Embraer has completely overhauled its final assembly operations for the E-170 and E-190 family of aircraft, switching from a slant assembly to a pulsing assembly line.
The now two-month-old horseshoe-shaped final assembly line inside the F-220 building at the company's Sao Jose dos Campos facility hosts five indoor positions and a sixth that sees the aircraft move to the flight line in preparation for flight test.
Embraer says that an aircraft will move positions every two days, spending a total of 10 days inside, with an additional two days outside before flying.
The original slant line, which previously hosted seven fixed-dock slant positions exclusively for E-190 and E-195 aircraft, now consolidates E-170 and E-175 operations into a single final assembly line for both families.
The new system seeks to prevent critical path milestones, such as the installation of interiors, engines and other key assembly tasks, from holding up the movement of the line.
The horseshoe-shaped assembly line eliminates the wing-to-body join process from the final assembly area. The mating of the wings to the fuselage is carried out in another hangar at Embraer's flagship site.
After the wing-to-body join is complete, the aircraft arrive fully painted in preparation for systems installation, interior outfitting, engine installation and other pre-flight checks including power-on.
The new system, which the company says was approved in 2007, is part of Embraer's push to incorporate philosophies of lean manufacturing into its aircraft assembly operations.
The Phenom 100 very light jet was the first Embraer aircraft to incorporate this methods into its production plan from day one.
Source: Flight International
