A complex global supply chain, unfamiliar structural materials and aircraft systems, a history of supplier bottlenecks and serial breakdowns on the assembly line: are we talking about the Lockheed Martin F-35 or the Boeing 787? Frustratingly, the answer is both.
Despite all of the challenges and setbacks, however, Boeing somehow managed to quintuple monthly 787 output between January 2012 and January 2014, then deliver 114 of the composite-skinned, more electric Dreamliners over the last 12 months.
No one can accuse the F-35 programme of ramping up too quickly. A plague of technical and production delays has stymied the build rate at three aircraft per month for the past two years. But Lockheed is preparing to quintuple this or more over the next four years, rising to a system-wide total of 20 per month by the end of fiscal year 2019, if projected orders are realised.
Can Lockheed replicate Boeing’s 787 ramp-up with the F-35 production system? There are many differences between a commercial and military programme.
Boeing enjoyed a funded backlog of hundreds of aircraft on firm order years ahead of the 787 production ramp-up. Lockheed is forced to make supply chain and tooling decisions based on yearly funding choices made through a highly uncertain and volatile appropriations process with multiple governments. The 787 is among the most sophisticated commercial aircraft ever built, but faces nothing like the strict outer mould line tolerances imposed by radar stealth requirements.
Lockheed also designed the F-35 production system to support full-rate production across three unique variants. The key to meeting output demands at the final assembly stage – the electronic mating and alignment system (EMAS) – was initially a bottleneck, but appears to have reached maturity at current production levels. The number of EMAS platforms can be scaled up to support higher production rates.
There are still many challenges facing Lockheed. The current workforce at the final assembly stage alone would be trebled within four years if output quintuples as projected. Two final assembly and checkout lines in Italy and Japan must be established and reach maturity as the production rate escalates in Fort Worth, Texas.
Will the F-35’s software snags cause customers to defer more orders, and will the unit price decline as output grows? Lockheed’s production system had long been another such variable, but has now matured and stabilised. The most important question now is: has that progress come too late?
Source: Flight International
