Thu, Mar 11, 2004
Extra Room, Double Capacity
The Lancair Company's $2.5 million,
40,000 square foot facilities expansion program is nearing its
first milestone. Lancair expects to bring a new composites oven on
line at the end of March that will double production capacity of
composite aircraft components. The new oven is only the beginning
of what is Lancair's first major facilities expansion. When it is
completed at the end of 2004, The Lancair's Bend (OR) headquarters
will have gained nearly 30 percent more floor space, doubled its
capacity to create the core composite building blocks of its
Columbia certified aircraft line and added a new special order
department that will provide aftermarket modifications to customer
aircraft.
"As our production rate accelerated last year, we quickly began
wanting more room," Lancair President Bing Lantis said. "The
additional space will allow us to add some new equipment as well as
refine our production process. Ultimately, we'll produce more
aircraft more efficiently while maintaining our extremely high
quality levels."
In addition to the added space and equipment, the Lancair
Company has also been working with an industrial engineering firm
with specialists in composites manufacturing, analyzing and
refining its aircraft manufacturing process. The firm, Technical
Change Associates, and Lancair's manufacturing officials have
implemented a number of improvements in the Columbia's production
process, reducing parts handling in support of composite production
and assembly by 65 percent, among other advances.
The additional space and streamlined production practices will
all add up to an increase of Lancair's production rate from one
aircraft every two days today to one aircraft every business day by
year-end. This increase in production rate is growing increasingly
important. Lancair's production line will soon have to accommodate
the company's new turbocharged Columbia 400 model as well as the
normally aspirated Columbia 350.
"The Columbia 400 program is nearly complete and we will begin
delivering that model very shortly after we receive certification,"
Lantis added. "The addition of a second model to the production
line made this expansion an absolute necessity. We're very excited
to be getting it completed."
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