Bombardier's Saint-Laurent Facility Tools Up Automated Moving
Production Line
Bombardier recently upgraded more than 100,000 sq. ft. of its
Saint-Laurent facility to support production of major components
for its new CSeries aircraft, scheduled to enter service in 2013.
The assembly process will include a fully automated moving line
using the latest lean manufacturing principles, and the upgrades
include new machinery, equipment and tooling.
Artist's Conceptualization
Major CSeries aircraft components to be manufactured at the
Saint-Laurent plant include the carbon-fiber aft fuselage and
cockpit. The cockpit will be mated at the facility with the forward
fuselage section made by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) in
China.
With a focus of on-time program delivery through advance testing
and risk mitigation, Bombardier has capitalized on many years of
experience in composites technology in both its Saint-Laurent and
Belfast, Northern Ireland facilities. Automated Fibre Placement
(AFP) techniques will be used to build the carbon-fibre composite
aft fuselage, including the pressure dome. The advanced composite
CSeries aircraft wing will be designed and built in Belfast using
Resin Transfer Infusion (RTI) technology that has been developed at
the facility.
"As soon as our new composite 'clean room' was completed, we
immediately began laying up some test articles with our new AFP
robot," said Hugues Lessard, Vice President, Saint-Laurent
Manufacturing Centre, Bombardier Aerospace. "Bombardier's
adaptation of AFP technology has also benefited from the largest
collaborative aircraft structures demonstration project initiated
by Canada's National Research Council to advance AFP use in the
aerospace industry."
The Production Development team at the Saint-Laurent plant is
also responsible for designing and installing the tooling for the
new CSeries aircraft final assembly plant in Mirabel, 24 miles
north of Montreal. In addition to components made at Bombardier
facilities, the all-new CSeries airliner will incorporate
components from partners and suppliers located around the
world.
The Saint-Laurent plant employs more than 3,000 people and is
currently the largest of Bombardier's facilities in the Montreal
area. The plant, which was the original Canadair site, produces
major structural components and parts for Bombardier's Challenger
and Global business jets, CRJ NextGen and Q400 NextGen airliners,
and Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft. Bombardier's purchase of
Canadair 25 years ago heralded the company's entry into the
aerospace industry.