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Unprecedented rates in Boeing 737 aircraft production have driven a need for an increase in capacity in fuselage manufacturing and assembly. This paper will discuss the requirements by Spirit AeroSystems to add capacity, and the new and upgraded machinery provided by Broetje Automation in response to these requirements. Production areas found to require additional capacity included galley and entry door skin fastening, as well as frame fastening in upper and lower lobes. Three new Mobile Panel Assembly Cell (MPAC) machines were installed in rapid succession for efficient and flexible production of door panels. For frame fastening of upper and lower lobes, three existing machines were taken out of production one at a time for a comprehensive upgrade resulting in process speed increases of more than 40%.

Manually aligning and joining completed aircraft sections is historically a time consuming and cumbersome process. Constant manual measuring is required, as well as very fine movements which are difficult to control and accomplish manually. In order to increase both the efficiency as well as the quality and safety of the section join process, BRÖTJE-Automation has developed the Automated Positioning and Alignment System. This paper describes two Positioning and Alignment Systems – one for joining fuselages and one for wing attachment. The Positioning and Alignment Systems are designed with the flexibility to join fuselage sections and wings to the fuselages for a range of different aircraft, all fully automatically through the use of a laser measurement system.

Recent changes in the aircraft production process have driven us, as a supplier of aircraft assembly equipment, to design innovative and modular manufacturing equipment that complies with modern specifications. The result is an all electric drilling and fastening machine that introduces new features while concurrently strengthening tried and true processes resulting in increased speed and efficiency. This technical paper describes the latest developments that have been integrated into an all electric fastening system which is fully fielded and successfully in production throughout the aircraft industry.