Thinking Like Henry Ford... And Toyota

Commercial aircraft manufacturers are taking a lesson from the auto industry in making their operations more efficient and flexible.

Airbus has been utilizing a moving production line for over a year to complete sections for its single-aisle to medium-haul aircraft, a method employed by successful automakers such as Toyota, reported Dow Jones Newswires.

Traditional civil aviation industry practice saw aircraft built in "docks," where poor coordination could result in teams getting in each other's ways and often lead to significant delays.

The advantages of a moving production line are many.

"The system allows us to reduce production costs and optimize our workflow, and requires less inventory," said Hans-Henrich Altfeld. Altfeld heads Airbus' A320 family fuselage production center.

He added that the production technique, involved at earlier stages of Airbus' manufacturing process than other manufacturers, has reduced the time necessary to manufacture a fuselage section by 40 percent to around five days.

Airbus' Eckart Frankenberger has also seen cost reductions with this new "lean manufacturing" production line of 30 percent, compared to previous manufacturing techniques. Frankenberger oversees a facility making sections for the new A380 superjumbo.

Quality has improved, while waste has decreased, according to Airbus officials, allowing the company more flexibility to adjust production to its order book.

Boeing began using a moving production line system back in 2002 for final assembly of its 737 single-aisle model (shown above). Last month the company adopted the operation for the final assembly of the wide-body 777.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.boeing.com