong winds that prevented opening hangar doors. Airbus is thus building simple docking systems that work in strong winds, Williams said. In his view, in five-to-six years time an Airbus manufacturing facility should be more robust to events such as a factory fire at a supplier, or bad weather holding up shipping for two or three days.
It will also have to be more ergonomic. “Our workforce is getting older,” Williams said, while pointing out building an aircraft is not always ergonomically ideal. For example, sometimes workers have to handle heavy objects–hence a need to use “intelligent automation” to reduce injuries and musculoskeletal disorders.
Another aspect that needs to be addressed to cut production lead-times is integrated inspection. To get away from the conventional “build-inspect-fix” process, new tools could monitor torque or count the number of bolts fastened in the right sequence, so inspection is integral to the process.
Will we see more friction-stir welding? “We do some on the A350, but we struggled a bit on how to transfer this to single-aisles,” Williams said. He referred to fatigue testing for certification. “Metallurgy is not the issue, it is qualification,” he said.
In materials, a lot of thermoplastic, non-stress components printed in 3-D will be flying on the A350 by year-end. Airbus engineers are now looking at metal 3-D printing too, said Williams.